About Dan and Jan

About Dan~

Dan Hersman, President, came to Denver, Colorado in June of 1978 and started his fiberglass career working at San Juan Fiberglass Pools when it was located in Lakewood, Colorado. Here is where he was first introduced to the fundamentals of fiberglass lamination while manufacturing swimming pools and spas.

Later, he held took on a manager position at Lifetime Fiberglass Tanks in Denver. He oversaw all aspects of fabrication, materials, employees and safety. Lifetime Fiberglass Tanks had a unique, patented, machine to make large storage tanks. His knowledge of FRP fabrication and lamination increased as he operated a computerized fiberglass chopper gun, use of fiberglass cloth/matte/roving, resin/glass ration, tolerances of such as well as safety increased. Eventually, Lifetime Fiberglass Tanks was bought out by another fiberglass tank company and operations moved out of state.

His next position was at Mesa Fiberglass in Denver. Mesa fiberglass was the advanced class for Dan in fiberglass fabrication/lamination experience. They specialized in the fiberglass fabrication of products for large government projects. Dan learned to read blueprints, understand the different types of resins, the results of mixing of different resins, catalyst content, as well as fiberglass mattes, their applications and results. At Mesa, they had the opportunity to go beyond what was known and experiment with different fabrication materials, their effects, stress levels, different corrosion barriers, and such. He also learned how different applications of resins reacted in different environments and how temperature was an important factor to be figured in. Mesa Fiberglass eventually sold out to another investor and went a different direction.

San Juan Pools had just built a new manufacturing plant in Arvada and was looking for a Production Manager and Dan received the position. He then overseen all the facets of fiberglass pool and spa production, including but not limited to: building and maintaining molds, building pools and spas, repairs, spray gun and other equipment care, rigging and moving pools around the yard, installing pools when necessary. He understands that preparation of the surface and the condition of the mold is just as important as the correct fiberglass materials and application. He has a common sense understanding of the variables that influence a proper and successful fiberglass laminate. During the oil and gas recession of the 90’s San Juan Pools moved its operations from Denver and restructured.

Starting his own business~

Dan then started Sunset Fiberglass and did all sorts fiberglass repair and fabrication. He installed fiberglass liners in concrete, metal and other types of pools that weren’t holding up. He resurfaced and repaired pools and spas. He was also sub-contracted to install fiberglass pools for other companies during this time. He was flown out of state to conduct different fiberglass repairs for other companies.

A sampling of Dan’s completed fiberglass projects~

• Fabricated a “plunger” to work for Ocean Journey’s flash flood display. Hand-layed up a fiberglass laminate over the concrete in the otter tank and other fish tank displays. Ocean Journey is now a well-known restaurant known as The Aquarium in downtown Denver.
• Fiberglass repair and gelcoating of four existing fan shrouds on a cooling tower for US West Communication towers.
• Fiberglass lamination inside metal towers used to store liquids for Coors Brewing Company.
• Fiberglass lamination of underground fuel tanks for a private company.
• Taught Fiberglass Repair and Gelcoat Applications classes for the Colorado Pool & Spa Professionals Tech School. This class covered everything from identifying causes of fiberglass failures and providing solutions. Techniques of different fiberglass repair and how to apply gelcoat for optimum results and longevity.
• Repaired a fiberglass shroud neighbor’s Porsche. If it involved fiberglass work, he could do it.

In 1997, he purchased Quality Pool Supply in Boulder and merged Sunset Fiberglass with it and became Sunset Quality Pools, Inc. They had a retail store and sold pool products, serviced pools, repaired pools, sold and installed the still manufactured San Juan Pools & Spas, out of Eloy, AZ. -After visiting the San Juan Pool production plant in Eloy, AZ, he still felt that these were the best fabricated pools being produced.

It wasn’t long before he realized that he enjoyed installing pools more anything and decided to sell the service portion of the business, streamline, and specialize in the sales and installation of fiberglass pools. It was then that a dba name was chosen to better market the business- San Juan Pools of Colorado. Since then, San Juan Pools of Colorado has specialized in the sales and installation of fiberglass pools and spas all across Colorado and into Wyoming.

About Jan~

In Dec. 1999, his wife Jan submitted her resignation to the US Postal Service. She had worked for the Postal Service for over 19 years and had received a number of different awards and Letters of Appreciation. Over the years, her tasks were varied and many. To touch on a few, she held high positions of trust, such as working in the vault and conducting hand to hand deliveries for shipments in excess of $1,000,000.00. She was one of the first to be trained on the ETS – Employee Tracking System, which made her privy to employees’ situations. She provided orientation training to new employees as well as assisting Supervisors and General Foremen. She enjoyed her work at the Postal Service and liked meeting and helping people, whatever their position. She now enjoys working at San Juan Pools of Colorado, where she can continue to meet and work with new clients, and again, educate, inform and assist them throughout their entire pool project.