Gunite Pool

In North Virginia, the ground itself can be your pool’s biggest enemy. Between the heavy clay in Loudoun and Prince William counties, and the freeze-thaw cycles we see every winter, a poorly built pool shell won’t last. At Pools Inc NOVA, we surround ourselves with amazing engineers and concrete contractors, and know very well how to keep a shell from cracking under those conditions.  

The strength of a gunite pool starts with the steel. We don’t cut corners on rebar, and every cage is tied by hand and laid tight to match the design, with extra steel worked into corners, curves, and spa tie-ins where stress usually shows up first. That’s the difference between a pool that looks great for a couple of summers and one that’s still solid 20 years later.

When we shoot gunite, we use a high-pressure dry mix that compacts tighter than standard shotcrete. That density means fewer air pockets and less chance of future fractures. We also cut in expansion joints where we know the ground is likely to move, so the shell can flex a little instead of failing.

With all of the pools we design,  we incorporate drainage and put in hydrostatic valves under the shell to keep groundwater from pushing up against the pool. It’s a detail a lot of builders skip, but we’ve seen what happens when they do, and it isn’t pretty.  

And we don’t rush the cure. Every shell gets a full 30 days to set before plastering, which prevents surface cracking and extends the life of the finish. It’s patience up front that saves thousands down the line.

We build gunite pools for Northern Virginia, not some cookie-cutter design dropped in from out of state. Every pool is reinforced and finished for the way our soil moves, our winters freeze, and our summers heat up. That’s why homeowners from Fairfax to Fredericksburg trust us to put a pool in their backyard and know it’s going to last.