Hear from Our Customers
A pool that’s built correctly in South Georgia holds up differently than one that isn’t. The Coastal Plain soil around Irwin County drains well, but it also shifts and a gunite shell that wasn’t properly backfilled or engineered for these conditions will show it within a few years. When the build is done right from the start, you’re not calling someone to fix settling, cracking, or deck problems five summers from now.
Ocilla properties tend to have real yard space, which is one of the advantages of building here. That room gives you options a pool designed around how your family actually uses the backyard, not a pre-manufactured shape dropped into whatever fits. Gunite construction means the pool is built to your site, not the other way around. Your deck, your depth, your layout.
The other thing that changes when the build is managed correctly is the timeline. You’re not waiting on a subcontractor who’s backed up three weeks, or chasing down an electrician who hasn’t returned a call. One team, one schedule, one point of contact and you’re swimming in 6 to 8 weeks from the day excavation starts.
Deep Waters Pools was founded in Douglas, Georgia in 2014, but our experience in Irwin County and across South Georgia goes back more than three decades. Before starting the company, our founder spent 30-plus years building pools in this region working in the soil around Ocilla, pulling permits at the Irwin County building department, and building pools for families who’ve thought about this investment carefully and aren’t handing their money to someone they don’t trust.
The company was started for a specific reason: too many South Georgia homeowners were getting burned by contractors who took deposits, cut corners, or walked off jobs. That’s why we exist.
Every pool we build is managed by the same team from excavation to water. No subcontractor shuffle, no diffused accountability. When something needs to be addressed, there’s one call to make.
It starts with a site evaluation. Before any design is finalized, we look at your property drainage patterns, utility locations, access routes for equipment, and any site-specific conditions that could affect the build. In Irwin County, where agricultural land use has left subsurface infrastructure on some properties that residential owners may not know about, that evaluation matters more than people expect. It’s not a formality. It’s how we avoid expensive surprises two feet underground.
Once the design is locked and permits are pulled we handle all of that through the Irwin County and City of Ocilla joint permitting office, including the separate electrical permit excavation begins. The gunite shell goes in, then plumbing, then electrical, then decking. Each phase is inspected at the right stage. Nothing gets covered up before it’s been looked at.
The full build from excavation to water typically runs 6 to 8 weeks for a standard residential gunite pool. That window can shift slightly depending on weather or inspection scheduling, but the timeline is real not a rough estimate designed to get you to sign and then stretch indefinitely. You’ll know where the project stands at every stage because there’s one team managing all of it.
Ready to get started?
A Deep Waters gunite pool build covers the full scope pool excavation, gunite shell construction, swimming pool plumbing, electrical bonding and wiring, pool deck installation, and equipment setup. We pull permits in-house for every project, and we schedule and manage every required inspection through the Irwin County building department. You don’t coordinate with a county office. You don’t track down a subcontractor’s license. We handle it.
The gunite construction method is worth understanding if you’re comparing options. Unlike fiberglass pools which arrive as a pre-manufactured shell in a fixed shape gunite is formed on-site, which means the pool is built exactly to your specifications. Custom depth, custom shape, custom finish. For Ocilla homeowners with larger lots and the room to build something specific to their property, that flexibility matters. A properly built gunite pool also lasts 25 to 30-plus years, compared to vinyl liner replacements every 8 to 12 years or fiberglass shells that typically need major work after 15 to 25 years.
Pool deck installation is part of the build as well. The deck is designed around your pool and your yard not templated. Given South Georgia’s heat and the amount of time Irwin County families spend outside from late spring through fall, the deck isn’t an afterthought. It’s part of what makes the finished space actually work.
Yes pool construction in Ocilla requires a building permit through the Irwin County and City of Ocilla joint permitting office, along with a separate electrical permit for the bonding, grounding, and equipment wiring. The county building inspector reviews the plans, approves the build, and conducts site inspections at key stages of construction. There is no published exemption from permitting for residential pool construction in Irwin County, which means any contractor who suggests skipping the permit process is creating a legal and financial problem for you not saving you time.
