Hear from Our Customers
Out here in Irwin County, your property isn’t a quarter-acre suburban lot squeezed between fences. You’ve got room real room and a custom gunite pool built for that kind of space looks completely different than what most pool companies are used to designing. We’re talking about a pool, deck, and outdoor setup that actually fits the land you own, not something that looks like it was dropped in from a neighborhood in Alpharetta.
The soil in this part of South Georgia is something a lot of builders don’t think twice about but it matters. The sandy loam and clay-influenced subsoil that runs through the Irwin County area expands and contracts with moisture changes. A pool shell that isn’t engineered for that specific ground profile will show it eventually. Cracking isn’t a gunite problem it’s a builder problem. When the rebar is laid correctly, the shell is the right thickness, and the curing isn’t rushed, you get a pool that holds up for decades without structural issues.
And with a South Georgia swim season that runs from April through October close to seven months of usable water you’re not building a luxury you use twice a summer. You’re building something your family lives in for more than half the year.
We’re based in Douglas, GA about 60 to 70 miles from Lax via US 129 and US 221. That’s not a distant out-of-state company routing work through whoever’s available. That’s a South Georgia builder who knows this region’s soil, knows the Irwin County permit offices, and has been doing this kind of work since before most pool companies in the area existed.
Our founding team brought more than 30 years of hands-on experience in concrete, plumbing, and pool construction into this company. Every phase of your build excavation, rebar, gunite shell, plumbing, electrical, surface finish, decking is handled by our own crew. No subcontractors. No strangers on your property that we’ve never worked with. When something needs attention, you call (912) 309-9943 and you reach someone who actually built your pool.
For families in and around Lax and Irwin County who’ve seen what happens when a contractor disappears mid-project, that kind of accountability isn’t a small thing.
It starts with a conversation about your property, your goals, and what you’re actually trying to build. From there, we put together a 3D design rendering so you can see the full picture before anything gets dug pool shape, deck layout, any add-ons like a spa or water feature. You’re not approving a blueprint you can barely read. You’re looking at your actual backyard.
Once the design is locked in, we handle every permit required through Irwin County. Since Lax is unincorporated, all permits go through the county office in Ocilla building permit, electrical permit, every required inspection. You don’t fill out a form or schedule an inspector. We manage all of it. That matters more than people realize, especially when unpermitted construction creates real legal liability at resale.
Then the build begins. Excavation, rebar framework engineered for South Georgia soil conditions, gunite shell application, plumbing, NEC Article 680-compliant electrical bonding and grounding, surface finishing, and deck construction all done by our crew, in sequence, with no handoffs. A quality build takes three to six months. Builders who promise eight weeks are cutting something, and you’ll find out what later. A fall or early winter start in Irwin County means your pool is ready when April hits and the temperature starts climbing.
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Gunite is the only pool type that gives you complete design freedom shape, depth, configuration, features. Fiberglass shells come in whatever molds the manufacturer made. A custom gunite pool is designed around your property, your family, and what you actually want to build. For large rural parcels in Irwin County, that flexibility is the whole point.
Every Deep Waters build includes excavation, structural rebar placement, gunite shell application, full in-house plumbing, electrical work that meets NEC Article 680 standards for bonding and grounding, interior surface finishing, and deck construction. We also service all major equipment brands Hayward, Pentair, Jandy, Sta-Rite, and Zodiac which means we’re not handing you off to someone else once the pool is done. If equipment needs attention down the road, we handle that too.
You may have seen claims that gunite pools need replastering every three to seven years. That’s what a poorly built pool requires. A properly engineered shell with correct wall thickness, adequate rebar, and proper curing should go ten to fifteen years before its first planned resurface. The difference is entirely in how it’s built not in the material. For Irwin County homeowners making a $75,000 to $150,000 investment on property they plan to keep, that distinction is worth understanding before you sign anything.
This is one of the most important questions you can ask, and the honest answer is: yes when they’re built correctly for this specific ground. The soil profile in Irwin County is typical of the Tifton Upland region sandy loam near the surface with clay-influenced subsoil underneath. That lower layer expands and contracts with moisture changes, which puts stress on a pool shell that wasn’t engineered to handle it.
