Hear from Our Customers
A gunite pool done right isn’t just a hole in the ground with water in it. It’s a structure that holds up for decades through Lowndes County summers, through wet seasons that swell the clay beneath your yard, and through the kind of heat that makes a backyard pool less of a luxury and more of a practical necessity from April through October.
Hahira’s newer subdivisions Creekside West, Grove Pointe, Phillips Place sit on lots with real soil challenges underneath them. The same clay that made South Georgia farmland productive for generations is the same clay that expands when it rains and contracts when it dries. A pool shell that wasn’t engineered for that movement will show it eventually. One that was engineered for it won’t.
What you end up with is a pool that fits your yard, fits your family, and fits the way you actually live. No prefabricated shape dropped into a hole. No liner that needs replacing in five years. Just a custom concrete structure built to your specs, with a finish that lasts, in a climate that gives you nearly seven months of use every single year.
We’re based in Douglas, GA Coffee County, about an hour north of Hahira and our team has been doing hands-on concrete, plumbing, and pool construction in South Georgia for over 30 years. Not 30 years of the company existing. Thirty years of the people behind it actually building things in this region’s ground, in this region’s climate, under this region’s sun.
We started Deep Waters Pools in 2014 because we kept watching South Georgia families hand over serious money to contractors who didn’t finish what they started. That’s not a marketing line it’s the reason we exist. Every build we handle is done entirely in-house, from excavation through final inspection. No subcontractors at any phase. The same crew that digs your yard in Hahira is the same crew that applies the gunite, runs the plumbing, and walks the job with you at the end.
For families in Lowndes County putting $75,000 to $150,000 into a backyard, that kind of accountability isn’t a bonus it’s the baseline.
It starts with a site evaluation and 3D design. Before anything gets dug, you’ll see exactly what your pool looks like in your specific yard every shape, every depth, every feature. That design is built around your space, not pulled from a catalog.
Once the design is locked, we handle every permit. In Hahira, pool construction permits run through the City of Valdosta’s permitting office using the iWorQ system a process most homeowners have never encountered and don’t need to figure out. Building permit, electrical permit, every required inspection: we handle it. You don’t log into anything or track down documentation. That’s on us.
From there, excavation begins, followed by the rebar framework, gunite shell application, plumbing, electrical bonding per NEC Article 680, equipment installation, and decking. Each phase has a clear milestone, and the honest timeline for a complete build runs three to six months. That’s not a delay that’s what it takes to cure a gunite shell correctly and avoid the cracking that happens when builders rush it. By the time Hahira’s swim season opens up in the spring, a pool started in the fall is ready to use.
Ready to get started?
Our gunite pool builds cover the full scope: site evaluation, custom 3D design, excavation, rebar and steel framework, gunite shell application, all plumbing, electrical bonding and grounding, equipment installation, deck construction, and every permit and inspection from start to finish. There’s no point in the process where the job gets handed to a subcontractor you’ve never met.
The gunite shells we build use six-to-eight-inch walls with proper rebar density and a fully reinforced bond beam the structural elements that determine whether a pool holds up in South Georgia’s shrink-swell soil or starts showing stress cracks in year three. This isn’t over-engineering. It’s what the material requires when it’s built correctly for this region.
Beyond new construction, we also handle custom spas, patio and deck design, pool restoration, equipment service and repair across all major brands Hayward, Pentair, Jandy, Sta-Rite, and Zodiac and custom safety covers. For Hahira homeowners, that means your builder and your long-term service provider are the same company. One call, one team, one point of accountability for the life of your pool.
This comes up a lot in Lowndes County, and it’s worth a straight answer. Yes, gunite pools can crack but it’s a builder problem, not a material problem. The cracking happens when a shell is applied too thin, cured too fast, or built without accounting for the way South Georgia clay moves with moisture. Lowndes County soil expands when it rains and contracts during dry stretches, and a pool shell that wasn’t engineered for that cycle will eventually show it.
