There is a reason a well designed inground pool changes how a home lives. It pulls people outside. It cools Texas summers, becomes a backdrop for birthdays, and adds a touch of calm even on weekday evenings. Yet the path from idea to first swim day is full of choices that affect your budget, your schedule, and how the pool feels underfoot a decade from now. After building and renovating pools across North Texas, I’ve learned that clarity on timelines, costs, and design decisions saves money and headaches. Here is what matters when you begin, with a practical lens shaped by projects in the DFW area and the approach we take at DSH Homes and Pools - DFW Custom Home & Pool Builders.
What drives the schedule
Ask five people how long an inground pool installation takes and you will hear everything from “six weeks” to “half a year.” The truth sits somewhere in between, and the spread usually comes from permitting, weather, soil conditions, and the complexity of the design. For a straightforward gunite pool with a simple rectangle, no retaining walls, and modest features, eight to twelve weeks is common once permits clear. Add raised beam walls, a tanning ledge, a spa spillway, and a full outdoor kitchen, and the schedule often stretches to fourteen to twenty weeks. Here is how the time breaks down in practice.
Site assessment and design typically take one to three weeks. You want a scaled survey, a utility locate, and a working design that accounts for setbacks, easements, and drainage. Rushing this step leads to change orders, which are the natural enemies of a clean schedule.
Permitting in most DFW municipalities runs one to four weeks, although larger cities sometimes move faster if plans are clean. If you are in an HOA, add one to three weeks on top of city permits for architectural review. Coordinating both simultaneously helps.
Excavation is usually one to three days once equipment is on site. The wild card is rock. In Van Alstyne and other pockets of Grayson and Collin counties, we hit limestone or caliche. That can turn a two day dig into a five day dig if we need rock hammers. If you are building on expansive clay, we may over-excavate and bring in select fill to stabilize the shell, adding a couple of days.
Steel and plumbing rough-in consume three to five days on most builds. This is the skeleton and arteries of the pool: rebar layout, stubbed returns, suctions, spa lines, and an equipment pad rough. The quality of this step shows up years later when tile lines stay true and hydraulics perform.
Gunite application takes a day, curing takes a week to two weeks before heavy work restarts. In hot, dry weather we hydrate the shell to reduce surface cracking. Do not skip this, especially in summer.
Tile, coping, and masonry vary widely. A simple cast concrete coping and porcelain tile might wrap in a week. Travertine, glass tile details, and raised beams with ledger stone can stretch this phase to two or three weeks. If you plan a fully paved deck, allocate another week or two depending on square footage and material.
Equipment set and electrical run in parallel with masonry when possible. A clean mechanical layout with straight runs, labeled valves, and proper pump elevation saves maintenance time later. Expect two to five days, plus a day for inspection.
Plaster or pebble interior is the final major step. The application is a day, then filling the pool usually takes 24 to 48 hours. Water chemistry startup takes a week. If you choose traditional white plaster, the startup is straightforward. With colored plaster or pebble finishes, we manage the water balance more carefully to avoid mottling and scaling.
Texas weather can insert delays, especially during spring storms. We watch the forecast before gunite and plaster, and we plan drainage to keep the site from turning into soup after a downpour. If a builder shrugs off weather risk, your schedule will carry it.
Cost ranges you can trust
Talking cost without context helps no one. In DFW, a code-compliant inground gunite pool with a modest deck and simple rectangle shape typically starts around the high 60s to low 80s in thousands of dollars for the pool itself. That baseline assumes about 350 to 450 square feet of surface area, a single speed or variable speed pump, a cartridge filter, LED lighting, and standard white plaster. From there:
- A spa adds 15 to 30 thousand depending on size, jet count, and raised spillway details. Upgraded interiors like pebble finishes add 3 to 7 thousand, glass bead blends more. Automation packages for lights, pumps, and heater controls add 2 to 6 thousand. Travertine or porcelain paver decking can add 15 to 30 dollars per square foot above brushed concrete, depending on thickness and pattern. Complex features, such as sheer descents, raised walls, baja shelves with bubblers, and fire elements, can add 5 to 50 thousand depending on scale and materials.
Fiberglass pools are a different conversation. Installed costs often land in the 60 to 120 thousand range, with faster timelines but fixed shapes and sizes. Vinyl liner pools can come in lower on the front end, but liner replacements every 7 to 12 years change the lifecycle math.
I advise homeowners to set a working budget band, then design within it rather than designing first and trying to trim late. Trimming late usually means removing the small elements that create a high quality experience while fixed costs, like excavation and shell, remain.
Matching pool type to your site and lifestyle
Gunite remains the standard in North Texas for custom shapes and durable shells. We can sculpt shelves, add benches, integrate a spa, and adapt to slopes with retaining walls or raised beams. If you want exact dimensions to suit a narrow yard or a particular swim lane length, gunite fits.
