At first glance, the swimming pool recently installed behind a large house in Draper looked like it had a tile floor and tile on the sides near the top.
Closer examination showed that it had a vinyl liner, which apparently takes more expertise to install than a tile pool but which also likely makes it today's most popular swimming pool (short of traditonal children's pools at the five and dime).About 60 percent of the swimming pool business done these days at Mehr-Maid, 7515 S. State, is installing the vinyl-lined pools, with the remainder finished by the gunite process (blowing liquid concrete over a reinforcing bar frame for the finished product).
Erwin Mehr has been in the swimming pool business almost four decades but has installed only two swimming pools that were lined with tile. His son, Brent, and grandson, Greg, are continuing the Mehr-Maid name, which is a natural takeoff on their name and mermaids.
Erwin got into the swimming pool business in 1956 after seeing an advertisement in the Intermountain Contractor Magazine for vinyl-lined pools. "They were supposed to revolutionize the swimming pool industry.
In 1958, Esther Williams, the woman who swam in several lavish Hollywood movies that took advantage of her swimming prowess, was lining up franchises to sell pools.
Erwin, who then worked for Bettilyon Inc., said the company had fancy literature, but there weren't many people with the expertise to install vinyl-lined pools. He said they have to be installed precisely, but for the money they are today's best swimming pool.
He formed Mehr-Maid Pool Equipment in 1962 and started building swimming pools. At 78, he still works six days per week.
To build an at-grade swimming pool that will have a vinyl lining, the hole is dug and concrete walls 8 inches thick are poured. At the time concrete is poured, holes for the the plumbing pipe and filtering system are installed.
The hole that will house the electrical equipment that runs the cover removal system is dug, and the deep end is excavated with the material used as backfill around the pool walls. A concrete floor is poured to support the liner.
Brent said he sends a pool's specifications to W. P. Garrett Inc., Trenton, N.J., and they ship the liner to Mehr-Maid. A liner for a 16x36-foot pool comes in a box that looks too small to cover a swimming pool. The liner is installed with a spongy material between the liner and the concrete. When the pool is filled, water pressure pushes the liner tight against the pool walls.
Completing the deck around the pool is one of the last tasks before the family can start swimming. Decks can be made out of a variety of materials, said Brent, but rock, tile and concrete are popular.
For a gunite pool, Brent said the dirt banks of the excavated area serve as the walls for the pool and tied reinforcing bar provides the shape of the pool so when the liquid concrete is sprayed through 6-inch hoses the pool is formed.
A thick bond beam in installed on the top of the pool to prevent freezing, and the gunite is sealed with a special liquid. This process costs about $5,000 more than a vinyl-lined pool of the same size, Brent said.
In both types of pools, Brent said, they don't need to be drained every winter to prevent freezing damage. A chemical is added to the water, making the pool safe regardless of how cold it gets.
In the new pool at the Draper house, the owners had a self-cleaning system that is a motorized unit tethered to the side of the pool thatruns around the bottom of the pool and picks up sediment. Sediment from the outside pool is retained in a filter and thrown away.
An important part of a swimming pool is the cover. In the case of the Draper home, the cover is rolled back by a motor. Mehr-Maid gets its covers from Pool Cover Specialists, Sandy. The dacron-vinyl covers are tough enough to walk on and roll up nicely on a big roller that disappears into an area at the end of the pool.
The purpose of the cover, said Brent, is to reduce the heating and chemical costs and safety.
Erwin said the biggest seller at Mehr-Maid is a 16x36-foot pool costing $14,500 that ranges from 3 to 81/2 feet deep with a diving board. That doesn't include the utilities, the automatic cover or the decks, which could raise the price to nearly $22,000, depending on what type of deck is installed.
Brent said sport pools, such as the one he installed in the Draper house, are popular because they aren't very deep and can be used to play volleyball, basketball or other sports, depending on what type of equipment is placed in special sleeves when the deck is completed.
Erwin is a Salt Lake native, but was raised in Logan. He worked for Purity Biscuit Co. doing payrolls, cost accounting and did the hiring and firing. He also worked in the early 1950s for ZCMI in the wholesale side of the business and was office manager for D.A. Olsen Co., a heating and air conditioning company.
Brent, 44, is a Salt Lake native who served eight years in the U.S. Navy. After he got out of the Navy in 1977, he and two partners started building swimming pools. He built pools in Las Vegas for five years. In December 1989, he returned to Utah.
In semi-retirement, Erwin said his company was in limbo for 18 months, but when Brent returned he got the company going again. Brent is now the president.
Twenty one-year-old Greg was raised by Brent's first wife in Florida but ran into his father in Las Vegas and returned to Salt Lake City with him in 1989. Brent's second wife, Donna, runs the accessories store and manages the showroom and office for this family-oriented business.
As a sideline to their swimming pools, the Mehrs also sell spas and related accessories.