ComparisonUpdated Aug 2026
A concrete pool is one of the largest structures most homeowners will ever commission, and almost all of the work that determines whether it lasts is buried before you ever see water in it. That makes choosing the builder more consequential than choosing the shape, the tile or the finish. Here is what we would look at if we were hiring one.
Who is actually on your site
Ask directly whether the crew building your pool is employed by the company or subcontracted, and how many projects that crew is running at the same time. Neither answer is automatically wrong, but they produce very different experiences. A builder juggling many simultaneous sites with rotating subcontractors has less control over quality and dates than one running small, consistent teams.
We run crews of two to three experienced builders per project for exactly this reason, and both owners stay involved throughout rather than appearing at the sales meeting and the handover.
Engineering is not optional
The shell is a structure. It should be designed for your site's soil, grade, frost depth and water table, not assembled from a standard detail that worked somewhere else. Ask who does the structural engineering, whether the drawings are specific to your property, and how hydrostatic pressure and drainage are handled. A builder who answers those questions comfortably and specifically is telling you something useful.
Ask about the parts you will never see
Most of what separates a pool that lasts thirty years from one needing remediation in five is invisible on handover day:
- Reinforcement spacing and shell thickness, and who verifies them
- How the gunite is cured, and over how long
- Drainage and hydrostatic relief for the specific site
- Plumbing runs and how they are pressure tested before being buried
- Which equipment is specified, by make and model, rather than by category
A builder who is proud of this work will happily walk you through it. Vagueness here is the single most useful warning sign available to you.
References and finished work
Photographs are marketing. Ask to see a project that is several years old rather than freshly completed, because the interesting question is how the work ages through our freeze-thaw cycles. Ask for references from past clients and actually call them, and ask those owners what happened when something went wrong, since every project has at least one such moment. How a builder behaves in that moment is the real product.
Communication and scheduling
Establish who your point of contact is, how often you will hear from them, and what happens when the schedule shifts. A build that runs a season involves many stages and many decisions, and the projects that go smoothly are the ones where information flows without the homeowner having to chase it.
Permits and compliance
Pool enclosure permits, setbacks and fencing requirements vary between municipalities across the GTA and Atlantic Canada. Confirm who is responsible for applications and inspections, and that compliance is designed in from the beginning rather than resolved at the end.
Warning signs worth taking seriously
- Reluctance to explain structural detail, or answers that stay general when you ask specifics
- No site visit before committing to a scope of work
- Pressure to decide quickly
- Vague specifications where materials and equipment are described by category rather than named
- No written scope covering yard restoration, fencing and the extent of decking
- Reluctance to provide references from completed projects
Common questions
What should I ask a pool builder before hiring them?
Ask who is physically building the pool and whether they are employed or subcontracted, how many projects that crew runs at once, who performs the structural engineering, how drainage and hydrostatic relief are handled for your site, and for references from projects several years old.
Does it matter whether a builder subcontracts the work?
It affects consistency and control. Subcontracted crews vary between projects, which makes quality and schedule harder to guarantee. Small dedicated crews are the main reason our timelines hold.
How can I tell whether a pool is properly engineered?
Ask whether the structural drawings are specific to your property's soil, grade, frost depth and water table, and how hydrostatic relief is provided. A builder who answers specifically rather than generally is a good sign.
