Pools & Spas

Pre-site Inspection: Our team will need access to your yard to verify measurements, setbacks, elevations and public utility locations..

Drafting: Our in house draftsperson will take your Designer’s renderings and pre-site report to create a working CAD engineered plan. You will receive a copy of the engineered plan so that you, the client, may know all measurements, materials, locations, etc. If something does not look right or stands out as different from your perception of the conceptual renderings, this is a good time to bring it up and request any changes.

Permit Submittal: Once drafting is complete and there are no red flags from inspection, your project will be entered into your municipality’s Building Review Office for Permitting. Turnaround on the permit process is different for each municipality.

Layout: Based on your drafted construction plan we paint an outline of your pool, deck, masonry, and structures on the ground before any work begins. This gives you an opportunity to approve the shape and position before we excavate. Excavators use the layout as a guide when they dig the pool.

Material Selection: Our friendly and knowledgeable Color Specialists will guide you through the material selection process so your project is beautifully put together and tailored to your style.

Construction Manager Set-Up: This is the part of the process where you will be introduced to your assigned Construction Manager. The “CM” will set the height of the pool based on the decking material selected and the slope of the deck and yard.

Site Preparation: Prior to the actual pool being dug, it is very important that all important landscape material that is to be saved be marked and irrigation rerouted around the pool. Often, it is necessary to pregrade the yard and take out unwanted landscape material, concrete, and masonry that will be in the pool area.

SPECIAL NOTE: It is important to use a one source outdoor specialist so that proper landscape drainage and grades are established for the entire yard. Excess dirt can be removed when the pool is dug, or excess dirt can be left for mounding and grade changes. This saves money and avoids multiple contractors trying to get by without an overall vision of the space.

Excavation: Our excavation specifications include vertically excavated walls and flat floors, which create a safer, more enjoyable and spacious swimming pool than the industry norm. In some municipalities we can excavate prior to obtaining the permit.

Plumbing and Equipment: Our plumbers follow a detailed plan for the location of every feature, pool return and drain. You will notice that pipes are protruding out from the pool dig. These will be cut off near the end of construction and will finish flush to the final pool wall.

Steel Rebar: Steel rebar is installed in a grid pattern to reinforce the strength of the concrete shell. The vast majority of pool companies use standardized steel specifications driven with the belief that the least expensive is the best. But our steel specifications are developed and engineered for your pool, in your particular soil, with the unique load and stress of your pool design.

Electrical: Standard features include LED pool lights with remote-control capabilities, your selected timer and control panel will be placed with the equipment for daily pool system control.

Pre-Shotcrete Inspection: After excavation, plumbing, steel, and electrical are installed, we will call into your municipality to schedule the “Pre-Gunite” inspection. Once a green tag is obtained and set on site, shotcrete will be scheduled.

Barriers: If you have not yet made your home and yard safe by installing the necessary barriers, now is a good time install these items. If barriers are included in your project then your construction coordinator will handle this for you.

Shotcrete (concrete pool shell): In this phase, steps and benches are formed, spas take shape, and the pool begins to look like a pool. To add compaction strength to the concrete shell, our special mix of shotcrete tests to 4,000 psi, while industry standards are as low as 3,000 psi. The shell is a minimum thickness of six inches thick, and in coves and all stress areas, it’s a minimum of eight inches thick.

Gas Line: In most cases your gas line will be installed and inspected after shotcrete. If you have natural gas appliances permitted on your project, once the pool’s final inspection has passed, your gas company will schedule the hook up to the gas meter. Typically, someone will need to be home for this to take place as the pilot light will need to be relit by the gas company. If your gas source is propane, then you will need to arrange for the tanks to be filled.

Water Features: Installation of water features, whether rock boulders, copper spillways, or decorative tile and/or stone splashes will also be installed at this time.

Irrigation and Drainage: Prior to decking it is a good time to ensure there is appropriate sleeving or other accommodations for the coming landscape irrigation, drainage, lighting, sound, and other utilities that the project requires. Contractors who are not landscape oriented are likely to forget these crucial items.

