How Long Does Gunite Pool Construction Take?

The next topic for our question and answer in education is going to be what does a pool construction timeline look like? So, we will have to break this down into the various types of tools that we build. We’re going to start with a gunite pool. Where are you going to have to start is the design and consultation process, which generally will take anywhere from a week to a month.

This is the process where one of our designers will come on out to your house. We’ll talk about the things that you love, that you want to incorporate and build into that backyard. The nice thing about a gunite and or shotcrete is you really can do anything you want in the backyard. Because what we’re going to come up with is a two scale 3D rendering of your yard before we take a single scoop of dirt out of that yard.

Once we come up with a design that we love, and we’ve gone into the contract, then it goes into the permitting phase. Now, the permitting phase is going to vary from city to city, county to county. There are certain cities and counties that we can walk in and we can get a permit over the counter, which means we could potentially be digging next week.

There’s other cities that are taking six months. There’s even other areas that can take up to a year. That is going to be one of the questions that you want to talk to our design, our designers when they come out, because they’re going to be the most familiar with the area, the soil conditions and all the important things that you need to know. Once we have the permit and construction is underway, the very first process and one of the most exciting processes is the dig the excavation part.

This is where we’re fundamentally changing your backyard. And realistically, it is going to be somewhat messy because we’re bringing in 10,000 pound and sometimes even heavier tractors into your backyard, to level it, grate it for future concrete, and actually excavate the hole. After that, we’re going into the plumbing, steel and electric phases of pool construction, which can be followed up in usually the next two to three weeks of timeline.

Most of these phases can be done to some degree with some weather variation. The phases that can not be done with where weather variation, a.k.a. rain, snow or the masonry, the concrete for phase, anything to do with that needs a certain temperature to cure. So after we’ve done the steel, after we’ve done the plumbing, after we’ve done the electric, we’re going to go on to the Gunite phase.

Very simply, Gunite is concrete shot out of a cannon of 125 miles an hour because we want to create strong compaction. Once that is in there, what will happen is you are going to wait for that gunite to cure anywhere from seven days to two weeks. You’ll actually be instructed to water down that gunite because Gunite is a drier material and by watering it down, you will actually allow it to cure stronger.

After gunite, this is where we start to vary a little bit depending on the types of materials that we’ve got around, meaning if we’re doing a travertine coping, if we are doing concrete coping, those are going to be some of the next phases that come up in pool construction. We could be incorporating elements such as fire pits, flame pits, depending on the customization factor, depending on the other elements.

Are we doing barbecue pits, fire pits, whatever the case may be? That is where it is going to deviate. The phases that tend to take the longest are towards the back and the pool construction decking, for example, is one of the phases that tends to take a long time. However, once you get to that decking phase, you are almost there.

You’re probably 70 plus percent of the way to that pool actually being done. So just remember, as you’re going through the entire project, you will only see people on site somewhere between ten and 15 days. The rest of the time we are waiting for materials to cure material selections that oftentimes come in and then just masonry work and things of that nature do take a little bit more time to actually do.

So, ultimately you’re looking at a three to four month timeline on a gunite pool.

How Long Does Fiberglass Pool Construction Take?

Now let’s talk about the fiberglass pool timeline. We’re going to jump to that because a short creek pool and a great pool have a near identical build process and build timeline on a fiberglass pool. This is a much abbreviated timeline if we do have the fiberglass shell, again, we’re going to start with the beginning, which is the design process, finding out what you want your backyard to look like and doing a 3D two scale rendering of that backyard before you take a single scoop of dirt out from that point in time.

What we’re going to end up doing once you’re in contract is ordering the shell. The shell can take anywhere for us from six to eight weeks to order and in some cases quite a bit longer if it is a special order or there’s unusual circumstances. After the contract is signed, we’re going to go into the permitting phase. The permitting phase can again take anywhere from over the counter, meaning we walk in and we get it to possibly a year depending on the scenarios for that particular area which your designer will be familiar with after that point in time.

This is where it gets fun because fiberglass happens quickly you’re typically talking about a three week timeline once that Shell has gotten in. Once we have that shell in stock, we’re going to be coordinating and making sure that we’re doing the dig. The plumbing and the decking all start to come in very quickly. So versus a three or four month process with a great pool or a great pool.

Once you have that shell and for fiberglass, that can be a three, four or five week pool depending on what phases come in. Again, with fiberglass, the biggest part or the longest part is oftentimes just waiting for the shell to come in.