Hear from Our Customers
When your pool is finished, you stop driving to the lake and start using your own backyard. That sounds simple, but it’s the whole point. A well-built inground pool in Smithville isn’t a weekend novelty it’s something your family uses from April through October, almost every single day the heat is on, which in Southwest Georgia means more than half the year.
The rural residential properties common around Smithville and Lee County are exactly the kind of lots concrete construction was made for. You’re not working with a tight suburban yard and a cookie-cutter shape. You have space. You have privacy. You have the ability to build something that actually fits your land a freeform shape that follows the natural contours of your property, a beach entry your kids can walk into gradually, or a spa that gets used on the cooler nights in October when the air finally breaks. Fiberglass pools come in fixed factory shapes. Concrete doesn’t.
And because this is a permanent structure not a liner that needs replacing, not a shell that limits your options what you’re really investing in is the next 30 to 40 years of your property. Homes in Lee County with a well-built pool are more enjoyable to live in and more attractive to buyers when the time comes. That’s not a sales pitch. That’s just what a durable, properly built backyard improvement does over time.
We’re a locally owned custom pool builder with real experience in the Smithville and Southwest Georgia market the soil conditions, the seasonal timing, the permit process, and the kind of properties that make up Lee County’s residential landscape. This isn’t a franchise operation with a rotating crew and a call center. Every project gets personal attention from our team, and we’ve built pools throughout this region and understand what that actually involves on the ground.
Smithville and Lee County have their own building inspection processes, and the City of Smithville has a separate permit guide on top of that. Navigating both isn’t complicated if you’ve done it before but it absolutely creates problems when a contractor hasn’t. We handle all of it as a standard part of every project, not as an add-on you have to ask about.
The families who choose to live in Smithville chose it for a reason. The schools, the quiet, the space. A pool we build is built to match that same standard something that lasts, performs well, and makes the home you invested in feel exactly like the retreat you had in mind when you moved here.
It starts with a site visit and a real conversation. We come to your property, look at your lot, and talk through what’s actually possible not just what looks good in a brochure. For Smithville-area properties, that means assessing things like drainage patterns near Muckaloochee Creek if your lot is in that corridor, soil conditions typical of the Flint River watershed region, and access for excavation equipment on rural lots where the entry points aren’t always straightforward.
From there, the design phase takes shape around your specific property and your priorities. Once the design is locked in, we pull permits coordinating with both Lee County’s Building Inspection Department and, for projects within Smithville city limits, the city’s own permit process. You don’t have to manage that. We do.
Construction moves through clearly defined milestones: excavation, steel and shell, plumbing and electrical rough-in, interior finish, equipment installation, and startup. Payments are tied to those milestones you pay for work that’s been completed, not for promises about what’s coming next. When the pool is filled and the equipment is running, we walk you through everything before we leave. The goal isn’t just a finished pool. It’s a pool you know how to use, understand how to maintain, and are genuinely excited about on day one.
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Every pool we build starts from scratch in concrete no factory molds, no predetermined shapes, no size limits imposed by a manufacturer’s catalog. That matters specifically for Smithville homeowners, where rural residential lots often have the space and the setting to do something genuinely custom. A freeform shape that wraps around an existing tree line. A vanishing edge that frames open pasture. A spa integrated into the design that gets real use during the longer shoulder seasons Southwest Georgia offers. These aren’t upgrades reserved for high-end builds they’re options that become available when you’re working with concrete instead of a fiberglass shell.
Every project includes full project management from design through startup, permit coordination with Lee County Building Inspection and the City of Smithville as required, licensed and insured construction, properly sized plumbing and filtration, and variable-speed pump equipment that reduces what the pool costs to run month over month. Georgia state contractor licensing is verified at the permit stage in Lee County we carry that licensing, and you can confirm it through the Georgia Secretary of State’s licensing board before you sign anything.
The investment for a custom concrete inground pool in this region typically runs between $50,000 and $100,000, with full backyard builds that include decking, water features, and outdoor living elements often exceeding that range. We’ll give you a clear picture of what your specific project involves before any contracts are signed.
Yes and in Smithville specifically, the permitting situation is slightly more layered than in unincorporated parts of Lee County. Lee County’s Building Inspection Department handles permits for construction throughout the county, and they have a specific Pool Requirements document that outlines what’s needed for pool builds. But because Smithville is an incorporated city, there’s also a separate Smithville permit guide that applies to projects within city limits. That means depending on exactly where your property sits, you may need to coordinate with both.
