Damir andNadezhda

Russia

The last pool before Canada

In this photo, we had just finished the PVC membrane installation in the pool you can see on our home page. 1,200 m² (12,000 sq. ft.) — the largest recreational swimming pool in Russia. All of the PVC membrane work on this pool was completed by just the two of us. Here, I installed 2,500 pool fittings and flanges. This was our last pool project in Russia before moving to Canada.

The final PVC membrane weld on the pool deck after 12 years of working in Russia — and the pool open.

By the time this photo was taken, we were already working here in Canada.

The thermal spa

Below is our second-to-last pool before moving to Canada. It’s another huge one. The thermal spa was scheduled to open by New Year’s. At one point, we worked 43 days straight without a single day off. We finished our work on time. All of the PVC membrane work, including the fittings and flanges, was completed by just the two of us as well.

Why just the two of us

Why do we work with just the two of us whenever possible? Installing a PVC membrane involves a lot of careful, detailed work. We trust each other completely, and “okay” is not good enough while we are working. Every detail has to be done right. Only then will the finished pool be okay.

If you do something just “okay” a hundred times, one of those “okays” will not be okay. Water does not forgive that mistake.

The pool will leak or develop wrinkles. That’s why our track record has no leaking or wrinkled pools.

The magnets

These magnets trace our travels during our last three years of working in Russia and Kazakhstan — installing, renovating and repairing swimming pools. Some cities appear more than once because we returned there for multiple projects. Someone might notice Thailand and wonder whether we worked there too. No — that was a vacation. The final two magnets, from Istanbul and Cairo, mark our journey from Russia to Canada. There were no direct flights, and travelling with our dog required special arrangements, so we spent five days in Turkey and another five days in Egypt. And that is where the story of our work in Russia ends.

But our story with the magnets didn’t end there. They now track our business trips across Canada. In most cases, we work as subcontractors for pool companies. Several of them have already invited us back for multiple projects. A few stops are still missing from the collection, but we’ll do our best to fill in the gaps.

Canada

We arrived in Canada in May 2025. I’ve been a proud Canadian citizen since 2005, while Nadia came to Canada on a work permit—but we’re working on making her Canadian too. In June 2025, we founded our company, Membrane Surfaces Inc., and started working.

This was our first pool in Canada. Winnipeg, June 2025. The first and last days of work.

Below is our second pool in Canada, although it could also be considered roughly our tenth. We still count it as our second.

The pool was originally completed in 2023, but the membrane was poorly installed. Before we were called, two attempts had already been made to repair it, but the leak remained. In the summer of 2025, we repaired it. It was leaking badly. The repairs took us six days. We rewelded almost all the seams, removed some wrinkles, cut out the membrane around the fittings, welded in new patches and reinstalled all the flanges. The leaks stopped. The owners trusted us and invited us back the following season to redo the entire pool with a new membrane. They also corrected all the issues beneath the membrane before we started. Now the pool has a new look — and no leaks, of course.

The owner took these photos of us himself, so we hope he doesn’t mind us posting them here.