The Process of Building a Pool

Pool Excavation

• The first step in the swimming pool building process is selecting an appropriate site for pool excavation. A backyard is typically the most appropriate site for a swimming pool. Swimming pool excavation involves the use of heavy equipment to dig out the hole for the pool's basin. Depending on swimming pool size, some of the equipment needed to excavate its basin includes backhoes and dump trucks to haul away excavated soil.

Basin Construction

• A swimming pool's basin is where all of a swimming pool's water is held for swimming. Swimming pools come in three different types: concrete, vinyl liner and fiberglass shell. Concrete swimming pools are built using forms over which concrete is poured. Vinyl liner pools have steel or composite frames and walls over which a vinyl liner will be installed. Fiberglass swimming pools feature a manufactured and shaped fiberglass shell which is fitted in the pool's excavated hole.

Equipment Installation

• While a swimming pool's basin is being constructed, simultaneous work on installing pool plumbing, filter and electrical systems is also occurring. Swimming pool plumbing includes basin drains, water return lines, piping, pumps and filter systems to process all the pool's water. Pool electrical wiring is put in place to power the pool's lighting as well as its filter pump and any water heater system, if included. Once a pool's basin is constructed and its equipment installed, final finishing work begins.

Finish Work

• Finish work related to the pool building process includes covering swimming pool basin edges with some type of coping. Pool coping is stone or concrete material that is placed over the tops of a pool basin's walls to give the pool a finished look. Once a pool has been built the site is cleaned up and all equipment taken away. Lastly, pool building finish work involves filling the swimming pool's basin, testing pool equipment and sanitizing its water.

Considerations

• Many pool building companies offer do-it-yourself pool building kits that can cut several thousand dollars from the cost to build a pool. In-ground swimming pools usually take from 2 to 16 weeks to build, depending on their type. Concrete pools take the longest time to construct, with vinyl liner swimming pools generally taking the least time. At the time of publication, a typical 20-foot by 40-foot vinyl liner swimming pool costs about $17,000 to have installed, with concrete versions costing $37,000.