With the greatest of ease, a one-tonne fibreglass swimming pool flew through the air this week.
Actually, there were two flying swimming pools in Sault Ste. Marie this week.
Brian Petingalo of Petingalo Construction arranged for the Sault's second and third in-ground fibreglass pools to be installed on Thursday and SooToday.com popped over to River Road to check out one of them.
Petingalo said that he, the homeowner and representatives of Cooper Crane Rentals had discussed lifting the pool over the house to install it in the back yard.
However, when the crane operator arrived, he expressed misgivings about the idea.
"He thought the ground looked a bit soft to safely support the weight of the crane and the pool, especially with the arm extended over the house," said the homeowner. "I was relieved."
She said she had some fears about the idea after the contractors had discussed it with her and her husband.
So, kindly neighbours offered to let them use their yard for the task.
The pool was brought in between the houses to their back yard, then transferred across the property line to its final resting place.
The homeowners said they'll be paying for lawn repairs to their neighbour's grass, after it was eaten by a gigantic crane.
The homeowners had their pool installed on the same day as their brother at the other end of town did the same thing.
So they split on the cost of shipping and reduced their installation cost as well.
"They shipped them up together, one inside the other, and the three guys came up to do both," said the homeowner. "They expect to have them both done today."
She said the pool company, Nature Bound Pools and Spas, is based out of Queensville Ontario and offers a lifetime guarantee on the pool if it's installed by the company.
The two pools installed this week were Greenbriar models measuring 34 feet by 16 feet with an inside depth of 6'6" at one end and 3'4" on the other end.
The homeowner said the cost was comparable to vinyl-lined pools in the Sault, but the fiberglass pool was much more durable, environmentally friendly and less costly to maintain than vinyl-lined pools.
"We don't need to use chlorine at all," she said. "It uses a system with salt and we only have to top it up a bit each year because it reclaims a lot of the salt."
The pool was manufactured by Composite Pool Co. (CPC).
"Fiberglass pools require less chemicals and maintenance than gunite and vinyl-liner pools, and also use less energy," says the CPC website. "Due to the smooth finish of a fiberglass pool, there is no need to worry about skin abrasions. Fiberglass is the strongest type of pool available; it is 17 times stronger than concrete."
After the crane settled the pool into the pit prepared by Petingalo Construction, the very-nice crane operator obliged the homeowner by moving a shed as well.
Then, another shed was hoisted over one of the pools to be settled neatly by its side.
All went smoothly with both installations at the River Road location, despite a brief moment of tension when sudden gust of wind swayed the shed as it was suspended over the newly installed pool.