An unpermitted pool can create serious issues at resale, may not be covered by your homeowner’s insurance in the event of a claim, and can result in fines or required demolition if discovered during a property transaction. We handle all permitting for every project we build in Irwin County. You don’t navigate the process we do. Every pool we complete is fully documented, code-compliant, and legally on record.
For a standard residential gunite pool in South Georgia, you’re typically looking at a range of $55,000 to $100,000 depending on size, shape, depth, and finish selections. Custom features water features, specialty decking, upgraded plaster or pebble finishes, automation systems can push a build beyond that range. Larger or more complex projects in the Irwin County area can exceed $150,000.
The more important number to understand is the cost of doing it wrong. A cheaper bid that results in a pool with improper backfill, skipped inspections, or substandard plumbing will cost you significantly more in repairs within the first few years and that’s before you factor in what an unpermitted or defective pool does to your home’s resale value. In Ocilla, where the median home value is around $108,000, a $70,000 pool is a major investment relative to the property. It deserves a builder who’s going to get it right the first time.
A standard residential gunite pool build runs 6 to 8 weeks from excavation to water under normal conditions. That timeline assumes permits are in order before ground breaks, inspections are scheduled at the right stages, and the same team is managing the full build from start to finish which is how we operate on every project.
In South Georgia, the build season is long. Unlike markets further north, Ocilla doesn’t face winter shutdowns that interrupt construction for months at a time. You can break ground in the fall and be swimming by spring, or start in late winter and have the pool ready before the heat really settles in. The biggest variable that affects timelines in this region is inspection scheduling through the county which is exactly why having a builder who manages that process directly, rather than leaving it to the homeowner, makes a real difference in how the project moves.
Gunite is formed on-site using a pneumatically applied concrete mixture, which means the pool is built to whatever shape, size, and depth you specify. There’s no manufacturer catalog, no fixed dimensions, and no limitations based on what fits on a delivery truck. For homeowners in Irwin County with larger lots and the space to build something custom, this is the most flexible option available.
Fiberglass pools are pre-manufactured shells that get set into an excavated hole. They’re faster to install and generally lower maintenance, but you’re limited to the shapes and sizes the manufacturer offers. Vinyl liner pools have the lowest upfront cost but require liner replacement every 8 to 12 years, which adds up over time. A gunite pool built correctly in South Georgia’s Coastal Plain conditions will outlast both alternatives by a significant margin typically 25 to 30-plus years before any major structural work is needed. For a long-term investment in a property you plan to keep, gunite is the build that makes financial sense over the life of the pool.
The first thing to verify is licensing and insurance. Georgia requires pool construction contractors to hold a valid state contractor’s license, and you can confirm license status through the Georgia Secretary of State’s licensing portal. Any contractor who can’t produce proof of current license and general liability insurance on request is not someone you should hand a deposit to.
Beyond credentials, the question that matters most in a market like Ocilla is accountability. Who is actually managing your project, and who do you call when something isn’t moving? In a community this size, contractor reputations travel fast and the difference between a builder who manages the full project with their own team versus one who coordinates a loose network of subcontractors shows up in how the project runs day to day. Ask specifically whether the company pulls its own permits, who manages the inspections, and whether the same team handles every phase of the build. Those answers will tell you more than any sales conversation.
January through March is the most common planning window for Ocilla homeowners that’s when most people start getting quotes and finalizing designs so construction can begin in the spring. If you want to be swimming by Memorial Day, you need to have permits submitted and a contract signed well before March. The build itself takes 6 to 8 weeks, and the permitting process with the Irwin County office adds time before ground ever breaks.
That said, fall and early winter builds are worth considering if you’re flexible on timing. Ocilla’s mild winters mean construction can continue year-round without the freeze-related delays that shut down projects in northern markets. Contractors tend to have more scheduling availability between September and December, which can mean your project gets more focused attention and moves faster than a spring build competing with everyone else who waited until April to call. Either way, the earlier you start the conversation, the more control you have over when you’re actually in the water.
Local Resources
Useful Links
