Here Are Important Points About Acrylic Pool Walls

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Acrylic pool walls can make a stunning statement. They are seeing a boost in popularity, as many people have fallen in love with the idea of disappearing edges that only come with a see-through wall.

The illusion this type of wall creates is one of luxury and wealth, so it's no surprise that they are in demand. However, you must understand the unique aspects and challenges that come with an acrylic pool wall.

Reasons to Choose Acrylic

In the past, see-through pool walls were mainly glass, but acrylic is a better option. According to Pool and Spa News, acrylic is much easier to work with. It's stronger overall than glass.

Glass is more likely to crack and break, but acrylic is impact-resistant and won't break easily. The typical horseplay that occurs in pools isn't a danger to acrylic. If you use glass, there's always a need to be cautious and careful around it, which can drain some of the fun out of the pool.

Acrylic holds up with time and allows for repairs, while you can't repair many issues with glass and would need to replace the whole piece. Plus, acrylic comes in thicker panels, which also help increase the strength.

You also have a larger range of design options with acrylic than you do with glass. The simple nature of each material means that acrylic gives you more options for creativity and stylistic choices, so that you can get the final design you desire, as you can see here: https://www.titanaquaticexhibits.com/acrylic-pool-wall-viewing-panels/.

Perhaps the best thing about acrylic is that it provides clarity. No matter how thick your acrylic, it stays clear. Glass, on the other hand, will have a green tint to it as it gets thicker. It will also block some light, while acrylic lets almost all the natural light through.

Essential Design Factors

When creating an acrylic pool wall, there are some special considerations you'll have to make. You have to think about essential design factors that only come when adding a see-through panel to your pool.

It can be a challenge to connect the acrylic panel to the other pool materials, and if you don't do it correctly, you're at risk of leaks. It's also essential to make sure every choice you make respects the pool and wall's structural integrity. To get a final product that looks good and is functional, you have to consider the following:

• Joining
• Positioning
• Waterproofing
• Flexing

Joining

Depending on the overall design, you may need to fuse acrylic panels together to get the wall you need. When joining them, you need to ensure a strong joint that won't impact the overall panel in a negative way. Manufacturers may have limits when fusing to make sure the look remains seamless, and to prevent future failure due to stress points.

Positioning

You can install walls with support on four sides or three sides. Each type of positioning requires considerations about proper support that helps keep the wall in place. For example, to get a vanishing edge, support only happens on three sides, so it's essential to install the wall deeply enough that it stays in place despite the lack of support on all sides.

Waterproofing

Acrylic works nicely as a pool wall because it can stand up to the water. However, when installing it, you have to ensure a secure connection between the acrylic and the walls' material. If you make a mistake, you'll end up with leaks and the potential for failure.

To stop leaks, you have to use the right caulking or grout, along with a waterproofing agent. For the proper application of a waterproofing agent, the panel must be straight and flat, which means you also have to ensure proper support to keep the panel firmly in place.

Consider also that the panel will continuously have to stand up against water pushing against it. It can't move about, even slightly. Any space or disconnection leaves room for a leak.

To prevent this, your designer should create the panel area to transfer more of the load to the walls around the panel, so the panel doesn't have as much stress on it. In general, designers will add steel reinforcements or specialized concrete mix to handle this.

Flexing

Acrylic is subject to expansion and contraction. This poses some issues that you have to account for in the design process. If you fail to give it enough room to expand, it won't be able to flex in the way it needs. If you don't account for contraction, you could end up with a complete failure of the panel.

The panel will expand and contract much more than the rest of the pool. The best way to combat it, while also ensuring you don't mess with the overall structural integrity, is to use flexible materials, such as grout.

If you have a lot of expansion and contraction due to the climate in which you live or the general conditions of your pool, it can help to keep the panel as small as possible. The larger a panel is, the more extreme expansion and contraction are. Limiting the size can reduce headaches. You can connect multiple panels instead of using just one large panel, for example, to get around the issue.

Reasonable Expectations

One of the most important things to keep in mind as you consider an acrylic pool wall is that you need to keep your expectations under control. The pools you see in movies or on television have a picture-perfect look to them because of the angles at which the camera captures them.

The reality is that the wall will look different from various angles, and some of those views may not be exactly what you expect. For example, a vanishing edge looks amazing from the right angle, but it may look odd from other angles.

It also isn't uncommon for the wall to look much like a block of ice or even a solid wall in some instances. You should expect this and understand the Hollywood-worthy, see-through wall may not always be what you get, depending on the angle and even distance from which you look at it.

Another important point you want to think about is how much the wall will reveal. Remember, it's see-through, which means everyone on the outside can see everything on the inside.

What you may not realize is this means a lot of extra pool cleaning. If you fail to keep your pool water clean, the wall will betray you and show off a gross-looking mess. Even slightly dirty water will look bad as the acrylic can have a magnifying effect.

Building the Wall[b][/b]

If you want to take the leap and add an acrylic wall to your pool, just make sure that you do your research first. It can be a large undertaking, so you want to be sure this is what you want to do. Furthermore, you have to guarantee the proper installation for the best results.