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Lax sits in the heart of wiregrass country, where summers start early and stay long. From late March through October sometimes into November the heat here is not a two-month inconvenience. It’s a way of life. A concrete pool built right on your property isn’t a luxury add-on. It’s one of the most practical investments you can make on a rural South Georgia homestead, and it holds its value for the lifetime of the home.
The land around Lax has its own personality. Sandy topsoil over clay subsoil means the ground moves it swells when it’s wet and contracts when it dries out. A pool that wasn’t engineered with that reality in mind can develop cracks, drainage issues, or structural problems within a few years of being built. We’ve seen it happen too many times, and that’s exactly why we engineer every pool we build with local soil conditions in mind.
When a concrete pool is built correctly for this environment, you’re looking at a structure that lasts 30 or more years. You get full control over the shape, depth, and finish no pre-molded shell, no compromise. And you get a backyard that actually works for your family, your property, and the South Georgia climate you live in every single day.
We’re based in Douglas the county seat of Coffee County, the same county where Lax sits. That’s not a coincidence worth glossing over. It means when you call, you’re talking to the local pool company, not a regional operation that added your area to a service list.
We launched Deep Waters in 2014, but the experience behind it goes back more than 30 years. Concrete construction, plumbing, custom pool builds all of it built up right here in South Georgia, in this soil, through this climate. We started Deep Waters specifically because too many Coffee County families were getting taken advantage of by contractors who disappeared after the deposit or delivered work that didn’t hold up. That’s the reason we exist, and it shapes how every project gets handled.
Licensed, insured, and built on local reputation because in a community like Lax, where neighbors talk, that’s the only kind of reputation worth having.
It starts with a straightforward conversation. You describe what you want, what your property looks like, and what your timeline is. From there, we put together a custom design one that accounts for your specific lot, your soil conditions, and the way your land sits. On a rural property near Lax, that often means more flexibility in placement and design than a suburban lot would allow, which is one of the real advantages of building out here.
Once the design is locked in, permits get pulled before anything touches the ground. Because Lax straddles the Coffee County and Irwin County line, the permitting process depends on exactly where your property sits Coffee County or Irwin County each have their own building department. We know how to navigate both. If your property runs on a private well and septic system, which is common in this area, there’s also an environmental health clearance required before the building permit is issued. These aren’t surprises if you know what to expect and you will.
After permits are approved, most custom concrete builds complete within 8 to 12 weeks. When the pool is finished, you get a full walkthrough of every system filtration, chemistry, equipment, safety features so you leave knowing exactly how to run what you own. A custom safety cover is included as standard on every build, not offered as an add-on.
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We build custom inground concrete pools and only concrete pools. No fiberglass shells. No vinyl liners. This focus isn’t a limitation; it’s a deliberate choice that keeps our expertise concentrated in one discipline instead of spread thin across multiple product types. For a homeowner near Lax making a significant investment in their property, that depth of specialization matters more than a menu of options.
Concrete gives you complete design freedom. Any shape, any depth, any finish built around your land and your vision rather than a mold that was made somewhere else. On the larger rural lots common around Lax and the surrounding Coffee County area, that flexibility opens up possibilities that a pre-formed fiberglass shell simply can’t match. And because concrete is built in place, it can be engineered specifically for the sandy-over-clay soil profile that defines this part of the wiregrass region.
Beyond new construction, we also handle pool renovation work resurfacing, replastering, equipment upgrades, and tile and coping replacement. Pools built in the late 1990s and 2000s in Coffee County and Irwin County are entering their renovation cycle now, and keeping a well-built concrete pool updated is far more cost-effective than starting over. Whether you’re building from scratch or bringing an older pool back to life, the same standard applies: no shortcuts, no surprises, no excuses.
Yes and no legitimate contractor should suggest otherwise. Georgia law requires a building permit before any excavation or land disturbance begins on a residential pool project. There are no exceptions for unincorporated areas, and there’s no legal workaround.
What makes Lax a little different from most communities is its position on the Coffee County and Irwin County line. Depending on where your property sits, your permit may be issued through Coffee County’s building department or Irwin County’s building department they’re separate offices with separate processes. If your property is also on a private septic system, which is common for rural homesteads in this area, you’ll need environmental health department clearance before the building permit can even be issued. A contractor who doesn’t know to ask about your septic situation upfront is one who’s going to cause delays mid-project. We walk through all of this in the initial conversation so nothing catches you off guard once construction is ready to begin.
