What this covers
A pool is a plumbing job with a hole around it
People choose the shape and the tile. What decides whether you enjoy the pool is everything underneath: how the water circulates, where the skimmers sit, whether the plant can actually turn the volume over, and how the shell was reinforced against the ground it is sitting in.
We take the whole thing, from the first peg to the day it is filled and balanced. One crew, so the concrete gang and the plumber are never blaming each other over a leak.
- Design, setting out and excavation
- Reinforced shell, steel and block work
- Circulation, skimmers, returns and main drain
- Pump, filter and plant room installed and commissioned
- Tiling, coping, decking and surround finishes
Before and after
A concrete shell to a pool
The same pool, same corner of the yard, photographed as a bare shell and again once it was tiled, coped, filled and running. Everything between the two pictures is the job, and most of it is buried by the time anybody swims in it.
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What changed
- Dug, shaped and the reinforced shell formed to the approved design
- Steel fixed and the reinforced shell formed
- Circulation, skimmers and returns plumbed and tested
- Waterproofing, tiling, coping and the surround
- Plant installed, pool filled, balanced and running
How a pool build runs
What the weeks actually look like
A standard residential pool runs about ten to sixteen weeks. The curing and the commissioning at the end are the parts that will not be hurried, whatever the date says.
Site visit and design
We look at access, ground, levels and where the plant can live, then design the pool around what the site will actually take rather than around a picture you liked.
Setting out and excavation
The shape marked out on the ground so you can walk it before we dig a thing. Then excavation, plus any retaining the ground needs to stay where it is while we work.
Steel and shell
Reinforcement fixed, then the shell formed and poured. This is the part that has to be right, because everything after it is finishes laid over the top of it.
Plumbing and plant
Skimmers, returns, main drain and the run back to the plant room, pressure tested before any of it is buried. A leak found now is an afternoon. The same leak found later is the deck coming up.
Waterproofing and tiling
Tanking, then tile, coping and the surround. Setting out matters as much here as in a bathroom, because a pool waterline shows every millimetre you were out by.
Fill, balance and handover
Filled, plant commissioned, water balanced, and we show you how to run it week to week. You get a pool that works, not just a pool that is built.
Questions
Pool questions
How much does a pool cost?
It moves more with the ground than with the pool. A flat, accessible plot is a very different number from a slope that needs retaining and machine access. Show us the spot you have in mind and we will price the pool and the ground work as separate lines, so you can see which one is driving the total.
Do we need approval to build a pool?
Usually yes, and it depends on your parish and how close to a boundary you are building. We will tell you at the site visit what your job needs. Same rule as everything else we build: nothing starts without the approval in hand.
How long before we can swim?
Ten to sixteen weeks on a standard build, and the last couple of those are curing, filling and getting the water right rather than anything you can watch happening. We will not hand over a pool before the chemistry is where it should be.
What does it cost to run?
Electricity for the pump, chemicals, and a service visit if you would rather not do it yourself. We size the pump to the volume instead of fitting the biggest one on the shelf, because an oversized pump costs you money every day it runs. You get the running numbers before you commit, not after.
Start here
Thinking about a pool?
Send us photos of the spot and a rough idea of the size on WhatsApp. We will walk it with you and tell you what that ground will take before we price anything.
- We call back the same working day
- Free site visit and measurement, anywhere we work
- A written quote with no obligation to go ahead