Fiberglass shines when a homeowner prizes speed and a smooth feel underfoot, and their yard matches the shell’s standardized sizes. These pools resist algae better due to the gelcoat, use less chemical, and you can often swim in six to eight weeks after contract. Delivery access matters. If we cannot crane or trailer the shell to the backyard safely, fiberglass drops off the list.
Vinyl liner pools attract budget sensitive projects and can deliver a soft underfoot feel. The tradeoff is puncture risk from pets and the eventual liner change. In our heat, proper water chemistry is critical to avoid premature fading or wrinkling.
Think about how you plan to use the pool. If young kids will spend hours in shallow water, a large tanning ledge with 9 to 12 inches of water and umbrella sleeves makes sense. Swimmers who train laps need a straight run of at least 30 to 40 feet. Hosts who love evenings on the patio often prefer a raised spa for winter use, with a spillover that doubles as a sound feature in summer.
Design choices that pay off
Good pool design is a series of small decisions that make living with the pool easier and more enjoyable. The most expensive pool can feel average if the details miss. A modest pool can feel luxurious if the details hit.
Proportions matter. A rectangular pool often reads clean and modern, and it pairs well with paver or concrete decks laid in strong lines. Freeform shapes soften a yard and blend with curving landscapes. Neither is better in the abstract. Match the geometry of your home and the yard. I’ve stood in too many backyards where a curvy pool fought a crisp modern house, and the tension never disappeared.
Depth profiles deserve care. For family use, a 3.5 to 5.5 foot profile gets used more than old school deep ends. Unless you plan to install a diving board and accept the safety and space requirements that come with a 7.5 to 8.5 foot depth, stop at six feet and allocate more area to the middle depths where people stand and talk.
Coping and tile carry more visual weight than people expect. A bullnose travertine coping stays cooler underfoot than many poured concretes and looks timeless. Porcelain tile at the waterline hides calcium better than glass mosaics, which demand more maintenance in our hard water. If you love glass, use it selectively on raised features where water doesn’t sit and deposit minerals.
Lighting transforms evenings. I prefer smaller, multiple LED niches rather than one or two big lights. You avoid glare and get even illumination. Put a light near steps and benches so guests see where to sit. If your pool has a tanning ledge, a small nicheless LED there helps.
Skimmers, returns, and general hydraulics should be tucked into the layout early. In windy areas north of Dallas, orient skimmers to the prevailing south wind when possible. You will trap surface debris rather than chase it. A dedicated vacuum line gives you flexibility to use a pressure-side cleaner if you prefer it over robots, though the best modern robots keep pools spotless with less plumbing complexity.
Equipment and efficiency in Texas heat
The equipment pad is the heart of the system. It is also where many builds save money in ways that cost more over time.
Variable speed pumps are not optional in my book. They cut energy use by 50 to 80 percent compared to single speed pumps when programmed correctly, run quieter, and allow better filtration by moving water longer at lower speeds. A 2.7 or 3.0 horsepower variable speed unit paired with two inch plumbing on a typical backyard pool is a sweet spot.
Filters are a tradeoff. Cartridge filters capture small particles and avoid backwashing, which saves water, but they need periodic cleaning and proper sizing. I like oversized cartridges because they lengthen cleaning intervals. DE filters polish water beautifully but require careful handling of the DE powder and more frequent valve work. Sand is durable and simple but filters coarser, which is fine when paired with good chemistry and a robot cleaner.
Chlorination has shifted. Saltwater systems generate chlorine on site, keep levels consistent, and feel good on the skin. In our region, the salt cell should be sized at least 1.5 to 2 times your pool’s volume for longevity in summer heat. Traditional chlorine feeders still work, but floating tabs can cause localized damage if they sit against plaster. Automation helps avoid spikes and dips.
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Heaters and chillers earn their place depending on your goals. A gas heater heats a spa quickly, often 1 to 3 degrees per minute for a typical 6 to 8 person spa, and raises a pool for shoulder seasons if you are willing to pay for the gas. Heat pumps run efficiently for pools in the spring and fall, and reversible units can chill water in August when shallow pools feel bath-like. If you are building a spa, gas is the usual choice in DFW because of speed.
Automation brings the whole system into one app. Turn on lights, start the spa, or set schedules without walking to the pad. It is not a luxury if you plan to use the spa regularly. Body heat and memory fade, but a programmed schedule that turns water over daily and runs a skim cycle at dusk saves owners from guessing. Equipment brands are similar in capability. The difference is how cleanly the valves are plumbed and labeled, and whether the installer updates firmware and sets sensible defaults.
