Hear from Our Customers
A gunite pool isn’t just a hole in the ground with water in it. It’s a permanent structure one that either holds up for decades or starts showing problems in year five. The difference almost always comes down to how it was built, not what it was built with.
Dexter sits on a low ridge between Boggy Branch and Stitchihatchie Creek, and the soil in that transition zone doesn’t behave the same way from lot to lot. Sandy loam near the ridge crest drains well. The clay-heavy subsoil closer to the creek drainage systems expands when it’s wet and pulls back when it dries out. A shell that wasn’t engineered for that kind of movement will eventually show it and that’s not a gunite problem, that’s a builder problem.
When the engineering is done right from the start proper rebar density, correct shell thickness, full curing time you get a pool that holds its shape, holds its surface, and holds its value. In Middle Georgia’s climate, where you’re looking at a legitimate five-to-six month swimming season from late April through October, that kind of durability matters. You’re not maintaining a novelty. You’re maintaining a permanent part of your property, and it should be built like one.
We’re a family-owned pool construction company out of Douglas, GA. The team behind Deep Waters Pools brought over 30 years of hands-on concrete, plumbing, and pool construction experience before we ever founded the company in 2014 which means the people building your pool in Dexter have been working in Georgia’s ground long enough to have seen every soil condition, every permit challenge, and every construction shortcut that eventually comes back to bite a homeowner.
What sets us apart operationally is straightforward: every phase of your build is handled by our own crew. Excavation, rebar, gunite application, plumbing, electrical, finishing, deck work no subcontractors, no strangers cycling through your backyard, no accountability gaps. In a community like Dexter, where reputation travels fast and neighbors compare notes about who did their work right, that kind of in-house accountability isn’t a marketing line. It’s how we’ve stayed in business.
We handle all permits building, electrical, and every required Laurens County inspection from start to finish. You don’t navigate the county building office in Dublin. We do.
It starts with a site evaluation and 3D design. Before anything gets dug, you’ll see exactly what your pool looks like every shape, depth, and feature rendered around your specific yard. That step matters more than most people realize, because a pool that works on paper doesn’t always work on the lot. Elevation changes, drainage patterns, proximity to Dexter’s creek drainage systems all of it gets factored in before the first shovel moves.
Once the design is locked in, permitting comes next. We handle the building permit and electrical permit through Laurens County’s Building Inspection Department, and coordinate any requirements at the Town of Dexter level as well. That process takes time, and it’s built into the timeline not treated as an afterthought that delays your start date.
Construction follows a set sequence: excavation, rebar framework, gunite shell application, full curing, plumbing, electrical bonding and grounding per NEC Article 680, equipment installation, surface finishing, and deck work. Every phase done by the same team. When inspections are required, we schedule and manage them. By the time the pool is filled, it’s been through every required checkpoint no corners cut, no code questions left open. If you start the process in fall, a Memorial Day swim is a realistic target.
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Custom gunite pool construction with us covers the full scope site evaluation, excavation, rebar and shell application, all plumbing, electrical bonding and grounding, equipment installation, pool deck construction, and every permit and inspection required in Laurens County. There’s no phase we hand off to someone else, and there’s no line item that quietly disappears after the contract is signed.
Beyond the build itself, we also construct custom spas, design patio and deck layouts, and install safety covers. If you’re thinking about a full backyard project not just a pool that’s a conversation worth having early, because integrating the deck and spa into the original design is always cleaner than adding them later.
After the build, we offer ongoing maintenance programs and equipment service for all major brands Hayward, Pentair, Jandy, Sta-Rite, and Zodiac. For a Dexter homeowner who doesn’t want to track down a separate service provider every time something needs attention, that matters. The team that built your pool knows it better than anyone else ever will, and we’re available to keep it running. If you have an older pool that’s been neglected or had problems another builder couldn’t resolve, we also do pool rescue and restoration work throughout the Laurens County area.
This is the most common concern in this part of Georgia, and it’s a fair one. Clay soil expands when it absorbs moisture and contracts when it dries out and that seasonal movement creates lateral pressure on anything buried in the ground, including a pool shell. The short answer is yes, a gunite pool absolutely holds up in Laurens County soil but only if it was engineered for those conditions from the start.
