How Does a Pool Get Built?

Every build follows the same order. We design the pool, pull the permit, dig, and set the shell or frame. Then we run the plumbing and electrical, pour the deck, and fill the pool. Before you swim, pool school teaches you to run it. The national PHTA-5 standard sets guidelines for building home inground pools.

Build time depends on the pool type. A semi-inground vinyl liner pool takes about 26 working days. A fiberglass pool takes 4 to 6 weeks, including shell delivery. A custom gunite pool takes 3 to 6 months from signing. Permits add about one to four weeks, so pick your swim date first and work back from it.

A fiberglass pool is built in a factory, then trucked to your yard and set in one piece. We install Leisure Pools shells. After the dig, the crew sets a stone base, levels the shell, and backfills around it with the same stone. A crane is needed only when the shell has to go over your house.

The part you never see matters most. We set every fiberglass shell on at least 4 inches of 3/8 chip stone and backfill with it too. A typical fiberglass pool takes 80 to 100 tons of stone. Sand can hold water and wash out, but chip stone stays put. Leisure Pools reviewed and approved this method.

Rain can fill a fresh dig, the excavator can hit buried rock, and permits can run slow. Rain and permit delays cost you time, not added dollars. Buried rock is the one thing that can change a quoted price, and we tell you before any extra work starts. The FTC's contractor tips explain how to tie payments to finished work.

Your yard will look much worse than you expect while the pool goes in. Expect mud, equipment, and piles of dirt for weeks. We fence off the work area so pets stay out of the dig. On fiberglass builds, we hold off on swimming until the whole job is done, including the deck.