Permitting, setbacks, and practical code notes
Municipalities around Dallas Fort Worth follow broadly similar rules, with local quirks. Expect a required barrier such as a fence with self closing, self latching gates, often 48 inches or higher. Electrical bonding and GFCI protection are non negotiable. Setbacks from property lines are commonly 3 to 5 feet for water’s edge, with equipment pads often needing a 5 foot setback as well. Easements are off limits for permanent structures, including pool shells. If a utility easement cuts through your favorite spot, we design around it or shift features like pergolas that can sometimes straddle easements more flexibly.
HOAs add aesthetic rules: coping color, fence style, and even deck materials. Submitting a clear package with a site plan, elevations, and material samples heads off delays.
For stormwater, most cities require you to demonstrate that your project will not worsen drainage for neighbors. That means thinking through deck slopes, catch basins, and where downspouts discharge. A dry yard after a storm sells more future homes than any countertop, and it keeps your pool water clean, too.
Landscaping and hardscape integration
Pools do not exist in a vacuum. The frame you build around them - decking, shade, softscape - decides whether the space invites daily use. I have walked plenty of projects where a homeowner cut deck square footage to fit a budget, then regretted it when every chair jammed against the coping. A practical target is 5 to 7 feet of clear deck around the primary sides where you plan to walk and stage furniture. On the far side that meets a fence or planter, 3 feet of access is often enough.
Shade in Texas is not optional. Consider a fixed pergola or a simple umbrella sleeve in the tanning ledge and at one or two deck positions. If an oak or cedar stands near the intended pool, plan for root protection zones and species behavior. Some trees, like crepe myrtles, drop steady debris that tests the patience of any skimmer.
Plant with roots in mind. Avoid aggressive root systems close to the shell or deck. Boxwoods, dwarf yaupon holly, rosemary, and ornamental grasses pair well with pools, require modest water, and tolerate reflected heat. If you want color, use planters that can be moved for maintenance.
Lighting the landscape extends use past sunset. Downlights from a pergola, a few low path lights, and a couple of accent lights on trees create depth without glare. Stick to warm color temperature so the space feels welcoming rather than clinical.
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Water chemistry and startup that protects your finish
The first thirty days after plaster or pebble application set the tone for the finish’s life. The water must be balanced, and someone needs to take responsibility for it. On our projects, we manage startup with a clear log and measured targets.
Fill from a single hose and never stop the water until the pool is full to tile line, or you risk a ring. We test the fill water before we start. In our area, fill water often arrives with high calcium hardness, which influences how we adjust alkalinity and pH. Start the pump as soon as the water reaches mid skimmer. We brush the pool daily for the first week, then three times the second week, which moves fine plaster dust into the filter. Do not turn on a heater during the first month because heat can help scale form on fresh plaster.
For salt systems, wait two to four weeks before introducing salt to protect the new surface. During that time, sanitize with liquid chlorine and manage pH and alkalinity to a balanced Langelier saturation index. This is one of those unseen steps that separates a finish that stays even from one that mottles or scales early.
Hidden costs and money savers
Every project teaches something about where dollars go and how to keep them from going there unnecessarily. The cost of access is one of them. A narrow side yard that forces us to use a mini excavator and haul spoils with small machines adds days and dollars compared to a clean twelve foot gate that accepts full size equipment. If you can schedule a temporary fence panel removal or shift a shed, you may save far more than the hassle is worth.
Utilities can surprise. Gas lines to heaters and spas often require upsizing the meter or running long lengths from the street. Budget for the trench, the plumber, the inspection, and the utility company’s meter upgrade if needed. Electrical sub panels also come up, especially when adding an outdoor kitchen or a large lighting plan.
Material choices influence lifetime cost, not just upfront numbers. A porcelain paver deck may cost more to install than brushed concrete, but it stays cooler, resists stains, and allows repair of individual units if a future project cuts through, such as a new gas line. Over a decade, that flexibility saves money and keeps the space looking fresh.
Working with a design build partner
A pool builder decides far more than the shell. They set expectations, coordinate trades, and catch the small errors that can turn into big problems. At DSH Homes and Pools - DFW Custom Home & Pool Builders, we build both homes and pools, which gives us a broader view of site grading, soil behavior, and how outdoor spaces connect to interiors. That matters when the pool bond beam needs to match the interior floor elevation for a flush transition without tripping hazards, or when a patio cover addition must tie into rooflines without fights over flashing and drainage.
Clear communication beats speed when the two conflict. I would rather lose a week finalizing coping samples and tile transitions than rush to meet a self imposed date and install something you will want to change. Crews that show up with clean plans move faster anyway.
If you are interviewing builders, ask to walk a job in progress and a job finished two or more years ago. Fresh plaster always looks good. A two year old pool shows whether tile lines stayed true, coping joints stayed tight, and decks drained as designed. Ask who performed startup and who you call if the pump throws a code on a Saturday in July. Those answers matter.
