Pools & Spas in La Cañada Flintridge
Pool and spa design and build for La Cañada Flintridge, on deep lots below the Angeles National Forest. We design the pool around the oaks, the grade and the foothill setting, together with the terracing, planting and drainage that go with it.
Pools in La Cañada Flintridge
La Cañada Flintridge lots are generous by Los Angeles standards, and the oaks that came with them are usually the best thing on the property. Coast live oaks do not tolerate regrading inside the root zone, a deck poured tight to the base or summer water at the trunk, so the pool is placed around them.
The ground is decomposed granite and alluvial cobble washed down out of the canyons, which drains fast in some places and not at all in others. Deep lots that step down away from the house need real terracing, and the retaining that makes a level pool pad is often the largest single item in the budget.
We locate the critical root zone before drawing the pool, keep the trunk flare dry and avoid regrading under the canopy. Work inside a protected oak's root zone generally needs city review, which we plan for during design.
Large lots that fall away from the house need structural retaining to produce a level pad. We plan wall lines and step-downs alongside the pool layout so the yard reads as one design instead of a series of add-ons.
Much of the city sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. We build the required clearance into the plan from the start, using hardscape, spacing and irrigated planting around the pool.
A wet winter after a dry one moves a lot of material down these canyons. Drainage capacity and finish grades around the pool are designed for the storm that actually shows up, not the average one.
Nearby communities we serve: Montrose, La Crescenta, Altadena, Pasadena
Start here
The style follows how you want to use the yard. Pick the backyard you are actually after and the shape, the spa and the surfaces mostly follow from it. Every project below was built here in Southern California, so the planting, the shade and the surfaces are chosen for this climate.
01 A family-friendly backyard Room to swim, and room around the water. A shallow entry, shade to sit in, and turf that stands up to being used. See complete backyards 
02 A resort-style retreat A raised spa, moving water and planting layered in close. The pool is the centerpiece and the yard is built to match it. See resort-style projects 
03 A pool and entertaining space The pool is half of it. An outdoor kitchen, covered dining and a fire feature keep people outside after the swimming stops. See entertaining spaces 
04 Remodel an existing pool New tile, coping and plaster change the pool. Rebuilding the deck, planting and lighting changes the yard. See pool remodels Pool styles
Modern, Freeform, Formal, Infinity edge, Fiberglass, Pool and spa. Pick one to see who it suits, what it asks of the property, and a project where we built it.
Best for Contemporary and mid-century houses, and anyone who wants the pool to look built rather than dropped in.
On your property Needs a level or terraced area. On a slope the cost is in the retaining that makes the level, not in the pool.
Best for Families, and lots where a rectangle fights the shape of the yard.
On your property Suits an oak-studded La Cañada lot, because the outline can be drawn outside the root zones.
Best for Traditional, Spanish and Colonial houses, and gardens that already work on an axis.
On your property Needs space on both sides to stay symmetrical. Tight to one boundary it stops being formal and becomes a lap pool.
Best for Properties with a view or a drop, where the far edge of the pool can be made to disappear.
On your property Possible where a deep lot drops away from the house. The structure to hold the edge is usually the largest cost, so it is priced early.
Best for Smaller yards, tighter budgets, and jobs where a shorter build matters more than a custom shape.
On your property Works where there is clear access to the excavation. On a deep, sloping lot the shell often cannot reach the pad.
Best for Anyone who wants the yard usable in January, not just August.
On your property A raised spa has to be structured with the pool, not added later. Heating is where most of the running cost goes.
One coordinated team
Everything marked here is in this one photograph, and the same company drew and built all of it. So are the cabana, outdoor kitchen and fire table just outside the frame. A pool builder gives you a pool. This is the rest of it.
How a pool gets built
The five stages below are the pool version of the same five-step design process we run on every project.
Before: the yard as we found it Somebody comes out and measures. Grade, boundaries, setbacks, trees worth keeping, and where the panel, meters, valves and drains actually sit. On a pool that survey decides where the excavation can go before anything gets drawn.
Base plan The pool, the deck around it and the planting get drawn together, same scale, same sheet. This is where the yard either works as one space or it does not.
Materials Coping, waterline tile, interior finish, decking and equipment all get picked against samples. Structural work like retaining and sections through a slope gets engineered at this stage, not discovered later.
3D rendering Permits go through our own permitting department. Then excavation, steel, plumbing, shotcrete, decking and finish, with a supervisor on site and a different trained crew for each trade.
Finished Planting, lighting and equipment start-up, then a walkthrough on how the system runs and what it needs. Plants get a monitoring period after that.
Featured project
A yard that already had a dry creek and a bridge, given a freeform pool with a baja shelf, a boulder waterfall, a cedar hot tub and sauna, and a flowering meadow. More pairs like this are in our before-and-after archive.
This yard already had a landscape in it: a bridge, a dry creek, mature trees drawn with their canopies, lawn, concrete paving and an access drive. Nothing here needed inventing. The work was deciding what to carry on.
The yard already ran on stone and water, so the new work does too. A sixteen-by-twenty-four-foot pool sits on the upper level at three feet six and six feet deep, with a baja shelf, a retaining wall behind it, a sundeck, steps and a gravel path down to the spa. We cut a section through the scheme to confirm a pool that size would sit in a sloping yard without terracing the whole hillside.
Before your consultation
You do not need answers to these before you call. Knowing what the questions are makes the first conversation a lot more useful.
The yard decides more of this than taste does. Setbacks, equipment access, the fall across the site and how much room you want left around the water all narrow it before style comes into it.
Concrete is formed on site in shotcrete, so the shape is yours and the build takes longer. Fiberglass comes as a molded shell in a fixed size. Quicker, but it has to physically reach the hole.
