Pool Design Process

The first step towards designing your dream pool begins with what we call the Discovery step. In this part of the design process, you will meet with one of our Pool Stop professionals in our Design Center to brainstorm ideas for your custom pool. Even if you aren’t sure where to begin, the Discovery step will help you conceptualize the features that can be added to your backyard based on the amount of space you have and your available budget.

Before Your Visit

The Pool Stop Design Center serves as your one-stop shop for creating your dream pool, from concept to reality. But first, we need to get a little bit of information from you about your project. A survey will be sent to your inbox, which contains simple questions about your personal information, the type of pool and features you want, an estimated budget, and how soon you can visit our Design Center. Or if you prefer, you can complete our survey in our Rockwall-based store to get some additional help from our designers. The answers you provide will help give our design consultants a basic understanding of the direction you want to take your backyard upgrade.

Evaluating Your Budget

As your pool designer helps you brainstorm your backyard pool, they will also discuss your available budget. Having a predetermined budget in mind will help our designers understand how much you’re willing to spend on your future pool. We accept payments up front, but Pool Stop also offers financing for qualified homeowners who build their backyard pools with us. Whether your budget is big or small, we’re committed to helping you make the most of your backyard and budget to create a relaxing oasis in your outdoor living space. 

The Discovery step marks the beginning of your pool construction journey with us, and it’s an exciting process to be a part of. Now that we have some preliminary information about what you want your future pool to look like, we can move on to Step 2.

During the Discovery step, our designers collect basic information from you about the type of pool you want and what your budget looks like. After this, we will begin the next step, which we call Creative Environments. This is part of your pool design journey where you get to interact with virtual renderings of several different pool shapes in your own backyard in our Design Center. All the details you shared with our designers in the Discovery step are used by our team of designers to create these renderings, which you will now have an opportunity to view in depth. Our Design Center features a display room with a large-screen TV showing a slideshow of the pool configurations created by our team. 

About Our Display Room

Building a custom pool in your backyard can be a big decision, so we strive to make you as comfortable as possible while looking at your virtual pool renderings. Our guests can spend as much time as they need in our Display Room to check out the designs that we’ve created. On average, customers spend about an hour in our display room, but we give you the freedom to take as much or as little time as you need to narrow down your choice. 

Add Customization to Your Rendering

If you’re interested in seeing what outdoor living features such as spas and patios would look like in your backyard, all you have to do is ask our associates and they will quickly add those features to the renderings. If you’re not sure what types of backyard living features you need, no need to worry; our design team can ask you questions about the activities you often do in your backyard and recommend features based on your answers.

Pricing and Warranty Information

When setting out to create our entirely in-store pool design experience, we wanted to be transparent about every detail of your future pool. This is why we include pricing estimates with every pool design that we render. These price ranges will inform you of the estimated cost of building the pool shapes that you selected in the Discovery step. Plus, every pool we construct is backed by our class-leading warranty, which not only covers the pool itself, but other components such as pool cleaners, chlorinators, heaters, and many more. Many of our competitors are often reluctant to share pricing details with their potential customers during the early consulting phase and they do not offer warranties on their pools. At Pool Stop, our team is committed to keeping you in the know throughout the entire pool building process, and we will never shy away from providing you useful estimates of our construction costs and giving you our best-in-class warranty.

Now that you’ve had the time to evaluate your pool design options, it’s time to narrow down your choices to a handful of our curated designs. Our designers will work alongside you in determining which pool designs would suit your outdoor living space best. Once you have made your decisions, we can move on to the third step of our pool design process. 

Choose Your Pool Plaster

Pool plaster is the seal and coating that covers and protects the inside of your custom pool. This material mainly serves to give your pool a durable coating to prevent water from leaking, but it can also be customized with different colors and patterns. For example, we offer a variety of dyed plasters, but if you want to add a more luxurious touch to your custom pool, we also have quartz and pebbled finishes. Regardless of which pool plaster option you choose, we can guarantee that these finishes add a lifetime of durability to your pool project so you can enjoy your custom pool for years to come. 

Select A Pool Coping Option

Choosing your custom pool’s coping is another important step in the Selections step. There are several things to consider when selecting your pool coping that go beyond its look and feel. For example, the texture of the pool coping you select will affect how easy it is to walk around your pool when it’s wet, as different coping options have differing levels of slip resistance. Other things to consider when selecting your pool’s coping include how well the coping absorbs heat and how easy it is to clean among other things. But most of all, choosing the right pool coping can add a decorative touch around the outside edges of your pool that helps it stand out in your backyard.

