Pools & Spas
Custom Pool Design and Construction in Los Angeles
Designed around your entire backyard, not dropped into it. We build the pool and spa, the deck around it, the planting, the lighting and the entertaining space across Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. One team, one set of drawings, one schedule.
Start here
Start with how you want to live in it
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.
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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
Six ways a pool can be built
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.
Modern pools
Best for Contemporary and mid-century houses, and anyone who wants the pool to look built rather than dropped in.
- Straight runs and square corners line up with the house and the paving
- Takes a raised spa and spillway as part of the structure, not an add-on
- Tile, coping and deck line up when they share an edge
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.
- Raised spa with spillway
- Sun shelf
- Linear fire feature
- Large-format paving
Freeform pools
Best for Families, and lots where a rectangle fights the shape of the yard.
- The outline can be drawn around trees, rock and grade you want to keep
- Takes a beach entry, a waterfall and a slide without looking cluttered
- Sits in the garden instead of on top of it
On your property The most forgiving shape on an awkward lot. Curves need room, so narrow yards usually do better squared off.
- Boulder waterfall
- Beach entry
- Planted stream
- Natural stone decking
Formal pools
Best for Traditional, Spanish and Colonial houses, and gardens that already work on an axis.
- Sits on a center line with the house, a doorway or a view
- The long straight run is the shape to swim lengths in
- Symmetry does the work, so it needs less detail to look finished
On your property Needs space on both sides to stay symmetrical. Tight to one boundary it stops being formal and becomes a lap pool.
- Spa on the center line
- Stone coping
- Clipped hedging
- Wall fountains
Infinity-edge pools
Best for Properties with a view or a drop, where the far edge of the pool can be made to disappear.
- Removes the visual line between the water and what is beyond it
- The catch basin and the returns have to be engineered in early
- Works as a still reflecting surface as well as a swimming pool
On your property Needs the drop, and the structure to hold it. The survey and the section decide whether it is possible before anything else does.
- Catch basin and surge tank
- Glass or dark waterline tile
- Level deck at the near edge
Fiberglass pools
Best for Smaller yards, tighter budgets, and jobs where a shorter build matters more than a custom shape.
- Arrives as a molded shell, so there is less wet work on site
- The finish is the shell, so there is no plaster to resurface later
- Sizes and shapes are fixed by what the manufacturer makes
On your property Access decides it. The shell comes in one piece and has to reach the hole, which rules it out on a lot of hillside and rear-access lots.
- Compact spa
- Paver or concrete surround
- Automatic cover
Pool and spa combinations
Best for Anyone who wants the yard usable in January, not just August.
- A raised spa gives the pool a built edge and somewhere to sit
- Sharing equipment and plumbing with the pool is cheaper than a standalone hot tub
- The spillway gives the yard some sound when nobody is swimming
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.
- Spillway or sheer descent
- Waterline tile
- Automation and remote heating
One coordinated team
We design the whole environment, not the pool shell
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.
Shown: Entertainer's Cabana, Simi Valley
How a pool gets built
Concept to completion
The five stages below are the pool version of the same five-step design process we run on every project.
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Before: the yard as we found it Site and property analysis
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.
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Base plan Pool and backyard concept
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.
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Materials Materials, engineering and selections
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.
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3D rendering Permitting and construction
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
Finishing and final walkthrough
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
Boulder Creek Pool
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.
The property
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 design decision
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.
- Services
- Complete Landscape · Pools & Spas
- Location
- La Crescenta, CA
- Style
- Naturalistic
Before your consultation
The decisions that shape a pool
You do not need answers to these before you call. Knowing what the questions are makes the first conversation a lot more useful.
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Shape and size
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.
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Concrete or fiberglass
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.
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Integrated spas
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.
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Coping and waterline tile
The two details you look at most and touch most. They decide whether the pool looks modern or traditional more than the outline does.
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Sun shelves, steps and seating
A baja shelf is somewhere to sit in a few inches of water. Benches and wide steps add usable space without adding depth.
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Heating and water systems
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.
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Pool lighting
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.
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Safety and permitting
Barrier and drain requirements are set by code and vary between Los Angeles cities. We pull the permits in house, and what the city asks for shapes the drawings, not the other way around.
Investment and timeline
What moves the number, and what moves the date
We do not publish a price for a pool. The honest answer depends on the property. These are the things that actually move it.
What moves the investment
- Size, depth and shape of the pool
- How much retaining or grading the site needs
- Coping, tile, interior finish and decking
- Spa, water features, heating and automation
- How much of the surrounding yard is in scope
What moves the timeline
- Permit review, which varies between Los Angeles jurisdictions
- Site access for excavation and materials
- Hillside lots, which often need extra structural work
- Weather during the wet trades
- Selections not yet decided when the build starts
Why we design the yard with the pool
Deciding the deck, the planting and the lighting after the pool goes in is how yards end up with conduit in the wrong place and paving cut to fit. Drawing it together up front costs less than fixing it later.
Published figures: our project minimum is usually $7,500, and a custom landscape design runs $300 to $1,850 depending on the work involved. Design generally takes two to five weeks; construction ranges from about a week on small jobs to three to six months on large ones. Financing options are available.
What homeowners say
Reviews from pool projects
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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.
Menachem Fishkin Pool, pavers and artificial turf Google review -
Pacific Outdoor Living gets a 5 star review because of their outstanding customer service and job performance. We recently renovated our backyard with an in-ground pool and outdoor space. The job took no more than two and a half months to complete. Samantha the designer, worked with us to sketch exactly what we wanted and provided us with a 3D model of how our backyard would look like. It came out exactly what was sketched.
Macky Goldscher In-ground pool and outdoor space Google review -
I would definitely recommend Pacific Outdoor Living. We had a great experience. They helped us through all the permitting and difficulties of having a hillside home and following LA pool requirements.
L R Hillside pool, LA permitting Google review
Questions
Pool design and construction, answered
How long does pool design and construction take?
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.
Does Pacific Outdoor Living handle permits?
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.
Can you remodel an existing pool?
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.
Can the patio and landscaping be built at the same time?
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.
Do you design fiberglass and concrete pools?
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.
Can I see the project in 3D before construction?
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.
What determines the total investment?
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.
Which areas do you serve?
We serve Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, including Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Woodland Hills, along with the Central Coast. The full service area is listed on our locations page.
Let's design more than a pool
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.