What I Learned After Building Hundreds of Pools on the Gold Coast

There’s a moment I’ll never forget. More than 30 years ago, I was standing on a dusty block on the Gold Coast with a shovel in my hand with my mate in the excavator, looking at the patch of ground where one of my first concrete pools would be built. I had helped in putting in a dozen or so pools when I was an apprentice pool builder in my late teens, but this pool was the first pool I was building and would be considered my first pool.

The homeowner was excited, their kids already running around the yard talking about pool parties and swimming laps. Back then, pool building was simpler. There were fewer choices, fewer regulations, and far fewer expectations about what a backyard pool should be. Nothing like it is today, back then you didn't even need a pool fence. How things have changed.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve lost count of how many pools my team and I have built across the Gold Coast. From small plunge pools squeezed into tight suburban blocks to large resort-style pools overlooking the hinterland, I’ve seen just about every soil type, slope, storm event, design request, budget challenge, and maintenance issue you can imagine. And after three decades in the industry, one thing has become very clear to me: most homeowners don’t really know what matters when building a pool, and many only find out years later when problems start appearing.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is the belief that all pools are essentially the same. Dig a hole, form up the steel, spray the concrete, add tiles, coping and then add water, and you’re done. The reality is very different. I’ve inspected pools that looked perfect on the surface but were already failing underneath. Hairline cracks in concrete shells, rust bleeding through steel, plumbing that was never designed properly, and filters that were way too small for the pool they were meant to service. These issues rarely show up at handover. They usually appear five or ten years later, long after the builder has disappeared.

A well-built concrete pool, engineered properly and constructed with the right materials, can last decades. A poorly built one can start causing headaches in less than ten years. Fibreglass pools follow the same pattern. Quality manufacturers build strong, stable shells that are properly supported. Cheaper ones cut corners, and the problems don’t show up until the shell flexes or the surface starts to fail. The lesson I’ve learned is simple, choose a builder who is thinking about how your pool will perform twenty years from now, not just how fast they can finish it.

Another mistake I see time and time again is underestimating the importance of pool equipment. Many homeowners assume maintenance issues come down to laziness or forgetting to check chemicals. In my experience, that’s rarely the case. More often, the problem is an undersized pump, a low-quality filter, or poor circulation design. When the equipment isn’t right, the pool becomes hard work. Water turns cloudy, chemicals never seem balanced, and algae keeps coming back. When the equipment is designed properly, the pool almost looks after itself.

Cost is another area where expectations don’t always line up with reality. Two pools that look identical on paper can end up with very different price tags, largely because of what’s happening underground. Gold Coast soil can change dramatically from one suburb to the next. We’ve excavated through sand, clay, rock shelves, and even uncovered old structures buried below the surface. Sloping blocks, tight access, and high water tables all affect how a pool needs to be engineered. When a quote seems unusually cheap, it’s worth asking what’s been left out. One example of how costs can blow out is when we hit black rock on a property, the rock was over 6 meters long and 3 meters deep. And unfortunately the rock was in the only place the pool could be installed and the additional cost was an additional $20K just in excavation costs.

Good design also plays a huge role in long-term costs. People often focus on pool size, but details like circulation, skimmer placement, pump location, sun exposure, and depth make a bigger difference over time. A pool designed with these factors in mind is easier to maintain, cheaper to run, and far more enjoyable to own. And I can't emphasise tree selection when landscaping around pools. The last thing you want to do is plant species of trees that fill your pool with leaves, and while palm trees can look great around a pool. The pods when they open will spew berries all into your pool. Root systems of certain tree species can also cause havoc. so this is something to seriously consider.

The Gold Coast presents its own unique challenges. Heavy rain can dilute water chemistry overnight. Strong UV breaks down chlorine faster than most people realise. Storm debris clogs filters and skimmers, and salt air accelerates corrosion if the wrong materials are used. Experience matters here. After decades of building locally, you start to understand which areas flood, which soils move, and how different backyards behave in storms.

Before installing your pool, I also recommend waiting for a good storm and a good downpour and take notes of where the water runs on your property. Then proper drainage can be implemented to avoid issues with run-off entering your pool.

Trends come and go, but the pools that stand the test of time are the ones built with longevity in mind. A pool should add joy to a home, not stress. Built properly, it becomes the centre of family life for decades. Built poorly, it becomes a constant source of frustration and can be a huge nightmare.

After all these years, that’s still what drives me. Helping families create pools they’ll enjoy not just this summer, but for many years to come. And that perspective only comes from time, experience, and seeing what works, and what doesn’t, long after the concrete has set.