Building a swimming pool typically takes 4 – 8 weeks for an outdoor pool or a pool with an enclosure and 3 – 4 months for an indoor pool that requires housing in a pool building, depending what is required. However, an outdoor pool can be built from start to finish in 3 weeks.
There is so much expertise that goes into building a pool that only becomes apparent when the pool is used. A great looking pool is not necessarily a well built pool and we are frequently called in to help with problems caused by poor construction.
These problems include heating costs being way higher than they should be, the inability to get the pool water up to the desired temperature, difficulty in maintaining good water balance so the pool water doesn’t go green, poor positioning of the pool, a lack of proper safety measures, a poor or virtually non-existent control panel to run the pool, insufficient or no air handling for indoor pools, not to mention damage caused by leaks or other examples of poor workmanship.
Given that a well built and well maintained pool could last 50 years, certainly decades, it is an investment that deserves serious thought and expertise, and the process of planning and designing a pool ready to build involves making a number of very important decisions. So what do you need to consider?
As every location is different, so too are the challenges different with every pool we see or build. Generally the overriding consideration is how to design the pool within the constraints of the budget. It’s no good having an idea for a pool that looks fantastic on paper, but can’t be built because it is too expensive. We help our customers understand the different options available and what the implications of the different options are.
The physical location may cause us to look at different pool shell options and landscaping designs, as sloping sites, for example, even where the slope is gentle, can easily run away with money if the wrong option is chosen!
The exact positioning of the pool is also very important as the wind, sun and shade all need to be taken into account, as does the lie of the land and the drainage, as well as trees and shrubs, which can present problems, particularly for outdoor pools, long term due to root invasion and in the short term due to debris in the pool creating a maintenance nuisance and poor water quality.
Should the pool be indoors, outdoors or contained in some form of enclosure. What’s the best way to heat the pool? Should it be with a gas or oil boiler, or what about an air source heat pump, solar panels, or a combination of all? The decision as to how to heat the pool will have a dramatic effect on the running cost for the lifetime of the pool. What’s the point of having a pool you can’t afford to heat or a pool that looks great but for most of the time is too cool to use due to having the wrong heating system installed? How often we see that scenario! We use our experience to help our customers chose the right options for them based on their family’s likely use of the pool and the season they would like to use it for.
One of the reasons we are so frequently asked to rectify problems caused by a pool build is because pool building is not as straightforward as it may appear, yet in many cases is entrusted to people or companies that do not specialise in building pools, such as general builders or workmen, who may be excellent at what they do specialise in, but not at swimming pools!
If you feel you are committed to using a particular contractor, or even to building a pool yourself, we are happy to guide you through the process so you can happily follow the route you have chosen, with the reassurance and backup of our expertise.
We are a family business with over 30 years experience in designing and building swimming pools, so you can be sure of expert advice, quality workmanship and great service. To get a feel for the way we operate, do have a look at the build case histories at the top of the page, check out the gallery pages of pools we have built over the years and look at what our customers have to say. If you would like to speak to any of our customers directly, to see what their experience has been with us and the pool we built for them, you only have to ask!
