How San Juan Pools Are Made: The Key to Quality and Strength
Not all fiberglass pools are built the same way. What truly defines How San Juan Pools Are Made is the craftsmanship behind every layer. Each pool is carefully built with a minimum of five hand-laid fiberglass layers, ensuring superior strength, precision, and long-term durability that sets San Juan apart from other manufacturers.
The Type of Resin Makes a Difference
The marine industry has shown that only epoxy-type resins are truly impervious to water. How San Juan Pools Are Made incorporates Vinyl Ester resins, which share the same chemical strength as epoxy and are trusted by top boat builders worldwide. This ensures every fiberglass layer remains strong, watertight, and resilient for decades.
Vinyl Ester resins outperform standard polyester alternatives thanks to superior mechanical and chemical resistance. That’s why San Juan uses Vinyl Ester resin throughout the entire laminate — not just the outer layer — to ensure consistent protection on both sides of the shell. This premium process defines How San Juan Pools Are Made, resulting in a stronger, longer-lasting pool.
We Use a Proprietary Vinyl Ester Resin Bought Exclusively Through
The Type of Fiberglass Reinforcement Makes a Difference
The aerospace and marine industries would never rely on chopped fiberglass for structural strength — and neither does San Juan. How San Juan Pools Are Made follows a hand-laid method instead of spray-applied materials, ensuring every layer is consistent and free of weak points.
Anything sprayed from a gun cannot provide true structure. By using woven roving — continuous strands of fiberglass woven together — San Juan creates shells that are thicker, stronger, and more uniform. Each pool includes up to 72oz of woven fiberglass per square yard, providing unmatched structural integrity that defines How San Juan Pools Are Made.
We Use an American Made Fiberglass Reinforcement Purchased Exclusively Through Pittsburgh Paint and Glass
Having The Best Laminators in the Business Makes a Difference
Once the best materials are selected, craftsmanship becomes the defining factor in How San Juan Pools Are Made. Many of our expert laminators have been with San Juan for more than 20 years, guaranteeing consistency, precision, and the same high standard across every pool we produce. Their hands-on expertise ensures every fiberglass layer is applied with care — the true foundation of San Juan’s lasting quality.
What does this actually mean for the fiberglass pool ?
Simply put, How San Juan Pools Are Made results in a stronger, longer-lasting fiberglass pool. Hand-laid fiberglass layers ensure uniform thickness and eliminate structural weak points. While this process takes more time and resources, the payoff is durability and stability that outlasts cheaper, sprayed-on alternatives. It’s the difference between a continuous rope and one made of glued-together pieces — one endures, the other breaks under stress.
Which do you think is stronger?
A continuous piece is much stronger than one made up of pieces.
When you spray fiberglass out of a gun you will never get a consistant layer and your pool shell will be compromised. The construction of a fiberglass pool is almost the same as a fiberglass boat.
There is a reason why a 24ft boat from one company is 35,000 and another company is 65,000. Its due to how the boat is constructed and with what kind of materials.
In some areas of the US we go through that thing called winter with whats called a freeze thaw cycle. There is constant movement happening underneath the surface. Its this movement that creates most fiberglass pool failures. Having a pool that is produced with hand laid continuous fiberglass vs fiberglass shot out of a gun is less likely to have a failure. This video will show you how a San Juan Fiberglass Pool is constructed. Before you make any fiberglass pool purchase in the North, or any other area, for your own benefit find out how the fiberglass pool is constructed.
Steps in manufacturing your San Juan Pool
Step 1 - Mold
The process of How San Juan Pools Are Made begins with a clean, precisely waxed mold to ensure shape accuracy.
Step 2 - Cut materials
All fiberglass is hand-laid — none of the reinforcement is sprayed — ensuring structural consistency.
Step 3 - Panels
Panels: Each section is carefully hand-laid to maintain even thickness.
Step 4 - Stiffen the walls
Stiffen the Walls: Structural ribs are positioned to reinforce wall strength without adding unnecessary weight.
We have two types of surface finishes.
Our White and Sulli Blue pools use an NPG/ISO (Neopentyl Glycol Isophathalic) based Gelcoat. This is specially formulated for the pool industry, it is UV stabilized and corrosion resistant. The strength of this finish is well proven with many pools having this finish that are well over 25 years old. As crystal clear water will always have a sparkling blue look many pool owners see this as the most beautiful of all finishes.
We also have our new Iridium colored finishes. This is a solid surface material consisting of oven cured colored chips in a clear UV and chemical resistant clear resin. This surface finish is backed up by a color matched gelcoat that acts as a barrier coat as well as a primer for the fiberglass.
We thoroughly clean and inspect
every part when it is pulled off the mold.
Step 5 - clean and inspect
All imperfections are repaired. This takes time, but only perfection is good enough for a San Juan Pool.
Step 6 - Tiled and outfitted
Pools are tiled and outfitted as needed.
Finally
Finally, a beautiful San Juan Pool Shell is ready to become part of your backyard dream.
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