Browse Our Pool Decking and Tiling Options

Once your plaster and coping are selected, it’s time to start thinking about choosing your pool decking and tiling. During this step, we’ll recommend choosing a pool tile that either matches or compliments your current coping selection. As with the plaster and coping selections, each swimming pool tile option has different features and benefits. At Pool Stop, we have over 150 pool decking and tiling samples for you to choose from, so no matter how you want your custom pool to look, we can help you create the perfect swimming pool right here in our Design Center. 

Now that we’ve decided on the more detailed features of your pool build, it’s time to bring it all to life. The fourth step in the pool design process is to meet with our design team and create a 3D rendering of the swimming pool design you have put together.

Beginning Your 3D Pool Design

After your design options are selected for your swimming pool installation, it’s time to lock in your design. During this phase, you will see your vision come to life with a 3D rendering of your pool design right in your backyard. One advantage of our 3D pool design process is that your rendering is truly unique to you. After getting your home address, we’ll create a real-time 3D rendering of your home’s backyard and then insert your pool design, including all of your desired pool features. With this process, you’ll get to see exactly how your design fits, looks, and feels once it is installed, giving you the opportunity to visualize exactly what you’ve designed.

Stay Involved With CoConstruct

After the final design of your custom swimming pool is confirmed, our pool designer will begin to explain the construction process and introduce you to CoConstruct. CoConstruct is our project management tool that we use to display important information to our clients. We use this tool to keep track of our progress on your pool build by uploading project updates and photos to the platform. Also, CoConstruct allows for a clear line of communication with our pool construction team. That way, if you have any questions, concerns, or requests for your pool project, our team can quickly respond to your questions.

Now that you have finalized your pool design and the selections that go with it, your next step will be to grab the right tools to maintain it. In the Equipment and Warranty step of our pool design process, we will make sure you have the proper equipment and safety to maintain your swimming pool and keep it swim-ready.

We’re getting closer to finalizing your custom pool design! The next step is to guide you in choosing equipment for your pool. Our Rockwall, Texas store offers a variety of highly sophisticated products to make enjoying your pool easier. A custom swimming pool is a nice luxury to have, but it requires a good amount of maintenance to keep it in good condition. To help make your ownership experience a little easier, we offer advanced equipment that can make maintaining your pool less of a chore. Let’s learn about some of the equipment that we recommend taking a look at:

Warranty Program

Before you can put pen to paper, it’s important to evaluate the warranty options available to you. Every pool we build is covered by our industry-leading warranty program, which not only covers your custom pool, but the accessories and features you add to it as well. Here’s a breakdown of some of the items we cover in our warranty program:

• Pool Plumbing: Three years from your startup, both above and underground plumbing is covered under warranty.
• Pool Equipment: Three years from your startup, pool lights are covered in our warranty program.
• Automatic Pool Cleaners: Excluding filters and other worn items, pool cleaners are covered up to two years from the start of your project.
• Tile and Coping: Mortar and grout are included in our warranty program three years from the start of your project.
• Mastic: This waterproof adhesive can be repaired or replaced once in three years from the start of your project.
• Electrical Work: We will repair or replace any circuits we installed (including breakers and outlets) five years after the start of your project.
• White Plaster: Repairs for your pool’s white plaster or potential replacements can be completed five years from the start of your project.
• Upgraded Plaster: Repairs to traditional white plaster or a more durable alternative coating can be completed up to ten years from the start of your project.
• Gunite Shell: This concrete shell protects your custom pool from cracks and water leaks; it also features a lifetime warranty.

In addition to these items, our warranty program also covers pool heaters, salt or chlorine systems, electronic pool automation, and much more. We take pride in our industry-leading warranty; read more about it in our warranty brochure or visit our blog today!

Before bringing your dream pool to life, the final step is to discuss your contract and financing options. We ask that the contract be signed and the deposit paid within four to six weeks prior to the start of the project. Funding is often the primary reason why people don’t move forward with purchasing a pool, as they may not consider other options besides paying the full amount upfront. Here at Pool Stop, we offer five different financing options. While in our Rockwall store, we can provide you with an explanation of how each option would work with your pool build:

• Central Bank: A home improvement loan offering 4.75% for secured loans and 4.99% for unsecured loans 
• Lyon Financial
  • A home improvement secured loan with terms up to 30 years starting at 5.25% 
  • A signature pool loan with terms up to 20 years and rates starting at 6.99%
• Certified Funding, L.P.: A home improvement loan with terms up to 30 years at 4.75%
• Frost Bank: A home improvement loan with terms of up to 20 years at 5.64%

Two things to think about are: prices will vary under banks and loans can impact the timeline of your pool build. However, Pool Stop stands out among other Dallas pool constructors with an average build time of 6-8 weeks from excavation. In our 20 years of business, we’re proud to have consistently finished our clients’ projects ahead of schedule. This means you can trust Pool Stop for reliable, efficient pool construction no matter what type of pool project you have in mind. Contact us today to get started, or view our showroom to see some of our work!