“People are building these chalets for themselves but also as Airbnb rentals, and these small houses are much more attractive to renters if they have a small pool,” he explains. “Not only are these chalets preferred by potential renters, but these smaller pools are also easier for the owner to maintain.”
The birth of the ‘Bayto’ pool
The market demand for smaller pools drove the St. Jean family to create a pre-cast, one-piece concrete pool manufactured and assembled under controlled and supervised conditions by their builders. Known as the “Bayto” pool, it is constructed as a monolithic cement shell, with the plumbing pre-assembled into the walls, so no drilling or assembly is required when the pool arrives at the jobsite.
The pool is available in three sizes, (2.4 x 3 m [8 x 10 ft], 2.4 x 4.8 m [8 x 16 ft], and 2.4 x 6 m [8 x 20 ft]) with built-in steps that are the full width of the pool. In addition, the cement structure is strong enough for the pool to be installed inground, semi-inground, or even above-ground. This also comes complete with an 80-mil thick reinforced PVC interior finish, making it ideal for busy installers, since it only requires the plumbing to be hooked up to the pool, backfilled, and filled with water.
European pool interior
When first determining the best option to supply to the industry, the St. Jean team considered various pool interior options. Pool paints, traditional pool liners, tiles, and several other interiors were considered. However, most were ruled out because there was a desire to provide a pool that was durable, provided guaranteed waterproofing, and was visually pleasing.
“We also wanted to provide a finish on the pool’s interior at the time of delivery, as we did not want the installer to have to wait,” says Carl. “The pool had to be installed the same day without worrying about scheduling.”
Carl and his team went to Europe for several weeks to delve deeper into the chosen reinforced PVC interior finish.
“It’s not a new product, it has been around for many years. In fact, we looked at it three or four years ago and learned that it was very common in Europe, but we didn’t see a fit for it back then,” he says.
The team went back to Europe last year and were trained on the installation of the liner, and were introduced to new designs that imitate the look of slate, marble, and gunite. The team soon realized they wanted to feature this European interior finish on the “Bayto” pools.