A properly built gunite shell six-to-eight-inch walls, correct rebar density, a reinforced bond beam, and adequate curing time is fully capable of handling South Georgia’s soil behavior. We’ve been building in this region’s ground for over 30 years. The process is specifically designed around these conditions, not adapted from a northern market playbook. If you’ve heard that gunite and Southern soil don’t mix, what you’ve actually heard is a description of what happens when the wrong builder takes the shortcut.
For a residential gunite pool in the Hahira area, you’re generally looking at a range of $75,000 to $150,000, with most projects landing around $100,000 depending on size, shape, depth, features, and the specifics of your lot. That range accounts for everything: design, excavation, shell, plumbing, electrical, equipment, and decking. It does not account for optional add-ons like custom lighting, water features, or upgraded finish materials, which will move the number up.
Financing is how most Hahira families approach it, and it’s worth noting that a well-built gunite pool typically adds around 7% to your home’s value in the Georgia market. For homeowners in Creekside West or Grove Pointe where homes are already priced in a range where that equity gain is meaningful the investment math holds up over time. What matters most is getting an honest, itemized estimate from a builder who isn’t going to surprise you with costs mid-project.
The honest answer is three to six months from permit approval to final inspection. That timeline accounts for permit processing through Valdosta’s iWorQ system, excavation, rebar and steel work, gunite application and proper curing, plumbing, electrical, finishing, and all required inspections. Each phase has to happen in sequence, and some of them particularly the curing stage can’t be rushed without compromising the structural integrity of the shell.
Builders who quote you eight to twelve weeks are either planning to compress the curing process or planning to use subcontractors who aren’t coordinating tightly. Both create problems that show up later. If you start your build in the fall October or November a three-to-six-month timeline puts you in the pool right as Hahira’s swim season opens in the spring. That’s actually the ideal window: permit queues are shorter, crews are more available, and you’re not waiting through summer to get started.
Pool construction in Hahira requires both a building permit and an electrical permit. As of July 2023, those permits are administered through the City of Valdosta’s permitting office using the iWorQ platform not through Hahira’s own city hall, which surprises a lot of homeowners when they first look into it. Required documentation includes a zoning approval letter, proof of contractor licensure, Valdosta contractor registration, and a homeowner affidavit if applicable.
We handle every step of this process in-house. You don’t need to create an iWorQ account, track down a zoning letter, or figure out inspection scheduling. Our team has navigated Valdosta’s permitting system and knows exactly what each phase requires. Unpermitted pool construction in Georgia creates real legal and financial exposure at resale, during insurance claims, and in the event of a code inspection so this isn’t a step worth skipping or rushing through on your own.
It depends on what you’re prioritizing, but here’s the honest comparison for this region. Fiberglass pools come in pre-manufactured shell sizes and shapes what you see in a catalog is what you get. They install faster and the surface doesn’t require replastering. The tradeoff is that you’re limited to whatever shapes and sizes the manufacturer offers, and in Lowndes County’s clay soil, a fiberglass shell that doesn’t flex correctly with ground movement can pop or shift.
Gunite gives you complete design freedom any shape, any depth, any configuration and when it’s built correctly for South Georgia’s soil conditions, it holds up for 30 to 50 years. A quality gunite finish in a properly engineered shell typically lasts 10 to 15 years before resurfacing is needed. For a family in Hahira who wants a pool that matches their yard and their vision exactly, gunite is the more flexible and more permanent option.
Yes. We’re based in Douglas, GA and serve communities throughout South Georgia, including Hahira and the broader Lowndes County area. The drive from Douglas puts us well within range for full-service builds and because every phase of construction is handled by the same in-house crew, there’s no coordination gap between what’s promised and what gets delivered on your lot.
Hahira’s growth over the last decade the expansion of Creekside West, the new construction in Phillips Place, the families relocating closer to Moody Air Force Base has made it one of the more active residential markets in South Georgia. That means more pools being built, and more homeowners doing their research before choosing a builder. If you’re in Hahira or anywhere in Lowndes County and you’re trying to figure out whether a gunite pool makes sense for your yard and your budget, the best starting point is a straightforward conversation. You can reach us at 912-309-9943.
Local Resources
Useful Links