Dexter’s ridge-and-creek geography means soil behavior varies depending on where your lot sits. Properties closer to Boggy Branch or Stitchihatchie Creek tend to have heavier clay content and more variable moisture levels than ridge-top lots near SR 257. A builder who uses a generic national spec for every build isn’t accounting for that. We engineer the rebar framework and shell thickness for the specific soil conditions of your lot not a one-size-fits-all template pulled from somewhere else. That’s the difference between a pool that develops stress cracks in year five and one that’s still holding its shape in year twenty-five.
A properly built gunite pool correct shell thickness, adequate rebar density, full curing time should hold its surface finish for 10 to 15 years before resurfacing is needed. When a builder rushes the curing process, applies the shell too thin, or skips steps to hit a faster timeline, the surface degrades faster. The soil doesn’t cause that the shortcut does. For a Dexter homeowner making a long-term investment in their property, the resurfacing cycle is a real cost-of-ownership factor. A pool that needs replastering every four years is significantly more expensive to own over time than one built to hold its surface for a decade or more. The build quality up front is what determines which one you end up with.
Pool construction in Dexter involves permits at both the Laurens County level and, for properties within the town limits, potentially the Town of Dexter’s municipal level as well. At the county level, Laurens County’s Building Inspection Department handles residential building permits and oversees the required inspections throughout the construction process. Electrical permits are required separately and are governed by Georgia’s adoption of the National Electrical Code specifically NEC Article 680, which covers bonding and grounding requirements for swimming pools.
Georgia Power and local electric cooperatives will not activate power to a new pool installation without Building Inspection Department approval, so unpermitted electrical work isn’t a viable shortcut it simply doesn’t get turned on. We handle the full permitting process in-house: building permit, electrical permit, and every required inspection at both the county and town level. You don’t make calls to the Laurens County building office or track inspection schedules. That’s managed for you from the first application through the final sign-off.
From signed contract to a filled, swim-ready pool, a realistic timeline for a custom gunite build in Laurens County is three to six months. That range accounts for the permitting process which runs through Laurens County’s Building Inspection Department and can take several weeks depending on current queue times as well as the construction sequence itself, which can’t be rushed without cutting corners on curing time.
The smartest timing move for a Dexter homeowner is to start the process in fall or early winter. Permit queues are typically shorter, crews have more availability, and a project started in October or November can realistically be complete and ready before Memorial Day. If you wait until March or April to start which is when most people think about pools you’re likely looking at a late-summer completion at best. The families who swim by Memorial Day almost always started the conversation the previous fall.
It depends on what you’re building and what you want. Fiberglass pools come in fixed shapes and sizes you pick from a manufacturer’s catalog and the shell gets dropped in. That limits what’s possible, especially on lots with irregular dimensions or specific design goals. Gunite pools are built from scratch around your yard, which means the shape, depth, entry points, bench configurations, and overall layout are entirely up to you. For a Dexter homeowner who wants something specific a beach entry, an attached spa, an L-shape that fits an awkward lot gunite is the only path to get there.
The other practical consideration is longevity. A well-built gunite shell is a permanent concrete structure. It doesn’t flex, it doesn’t fade in UV the way a gel coat does, and it doesn’t have a manufacturer’s limited warranty that expires. The trade-off is that gunite costs more upfront and requires professional surface maintenance over time. But on a long-term property investment which is exactly what most Dexter homeowners are making a properly built gunite pool holds its value and its structure in a way that other pool types don’t match.
Yes and for Dexter homeowners, that’s worth paying attention to. Finding a reliable pool maintenance provider in a small town isn’t always straightforward. When you build with us, you don’t have to go looking for one. We offer ongoing maintenance programs and service all major equipment brands, including Hayward, Pentair, Jandy, Sta-Rite, and Zodiac. The team that built your pool knows every detail of how it was plumbed, wired, and equipped which makes us the most qualified service provider you’ll ever find for it.
We also perform pool rescue and restoration for pools that have been neglected, abandoned mid-project, or that another builder left in poor condition. If you have an existing pool in the Laurens County area that’s been sitting, leaking, or running on failing equipment, that’s a conversation worth having. The goal after every build and after every service call is the same: you should be able to use your pool without it becoming a second job.
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