A practical pre build checklist
Use this short list to gauge readiness before you sign:
- Confirm your property survey, HOA requirements, and utility locate are in hand. Walk the intended path of equipment access and plan any fence or tree adjustments. Decide on a depth profile, tanning ledge size, and whether you want a spa now or space for one later. Choose equipment preferences: variable speed pump, salt vs. traditional chlorination, heater type. Align on a realistic schedule with weather contingency and identify the point person for startup.
Five items are enough. Most other decisions fall into place once these are clear.
Real world examples from the DFW corridor
A family in McKinney wanted a compact pool for a tight yard, with room left for a small patch of grass for the dog. We designed a 12 by 24 rectangle with a full width bench on the deep side, a pool installation near me DSH Homes and Pools - DFW Custom Home & Pool Builders six inch tanning ledge for toddlers, and porcelain paver decking on two sides only. The third side got a gravel band and plantings to keep the feel soft and the budget focused. Without a spa, the total project stayed in the 90s. They later added a pergola and string lights, and the space still feels balanced because we planned the post footings at the beginning, not as an afterthought.
In Van Alstyne, rock slowed excavation for a couple who wanted a raised spa clipped onto a freeform pool that hugged mature oaks. We brought in a rock hammer, reinforced the shell with additional steel where we encountered fractured limestone, and installed a heat pump chiller for August comfort. The build took sixteen weeks, about three weeks longer than the schedule we sketched on day one, but the pool sits level, the spa heats fast with gas, and the oaks still frame the view because we respected their root zones and added deep watering lines during construction.
A Plano homeowner insisted on glass waterline tile throughout. We walked through the maintenance implications and the reality of our hard water. They kept the glass but paired it with a dedicated maintenance visit every quarter and a whole home water softener. Two years later, the tile still sparkles because they committed to the upkeep that the look requires. Not every design decision is about avoiding maintenance. Sometimes it is about going in eyes open.
When to start and how to plan seasonally
Demand spikes in late winter and spring as families aim for summer swims. If you want water in June, contract by February or earlier. Fall is a smart time to build. Crews have steadier schedules, weather is kinder to plaster and masonry, and you start the next summer with a fully cured, stable pool. Plantings also establish better in the cooler months, which means the yard looks settled faster.
Weather aside, think about your household calendar. If you are remodeling a kitchen or planning travel, coordinate the pool build so startup and training happen when you are home. The first month is the learning curve. After that, weekly tasks take minutes.
What happens after the first swim
A good pool proves itself in the second summer, not the first. By then you have lived through a winter freeze, a spring storm, and a July stretch where the pump runs longer and the pool sees heavy use. Keep an eye on three things: water level, chemistry, and equipment programming.
Evaporation in North Texas can run a quarter inch or more per day in peak heat. Auto fills hold water level steady, but they do not replace the need to watch for leaks. Do a simple bucket test if you suspect a problem. Most fluctuations are evaporation and splash out, not underground leaks, but it is worth checking before panic sets in.
Chemistry desires routine. Test weekly, keep chlorine in range, manage pH which tends to rise in new plaster and with aeration, and brush steps and benches where circulation is weaker. A robot cleaner every couple of days keeps floors and walls pristine and reduces the filter’s workload.
Programming should fit the season. In winter, run the pump during the coldest hours to protect from freeze events. Modern automation can handle this automatically. In summer, run enough to skim debris and turn the water volume over at least once daily. Split run times morning and evening if wind blows mid day.
Why homeowners mention “pool installation near me”
Search phrases like pool installation near me or inground pool installation near me are shorthand for what people really want: a builder who understands local soil, code, and climate, and who will be around to service what they install. Proximity matters when a valve leaks or a storm knocks power out mid startup. It also matters for the craft that depends on relationships, like getting the best gunite crew or the tile setter who cares where every joint lands.
If you are comparing pool installation services near me across the DFW metro, look past glossy renderings. Ask about equipment brands, plumbing sizes, warranty support, and whether the person you meet at the first visit will manage the job. That is where projects succeed or drift.
Working with DSH Homes and Pools
If you want one team accountable for design, permits, construction, and startup, DSH Homes and Pools - DFW Custom Home & Pool Builders can help. Being both home and pool builders lets us tie exterior spaces into the life of the house, not just fill a backyard rectangle. Whether you are mapping a simple pool installation or a full outdoor living area, we start with your priorities, then align the plan, timeline, and budget to match.
Contact Us
DSH Homes and Pools - DFW Custom Home & Pool Builders
Address: 222 Magnolia Dr, Van Alstyne, TX 75495, United States
Phone: (903) 730-6297
Website: https://www.dshbuild.com/
Whether you are early in planning or ready to break ground, a short site visit and a candid design conversation will set the project on the right track. If you are searching for pool installation, inground pool installation, or simply a partner who will stand behind the work long after the first swim, we would be glad to meet you on site and talk through options that fit your yard and your life.