Swimming Pools
Pool types
A Gunite Pool Is the Custom Concrete Path
Wave builds gunite and concrete pools when a custom pool shape, material plan, and complete outdoor environment need to be resolved as one project.
Planning range
Concrete projects typically plan at $120,000–$200,000 and 6–8 weeks of construction after approvals and site readiness. These are planning ranges, not a quote or schedule promise.
Custom-pool commitment ledger
Choose concrete when the project needs custom resolution.
Concrete pool installation is the fit when the pool, deck, structures, and site work need to be planned together instead of fitted around a predefined shell. Concrete pools can be customized for shape, depth, and features through a site-built concrete vessel rather than a prefabricated shell. In shotcrete construction, concrete is placed pneumatically and generally includes steel reinforcement. PHTA-12 identifies a cementitious interior finish as non-structural and as coating the vessel. The tradeoff is a larger custom-project commitment: the design, approvals, schedule, and full scope must be coordinated before the build begins. Review gunite and concrete cost planning for the budget conversation.
Design brief
Start with the property assessment, the way the water will be used, and the outdoor rooms that need to work around it. The build sequence itself is explained in how a gunite pool is built.
Approval path
Wave handles village permits and engineering coordination; project conditions can require engineers or architects.
Build path
Design development, municipal review, site conditions, scope, and season shape the timing. In a concrete-pool construction system, shotcrete can use a wet- or dry-mix process; gunite refers specifically to dry-mix. The vessel uses pneumatically placed concrete, generally including some type of steel reinforcement. It forms the pool’s structural shell. The structural vessel and non-structural cementitious interior finish are distinct components; the shotcrete finishing stage receives a separate finish coating. Concrete construction can continue in winter with a temporary tented enclosure only when conditions and the approved plan support it.
Long-horizon context
A long service-life reference is not a warranty.
American Concrete Institute guidance says a properly designed, material-selected, and constructed shotcreted concrete pool can have a service life of 50–100 years or more. That conditional industry reference does not establish a Wave warranty, a selected-system promise, or a finish schedule.
Material language
ACI describes gunite as the historic dry-mix trade-name context for shotcrete. Use pool comparisons for a material-to-material decision, not this installation page.
Decision answers
What does a gunite decision ask of the project?
Where do the next questions belong?
Review pool types for the broader format decision, or return to Wave Outdoors Pools for the design-led approach.
Ready to talk about your backyard?
Tell us about your space. If you are looking for a pool construction company, we can discuss the property, compare the viable pool paths, and define the next design decisions.