This is one of those things that sounds minor but creates real delays when a contractor isn’t familiar with the local process. We handle permit coordination as a standard part of every project. You don’t need to figure out which department to call or what forms to file that’s built into the process from the start. What you do need to know is that skipping permits isn’t an option worth considering. Unpermitted pool construction creates insurance complications, legal liability, and problems at resale that are far more expensive to resolve than the permit itself.
For a custom concrete inground pool in the Lee County area, the realistic starting range is $50,000 to $100,000 depending on size, shape, depth, and finish selections. Full backyard transformation projects where you’re adding decking, a spa, a water feature, outdoor lighting, or landscaping frequently move beyond that range, sometimes significantly. That’s not a bait-and-switch; it’s just the reality of what a complete backyard build involves when you’re doing it right.
What drives cost more than anything else is the scope of the design and the quality of the materials and equipment specified. A pool with a variable-speed pump, properly sized plumbing, and a quality interior finish costs more upfront than one built to minimum spec but it also costs less to operate, requires fewer repairs, and lasts considerably longer. In a market like Smithville, where homeowners are making long-term investments in properties they plan to own for decades, the total cost of ownership matters more than the initial price tag. We’ll walk you through what your specific project involves before you commit to anything.
If you want your pool ready by Memorial Day weekend, the conversation needs to happen in the fall ideally October or November. Pool contractors with strong reputations in the Southwest Georgia market book out months in advance, and the spring inquiry surge that happens every March and April typically means those homeowners are looking at a late-summer build at the earliest, if they can get on the schedule at all.
Fall and winter are actually ideal construction windows in this region. The weather is more predictable for excavation and concrete work, contractor availability is better, and you’re not racing against the calendar. Southwest Georgia’s effective swim season runs from roughly April through October that’s a long window, and it’s worth protecting by starting early. Homeowners who reach out to us in the fall are the ones swimming by the following summer. The ones who call in April are usually the ones who wish they’d called sooner.
The core difference is this: fiberglass pools are manufactured in a factory in fixed shapes and sizes, then delivered and dropped into an excavated hole. Concrete pools are built from scratch on your property, in whatever shape, size, and depth your design calls for. If you want a standard oval or rectangle and you’re happy with whatever dimensions the manufacturer offers, fiberglass can work. If you want something that actually fits your land, your lot, and your vision fiberglass has a ceiling that concrete doesn’t.
For the rural residential properties common around Smithville and the broader Lee County area, concrete tends to be the better fit. These are larger lots with more flexibility, more privacy, and more room to design something genuinely custom. Fiberglass also has practical limitations in certain soil conditions the Flint River watershed region’s mix of sandy loam and clay soils can create challenges for fiberglass installation that don’t apply to concrete construction. We build exclusively in concrete, which means every pool we build is designed specifically for the property it’s going into.
For a custom concrete inground pool, the construction phase typically runs 10 to 16 weeks from the day excavation begins, depending on the complexity of the design, the weather, and how smoothly the inspection and permit milestones move. In Southwest Georgia, the main weather variable to plan around is the spring and summer storm season heavy rain can delay excavation and concrete work, and an experienced contractor builds those contingencies into the schedule rather than treating them as surprises.
What affects the timeline more than anything else is what happens before construction starts. Design finalization, permit approval, and material lead times all need to be accounted for before a shovel goes in the ground. That pre-construction phase can take 4 to 8 weeks on its own. This is why the total timeline from first conversation to first swim is often 5 to 6 months and why starting in the fall gives you the best shot at a pool that’s ready when the Lee County heat arrives in April.
Georgia requires pool contractors to hold a valid state contractor’s license, and Lee County’s Building Inspection Department specifically verifies current state certification before issuing a permit. That means an unlicensed contractor can’t legally pull a permit in Lee County which is exactly why you should never agree to a project where the contractor suggests skipping the permit process or can’t show you their license number upfront.
Verifying a contractor’s license is straightforward. The Georgia Secretary of State maintains a public licensing database where you can search by business name or license number and confirm that the license is current and in good standing. We hold a valid Georgia state contractor’s license and will provide that information before any contract is signed no hesitation, no runaround. In a small community like Smithville, where your neighbors will see the finished product and your name is attached to the property, working with a licensed, permitted contractor isn’t just a legal requirement. It’s the only version of this investment that actually protects you.
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