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A pool built correctly in Alma is one you won’t have to think about for a long time. No cracking shell. No liner replacement every ten years. No contractor who’s impossible to reach once the check clears. Just a finished pool that looks exactly like what you agreed to and performs the way it should through every South Georgia summer.
Alma sits in the wiregrass region of Georgia’s Coastal Plain, where sandy soils behave differently than the red clay up north. That matters during construction. Sandy soil excavates well, but without the right structural engineering behind the gunite shell proper steel reinforcement, correct concrete thickness, solid drainage planning you’re looking at problems down the road that nobody wants to deal with. We account for this before the first shovel hits the ground.
The other thing worth knowing: Alma’s climate gives you a real pool season. From April through October, sometimes longer, this area is hot enough to make a backyard pool one of the most-used features on your property. That’s not a seasonal novelty that’s six or seven months of genuine use every single year. A pool built right here isn’t a luxury. It’s a smart, long-term investment in the home you’re planning to stay in.
Deep Waters Pools was founded in 2014 by someone who spent decades watching South Georgia families get burned by contractors who overpromised, took deposits, and disappeared or finished a pool that looked nothing like what was sold. That’s the reason we exist. Not to be the biggest pool builder in the region, but to be the one that actually does what it says it will.
We’re based in Douglas about 25 miles from Alma on the US 23 corridor and we’re not a company driving in from Atlanta or Savannah to build a pool and move on. We’re a neighboring-county operation that knows Bacon County’s soil, its permit process, and what homeowners in Alma actually care about. Our founder has over 30 years of hands-on pool building experience, and that depth shows up in the details of every project.
One team handles your build from excavation to water. No handoffs, no finger-pointing between subs, no wondering who’s responsible when something needs attention.
It starts with a site evaluation. Before anything is designed, we look at your actual property drainage patterns, soil conditions, utility locations, equipment access, and anything else that could affect how the build goes. In Bacon County, where proximity to creek systems and the natural drainage features of the Coastal Plain can vary from one property to the next, this step isn’t a formality. It’s how problems get caught before they become expensive.
Once the design is locked in and permits are pulled we handle all of that directly with the City of Alma’s building department excavation begins. That typically takes one to three days. From there, the steel reinforcement cage goes in, gunite is applied, and plumbing and electrical run concurrently. Decking follows once the shell is cured. The full build runs six to eight weeks from excavation to water, and that timeline is realistic because one coordinated team isn’t waiting on multiple subcontractors to show up on their own schedule.
Every pool we build is fully permitted, inspected, and code-compliant under Georgia’s pool construction standards. That documentation matters not just during construction, but if you ever sell the property. A permitted pool is an asset. An unpermitted one is a liability that can complicate a future sale in ways most homeowners don’t anticipate until it’s too late.
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We build gunite pools not vinyl liner, not fiberglass. That distinction matters more than most buyers initially realize. A vinyl liner pool requires replacement every eight to twelve years, typically running $3,000 to $5,000 each time. Fiberglass pools have a functional lifespan of fifteen to twenty-five years before major repairs become necessary. A properly built gunite pool lasts twenty-five to thirty years or more, and when it eventually needs attention, it can be resurfaced rather than replaced. For an Alma homeowner who’s investing in a property they plan to hold for the long term, gunite is the only construction method that doesn’t ask you to rebuild your investment within that window.
Every project includes the full scope: excavation, gunite shell construction, swimming pool plumbing, electrical, pool deck installation, and all associated permit coordination with the City of Alma. The pool deck work is designed with South Georgia’s rainfall patterns in mind proper slope and drainage matter here, where summer thunderstorms are common and standing water around a pool deck creates both safety and structural concerns over time.
What you won’t find here is a low-ball quote that quietly grows once the work starts. The evaluation is thorough, the pricing is specific, and the scope is agreed to before anyone picks up a shovel. That’s not a sales pitch it’s how a contractor with 30 years of experience operates when our name is on the work.
Yes, and it’s not optional. The City of Alma requires a building permit for all residential pool construction, along with a separate electrical permit for the pool’s wiring and bonding work. Inspections are required at multiple stages not just at the end so the process involves ongoing coordination with the city’s building department throughout the build.
