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Local homeowner goes above and beyond to install new pool

July 15, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Paula Brown

Orangeville’s west end residents and neighbours were treated to an odd sight on Tuesday (July 9) when Chad Critchley decided to do whatever it took to install a new pool at his home.

 “It’s not something you see in a subdivision,” he said. 

Mr. Critchley and his family watched as their new pool, a modified shipping container, was lifted above their home in the west end of Orangeville.  The pool – two shipping containers welded into an L shape – was lifted by a 164 ft. crane and placed into a pre-dug hole in the backyard of the Glengarry Road residence. 

“I’m so excited, after all of what has gone on, the process of design and logistics of everything,” said Mr. Critchley. “It’s so exciting to finally get it put in.”

The idea of using the shipping container came when Mr. Critchley and his wife decided they wanted a pool for their kids. With a small backyard, a shipping container would allow them to modify and design one that fit their space. 

 It has been over half a year since Mr. Critchley, a landscaper and owner of Unified Design, began the process that led to installation of the pool. The concrete block which the pool sits on was poured last November. 

“I look out my back window and for months now I’ve seen a concrete pad waiting for a new home of a pool,” said Mr. Critchley while waiting for the pool to arrive. “To know it’s just half an hour from here to be slung into my backyard, I am over the moon, it’s great.” 

The ability to modify and design the container to their needs wasn’t the only factor that attracted the family to the unusual pool. With there being an abundance of shipping containers the recycling and environmental component of the pool was another factor that attracted the family, as well as its longevity. Typically the average pool liner in a regular pool will last around 10 years before it needs to be replaced, but Mr. Critchley predicts the liner in his pool will last about 50 years. 

“I’m not going to have to replace it ever. It’ll be in and it will stay in for a long time,” he said.

With the maximum load pool on the way the experience became a family affair, with Mr. Critchley’s closest relatives on scene taking photos, waiting and watching as the event unfolded. 

 “He’s very calm, I just hope it all goes okay and I’m sure it will,” said Connie Critchley, Mr. Critchley’s mother, while waiting for the pool to arrive. “It has to.” 

An unsettled excitement that could be felt increased when the truck carrying the pool rounded the suburban streets. From there the process that had taken Mr. Critchley months to develop quickly came to a reachable end. Attached to chains, the pool was quickly lifted up and over the home. A few adjustments and it was lowered into the backyard and the pool was on the ground. 

With months of planning, designing, and prepping done, Mrs. Critchley says the process was “a hell of a job.”

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