Decking: During this stage we will be completing your decking system. Concrete based decking will be formed and poured while alternative decking methods (i.e. pavers, travertine, and artistic pavers) will take a bit longer. Alternative decking methods require a formed border, compaction, and overall, will be more of a labor intensive system which adds a week to the building process based on the amount of square footage.

Masonry Finish Work: At this point and at times, concurrent with the pool tile work it is time to begin to create the lasting beauty of the pool by installing masonry finish products like stacked stone, decorative pots, tile, stone, glass tile, paver caps, stone caps, and other finish products.

Tile: During this phase, we will install all waterline tiles, step tiles, mosaics, and other tile based features.

Carpentry Finish Work: At this point, and occasionally concurrent with the pool tile work, it is time to begin creating the lasting beauty of the pool by installing masonry finish products like stacked stone, decorative pots, tile, stone, glass tile, paver caps, stone caps, and other finish products.

Final Inspection: After cleanup has occurred, we will call into your municipality to schedule the final inspection. All barriers such as fences, gates, gate springs, self-closing doors, etc. will need to be completed prior to this phase. The municipality will sign off on the project as complete and we will then schedule your interior.

Interior Surfaces: After final inspection and municipality sign-off, your interior surface will be installed. Whether you have chosen plaster or Sea Glass Pebble you are only days away from swimming.

Start-Up: Once the pool is filled with water, we will send our Start-Up crew out to do all final fine tuning to your pool to begin functional operation and add the proper chemicals.

Orientation: You will be contacted to schedule an orientation, so you will understand how to care for and operate your new pool. During orientation, you are encouraged to video tape the process of operation and this is a good time to ask questions. Being an informed and educated pool owner, will allow for an enjoyable pool ownership experience. We will also leave you with a pole, basket, brush, and test kit.

Landscape Fine Grading and Layout: A well planned project by now will be set up for a successful and trouble free landscape installation. Typically this starts with a bit of fine grading and location of all major trees, plants, and features. Natural, effective contours to a landscape are as much art as science.

Landscape Irrigation: All irrigation systems, controllers, and valve boxes need to be installed. CPL standards dictate the same level of connection and leak avoidance that we employ on our pools. You might be surprised what we find when we are called on to rework existing systems where this attention to detail and adherence to standards is not followed.

Lighting, Misting, Sound, Video: Underground placement of utilities where they are protected, buried and trouble free is important and should be done right after irrigation.

Masonry, Water Features, Borders and Decks: Any masonry, water features, decks or walkways not completed with the pool (or if this project does not include a pool) should be constructed and installed now. Again, we are the recognized leaders in quality design and construction, there is nothing that we do not do well. We are not practicing on your project, we have 27 years and over 25,000 successful projects to draw experience from.

Planting Excavation: Proper sized excavation of planted material and then preparation of the soil around each specimen will insure less shock to the live material and more vibrant, healthier plants and trees.

Planting: It is difficult to discuss planting without also discussing selection of the specimens. Our vendors know what we demand and do not try to pass off second rate live material. We routinely reject anything but the best. Care is then taken to plant and nurture the beginning of every plant and tree’s new home.

Inert Material: This is when the big pile of decorative gravel shows up and is spread. Our standards dictate two inch minimum coverage and when we are done installing the gravel it is raked and perfect.

Synthetic or natural grass: Almost done now, we install the best of Arizona grown and harvested sod. We also offer a complete line of top quality heat resistant artificial grasses and putting green materials.

Landscape Lighting: Up until now, you have only seen wire looped up in the backyard where your lights go but we finish off your project with top quality traditional or LED lights designed just for the impact and effect you desire.

Instructions and Walk Through: We do a complete walk through of your project and fine tune every item. Then we go over complete operating procedures for your irrigation controls. We also give you full written instructions and links to resources to promote the healthiest environment for your plants.