This is one of the areas where working with an experienced contractor makes a real difference. We handle all permit applications and inspection scheduling directly with Alma’s building department, so you’re not navigating the process on your own or trying to figure out what’s required at each phase. Every pool we build is fully documented and legally compliant which matters not just during construction, but when it comes time to sell your home or file an insurance claim. An unpermitted pool creates problems that are far more expensive to fix after the fact than to avoid in the first place.
For a standard residential gunite pool, the build runs six to eight weeks from excavation to water. That’s not an estimate padded with buffer time it’s a realistic timeline based on how the work actually sequences when one team manages the full project without handoffs to multiple subcontractors.
Excavation typically takes one to three days. Gunite application takes one to two days. Plumbing and electrical run concurrently over the following week or two. Decking takes three to five days once the shell is properly cured. The advantage in South Georgia is that pool construction can proceed virtually year-round Alma’s mild winters and rare hard freezes don’t create the extended weather shutdowns that northern markets deal with. If you start the planning process in the fall, a spring swim season is a realistic target.
Gunite is the only pool construction method that’s engineered on-site to fit your specific property. In Alma and the broader Bacon County area, where Coastal Plain sandy soils provide less natural lateral support than clay-heavy soils, the ability to customize the steel reinforcement cage and concrete thickness to match your site conditions is a genuine structural advantage not just a marketing point.
On the climate side, gunite holds up exceptionally well under South Georgia’s conditions: hot, humid summers, occasional heavy rainfall, and the kind of consistent use that a six-to-seven-month swim season creates. Vinyl liner pools degrade faster under UV exposure and heavy use, and liner replacement costs add up significantly over a twenty- or thirty-year ownership window. Fiberglass pools are limited in shape and size and can be affected by soil movement over time. Gunite gives you a custom shape, a durable shell, and a pool that can be resurfaced rather than replaced when it eventually needs attention.
A standard residential inground gunite pool typically runs between $55,000 and $100,000, depending on size, shape, depth, and the features included deck material, water features, lighting, and so on. Custom builds with more complex designs or premium finishes can exceed that range.
For Bacon County homeowners evaluating that number, the more useful comparison isn’t the upfront cost alone it’s the total cost over time. A $45,000 vinyl liner pool that requires two liner replacements over twenty years, plus equipment overhauls, often ends up costing more in real terms than a gunite pool built correctly the first time. Beyond the financials, a properly permitted gunite pool adds an estimated five to eight percent to your home’s appraised value in warm-climate markets. On an Alma property, that’s real equity not just a backyard feature.
Excavation is the most visually dramatic part of the process, and it moves faster than most homeowners expect. For a standard residential pool, excavation takes one to three days using tracked equipment that accesses the yard through a gate or side yard opening. We remove the soil, shape the basin to the design specs, and prepare the base for the steel reinforcement cage that goes in next.
Before excavation begins, utility lines are marked and cleared this is a required step in Georgia and one we coordinate as part of the pre-construction process. In Bacon County, where some properties sit near natural drainage features or low-lying areas common to the Coastal Plain, the site evaluation we conduct before design finalization helps identify any drainage or water table considerations that could affect excavation timing or shell engineering. None of this is guesswork it’s assessed and addressed before work starts, not discovered mid-dig.
Yes, and it’s a common project type for this area. Bacon County has a strong agricultural identity blueberry farming alone covers over 7,500 acres in this county and many of the homeowners considering a pool are sitting on larger rural properties rather than a typical subdivision lot. That changes a few things about how a project is approached.
Larger properties often have more flexibility in terms of pool placement and deck size, but they can also have more variation in drainage patterns, soil conditions, and equipment access than a standard residential lot. The site evaluation we conduct before any design is finalized accounts for all of this. If your property is outside Alma’s city limits, permit coordination may involve Bacon County’s building authority rather than the city’s building department and we handle that distinction as part of the process. The build itself doesn’t change; the pre-construction coordination just reflects your property’s specific situation.
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