Building a New Pool

Matt: That’s true. It probably won’t surprise anybody, but during the off-season is the best time before the skilled contractors get too busy. You can still landscape, it hasn’t gotten too hot to where you can’t landscape. There’s well-rested work crews, people are ready to go to work. And it takes time, pools take up to two or three months to build, so now is the time to get going on one.

Tim: I guess the whole process looks like what? How do you begin the process of planning for a new pool, and working with y’all’s people in order to figure out what you’re going to build?

Matt: Well like any large investment, you’d want to take your time. We’ve all been to other pools, and maybe hotel pools, resort pools. Start making some notes of what you like, what your family likes when you visit a pool. What you don’t like about a pool. Discuss it with your family, maybe go online: Houzz, Pinterest, of course Gohlke Pools website, and look at as many pool photos as you can and make notes, put a list together.

Tim: And you have a showroom here where people can come in and look at different materials, and photos of different types of pools.

Matt: We do, and of course we invite anybody any time to come up. Most of the time it’s better to make an appointment, but we love for people to come up here and look at some photos, and also some material choices.

Tim: Probably the number one question people ask is: Well how much does a new pool cost? And that’s a pretty wide-ranging question.

Matt: It is, it’s like asking how much a car costs, how much is a house. Typically pools in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that we see permitted are in the $40,000 – $70,000 range. And so that’s really what people can expect to pay for a nice, custom gunite swimming pool.

Tim: And then the other question I guess is: How much does it cost to operate, and how do you determine those kinds of costs?

Matt: Well, of course that varies as well. Now there are energy efficient pumps, so pools have really never been less expensive to operate than now. And chemical costs are really not that expensive, you can count on $100 – $200 a month probably maximum if you take care of the pool yourself.

Tim: One of the things that Gohlke Pools offers is an online program that helps you to ask all of those important questions: a pool planning kit. The pool planning kit is something that answers a lot of key questions that somebody might have, right?

Matt: Yes it does, it kind of just goes through everything in a non-threatening way. We’re a no-pressure type of pool company anyway. If you just would rather look at it online, the email planning packet for new pool construction certainly goes through most of the things that the designer’s going to go through with you.

Tim: So in order to get that, someone needs to do what?

Matt: Well you could call, and we’d be glad to email it to you. And I believe there’s going to be a link to it on this email as well.

Tim: So a final question: Why is it important to have a quality pool built?

Matt: Well unlike a car, or some other large purchases, a swimming pool is a little more difficult to get rid of if you get one that is not performing, if you have major structural issues. So, I say similar to a home, you really want to go quality the first time. Not only will it be less maintenance, more enjoyable to own, but also will not hinder your resale value if you ever decide to sell. So, go quality, someone you can trust, and that’s been around.

Tim: And so the best place to start is with a phone call to Gohlke Pools.

Matt: That’s correct, that’s what we believe.

Tim: All right, this has been another edition of Gohlke Pools Radio.