Gunite Pool Construction

Poured-in-place concrete (gunite/shotcrete) pools, custom-shaped and engineered for Texas clay soils, built to last decades.

Gunite (shotcrete) is the standard for custom, long-lasting pools in the Houston area. A steel rebar cage is engineered to your yard, then gunite is sprayed over the structure and hand-troweled to your exact design, freeform or geometric, before plaster, pebble, or tile finishing.

Because the shell is formed on-site rather than dropped in prefabricated, gunite pools can be built to any shape, depth, or feature set: tanning ledges, swim-up bars, raised spas, negative-edge walls, and integrated water features all start as gunite.

Texas Gulf Coast soil moves more than soil in most of the country. A gunite shell poured and engineered for your specific lot, with proper rebar density and bond-beam detailing, is the construction method built to handle that movement without the cracking and settling problems cheaper builds run into.

Houston-area summers mean the pool and its equipment run hard for most of the year; a properly sized pump and filter, and a plaster or pebble finish rated for year-round sun exposure, save on repair calls down the line.

Where This Fits in Our Process

Gunite work spans all four phases of our process: the design step engineers the shell for your soil and lot, and construction is sequenced excavation, steel, gunite, plumbing/electrical, then decking and finish. See Our Process for the full four-phase build.

What to Bring to Your Consultation

Having a rough sense of budget range, a priority list of must-have features, and photos of the current yard (if there's an existing pool or structure involved) makes the first site visit more productive. Nothing needs to be finalized before then, that's what the Design & Planning step is for, but the more specific the starting point, the faster a workable design comes together.

Serving Sugar Land, Missouri City, Richmond

Riverstone and First Colony both require architectural control committee approval for pool and backyard plans, including review of fencing and setbacks relative to the deed restrictions, which is handled during the design phase. Fort Bend County clay soil, similar to Katy’s, needs a properly engineered gunite shell to handle the seasonal expansion and contraction rather than a generic footing.

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