Raised, flush or spilling. Sharing equipment with the pool costs less to build and less to run than a separate hot tub, but the structure has to be drawn in from the start.
The two details you look at most and touch most. They decide whether the pool looks modern or traditional more than the outline does.
A baja shelf is somewhere to sit in a few inches of water. Benches and wide steps add usable space without adding depth.
Heating decides whether the spa gets used in January. Saltwater runs a chlorine generator instead of buying chlorine, and it can go on any of these pool types.
Lights in the water, and lights on everything around it. Running the conduit with the rest of the work is the only way to get fixtures where you want them.
Barrier and drain requirements are set by code, and in La Cañada Flintridge a pool permit can sit alongside oak review and hillside grading approval. We pull the permits in house and map those requirements during design, so the shell, the deck edge and the trenching are drawn to respect the trees.
Investment & schedule
A pool is shaped by the property it goes into: the design, the access, the engineering and how much of the yard around it is in scope. We settle those during design, so you are deciding with the site in front of you rather than a guess.
No quote written off a photograph can account for what your property is like.
Decking, drainage, utilities, planting, shade, lighting and where people actually sit all bear on where the pool goes and how it gets built. Settling them on one set of drawings is what keeps conduit out of the wrong trench and stops paving being cut to fit afterwards.
Access, engineering, permits, finishes and scope vary a lot from one property to the next, so the investment and the schedule for a pool are set once we have seen the site and the design is settled.
Tell us about the property and what you want the yard to do. We will walk through the design, site and permitting factors likely to shape it.
What homeowners say
We are thrilled with our new backyard. Our pool, spa, and firepit feel like a resort, and the work was professional, clean, on time, and priced well. The entire POL team made the construction process easy and manageable, keeping us informed every step of the way. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Pacific Outdoor Living did an incredible job transforming both our front and back yards. They turned our rarely used backyard into a stunning and functional space, incorporating a new pool, pavers, and artificial turf. We met with at least four other pool builders, but POL stood out for their ability to handle every aspect of the project seamlessly, from design to construction to landscaping.
They did a great job with our pool deck and pool remodel. Everything was planned in detail before even beginning, and proceeded exactly as expected. Samantha was a great designer to work with, and Scott made sure all needs were met during construction. The company as a whole is just extremely professional and dependable.
The pool, spa, and patio renovation turned out beautifully, and the custom waterslide became a favorite feature for the family. Our kids absolutely love it, and it's become the gathering spot for our entire neighborhood. The quality of the work and attention to creating a family-friendly space was exceptional.
They completely remodeled our pool, added a hot tub, and handled all the lighting and landscaping. Our project supervisor, Juan, demonstrated great communication and meticulous attention to detail, taking extra care to ensure that every aspect was safe for our kids and our puppy. This is clearly a company that takes genuine pride in their work.
We had our entire backyard remodeled by Pacific Outdoor Living last year, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. As a mom of two little boys, I wanted a space that was both beautiful and functional for our family, and that’s exactly what we got. We removed everything, including the old pool, and built a brand-new pool, artificial grass, fire pit area, and a basketball court for my husband.
We had our backyard remodeled, which included pool installation, pergola build, and driveway paving. Our designer Julian was able to create the backyard that we envisioned and our project manager Trent made sure the whole process was smooth & efficient. They finished the project within budget and even ahead of schedule.
Questions
Often yes, with the right layout. The constraints are the critical root zone, grade changes under the canopy and summer water at the trunk. We set the shell and decking outside that zone, use permeable surfaces where a path must cross, and keep new irrigation off the oak. Work that encroaches on a protected tree typically requires city review, which we plan for during design.
That is what the site analysis answers. We shoot the existing grades, look at where you want level ground and size the walls to produce it. On a steeply falling lot the retaining is often the largest single line item, so it is worth pricing before the rest of the design is locked.
Mostly the near-house zone and the fuel spacing. The first several feet around the structure stay free of combustible material, planting close to the house is low, irrigated and well maintained, and hardscape is used to break up continuous fuel. Further out, the garden can be much more expressive.
The design stage generally runs two to five weeks depending on the size of the project and how many revisions it goes through. Construction varies with scope: small jobs can be a week, and large projects can run three to six months. Your designer and job supervisor give you a firmer timeline once the design is complete.
Yes. We have our own in-house permitting department and typically pull all permits needed for the job, so you do not have to take time off work to queue or work out the requirements yourself.
Yes. Pool remodeling is one of the services we offer, and several of the projects in our portfolio kept the existing pool shell and rebuilt it with new tile, coping and plaster along with the deck and planting around it.
Yes, and it is the reason the company is set up the way it is. We design and build the pool, hardscape, carpentry, planting and lighting with our own crews, so the same team is responsible for how those pieces meet.
Yes. Concrete pools are formed on site in shotcrete, which lets the shape be drawn to the yard. Fiberglass pools arrive as a molded shell in a fixed size and shape, which shortens the wet trades but depends on the shell being able to reach the excavation.
Yes. The design fee covers site measurements, an illustrated design, a 3-D design and revisions as needed, so you see the layout and the materials before anything is built.
Pool size and depth, how much grading or retaining the site needs, the coping, tile, interior finish and decking you choose, whether there is a spa, heating, water features or automation, and how much of the surrounding yard is included. Our minimum for projects is usually $7,500, and a custom landscape design runs from $300 to $1,850 depending on how much work is involved.
Yes. La Cañada Flintridge is within our Greater Los Angeles service area and we work throughout the foothill communities. Use the address checker on our La Cañada Flintridge page to confirm coverage for your exact property.
Tell us how you want the backyard to look and work. We will walk you through the right pool design, the scope and what happens next.
What happens next: we set up a visit, measure the property and talk through what you want the yard to do. Then you get a design to look at before you commit to anything.