The anti-gunite argument you’ll hear from some competitors is that Southern ground movement causes gunite shells to crack. What they’re actually describing is what happens when a builder doesn’t assess the site conditions, doesn’t lay adequate rebar, and doesn’t give the shell enough time to cure. That’s a construction failure, not a material failure. A properly engineered gunite pool accounts for the actual soil conditions on your property not some generic assumption about Southern ground and it holds up for 30 or more years without structural problems.
For a residential gunite pool in the Lax and Irwin County area, you’re generally looking at a range of $75,000 to $150,000 depending on size, site conditions, finish type, and what features you’re adding spa, water features, custom decking, outdoor kitchen integration. A straightforward custom pool with standard features typically falls in the $75,000 to $110,000 range. Larger projects with expanded outdoor living elements can reach $130,000 to $150,000 or more.
What drives cost isn’t just the pool itself. Site conditions on rural Irwin County properties soil composition, access for equipment, grading can all affect the scope of excavation and prep work. A builder who gives you a firm number before assessing your actual property isn’t being accurate; they’re being convenient. The right conversation starts with your specific lot, your goals, and a realistic scope not a number pulled from a brochure.
Since Lax is an unincorporated community in Irwin County, all permitting goes through the county office in Ocilla. There’s no separate municipal layer just county jurisdiction which actually simplifies the process compared to incorporated towns where you’re dealing with both city and county requirements. At minimum, pool construction requires a building permit and an electrical permit. The electrical work must comply with NEC Article 680, which governs bonding and grounding for swimming pools and is a non-negotiable safety standard.
We handle the full permitting process in-house building permit, electrical permit, and every required inspection milestone. You don’t schedule anything or fill out a single form. This matters beyond convenience: when a homeowner pulls their own permit, they assume full legal liability for the construction. That’s a risk that follows the property to resale. When we pull the permits, that liability stays where it belongs with the licensed contractor who built the pool.
A quality gunite pool build takes three to six months from permit approval to final inspection. That timeline accounts for proper curing of the gunite shell which cannot be rushed without compromising structural integrity along with all plumbing, electrical, surface finishing, and deck work. Builders who promise completion in eight to twelve weeks are compressing a phase somewhere, and the most commonly skipped step is adequate curing time. You’ll find out what that costs you a few years down the road.
The best time to start a pool build in Irwin County is fall or early winter October through February. Permit queues are shorter, crew availability is higher, and South Georgia’s mild winters allow concrete work to proceed without the freeze complications that affect northern markets. A fall start puts you in the water by April, right as temperatures climb into the mid-80s and the swim season kicks off. A spring start, which is when most people start thinking about pools, often means you’re finishing in August and missing the best weeks of summer.
For the right property, it’s one of the strongest investments you can make. Irwin County has a homeownership rate of around 72%, and properties in and around Lax tend to be larger rural parcels the kind of land where a custom pool, expanded deck, and outdoor living setup genuinely transforms the property rather than just filling in a small backyard. Comparable homes with pools command measurable premium prices in rural South Georgia markets, and the lifestyle return is significant in a region where your backyard is actually big enough to build something worth using.
The other factor is the swim season. April through October in South Georgia is nearly seven months of usable pool time. That’s not a seasonal luxury that’s a feature of your property that your family uses for more than half the year. The investment math looks very different here than it does for a homeowner in a state where the swim window is 90 days. If you own land in Irwin County and you’re planning to stay, a well-built gunite pool is a long-term asset, not an indulgence.
The core difference is design freedom. Fiberglass pools come in pre-made shell shapes whatever the manufacturer offers is what you get. Gunite is built in place, which means the shape, depth, configuration, and features are completely custom. For larger rural properties in Irwin County where you have the space to build something that actually fits the land, that flexibility matters a lot. You’re not choosing from a catalog.
The other common comparison point is maintenance. Fiberglass-only builders often claim that gunite requires replastering every three to seven years. That’s the maintenance cycle for a poorly built pool. A properly engineered gunite shell with correct wall thickness, adequate rebar density, and appropriate curing time should go ten to fifteen years before its first planned resurface and the shell itself can last 50 or more years with proper upkeep. Fiberglass shells, by contrast, are prone to color fade, surface osmotic blistering, and size limitations that become more apparent the longer you own the pool. For a property owner in Lax making a long-term investment, gunite built right is the more durable choice over the life of the pool.
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