For most custom concrete pool projects in the Coffee County area, the build itself takes 8 to 12 weeks from the time permits are approved. That’s the construction window not counting the time it takes to finalize your design and move through the permit review process, which can add several weeks depending on the county and the time of year.
The practical takeaway for anyone in the Lax area is this: if you want your pool ready for summer, the time to start the conversation is late fall or early winter. Families who wait until April or May to start the process often find themselves watching their first summer go by from the wrong side of a construction fence. South Georgia’s swim season is long nearly eight months but it doesn’t wait for late starts. We’re upfront about timelines from the first call because an honest schedule is more useful to you than an optimistic one that falls apart in the middle of the job.
Concrete is the strongest option for the soil conditions found throughout the wiregrass region, including the area around Lax. The ground here is sandy loam over an expansive clay subsoil meaning it absorbs moisture and swells in wet seasons, then contracts and shifts in dry ones. That movement is real, and it puts stress on any pool structure that wasn’t designed to account for it.
Fiberglass pools are pre-molded shells that get set into the ground, and they can shift or pop when soil movement occurs beneath them. Vinyl liner pools are even more vulnerable the liner itself needs full replacement every 8 to 12 years regardless of soil conditions, and the walls can be compromised by ground pressure over time. A concrete pool that’s properly engineered for local soil conditions is built in place and reinforced to handle that movement. It’s not that concrete is immune to South Georgia’s ground it’s that concrete, done right, is built with that ground in mind. That’s a meaningful difference when you’re planning something that’s supposed to last 30 years on your property.
Most custom inground concrete pools in the South Georgia area fall somewhere between $60,000 and $150,000, depending on size, shape, depth, finish, and any additional features like water elements, lighting, or surrounding patio work. That’s a wide range, and the honest answer is that no quote means much without a real conversation about your specific property and what you actually want.
What’s worth understanding before you start comparing quotes is what you’re actually comparing. A significantly lower bid usually means something was left out either in the materials, the engineering, the permitting process, or the quality of the subcontractors involved. In rural Coffee County and Irwin County, where contractor stories travel fast through small communities, the cost of fixing a bad pool build or fighting a contractor who’s already moved on can easily exceed what you would have spent to do it right the first time. The goal isn’t the lowest number on paper. It’s a finished pool that holds up, was built legally, and doesn’t require remediation work two years later.
Ask directly, and ask before you sign anything. A licensed, insured contractor will have no hesitation handing over their license number and proof of insurance. If there’s any deflection, vagueness, or a reason why they “can’t find it right now,” that’s a clear signal to move on.
In Georgia, residential pool contractors are required to hold a valid state contractor’s license. Licensing isn’t just a formality it’s tied to accountability. A licensed contractor can be reported to the state licensing board if something goes wrong, which gives you a real avenue for recourse beyond just trying to get someone on the phone. Insurance matters equally. If a worker is injured on your property, or if construction damages something on your land, you need to know that the contractor’s insurance covers it not your homeowner’s policy. In a rural community like Lax where properties tend to be larger and the pool of local contractors is smaller, doing this basic verification upfront takes five minutes and protects an investment that could run well into six figures.
In most cases, yes and it’s usually the smarter financial decision. Concrete pools built in the 1990s and early 2000s are durable structures, but they’re now at the age where surfaces, finishes, tile, coping, and equipment all need attention. Resurfacing and replastering can make a 25-year-old pool look and function like new. Equipment upgrades pumps, filtration systems, automation can dramatically reduce energy costs and maintenance time.
For homeowners on rural properties in Coffee County and Irwin County, renovation is often more practical than starting over. You already have the excavation, the existing shell, the plumbing infrastructure, and the permit history on record. A full replacement means going back through the entire permitting process, including environmental health clearance if you’re on septic, and starting the construction timeline from scratch. Renovation work can typically be completed in a fraction of that time. We evaluate older pools honestly if the structure is sound and the work makes sense, renovation is the recommendation. If it doesn’t, that gets communicated clearly before any money changes hands.
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