How soon can you start building my swimming pool?

Update: 1/10/2024

The information in the article below is based on how the building and construction industry has been for years. During and after Covid we have had even longer delays on EVERYTHING. Most building departments embraced Covid in the name of 'safety' and are still leveraging it. Currently, delays are not as bad as 2020-2023, but many departments are still operating with little to no urgency. Delaware County (Powell, Delaware, Lewis Center, Westerville) is still conducting MANY virtual inspections. We are told that is a result of building growth and more than normal retirements.

Original Article -

"So how far out are you scheduling right now?" Asked an excited family. "It depends" I replied. Most people are curious to our work log and where they would be in the queue. The truth is that we don't operate on a "first in first out" basis as it would be totally impossible. There is a chance that your swimming pool project could be a lot quicker than simply going to the end of the line. Once we have all the components, we get started!

EXAMPLE: If you select a fiberglass pool that is in stock, have an easy building department or even no building department at all, AND your site is dry and ready! You go to the front of the line.

Permits

If your permits require this much paperwork, it could take a while.

If you live in an area that requires a long-drawn-out zoning process, and have an uncooperative building department, it is very difficult to tell you exactly how long it's going to take to get your permit. That's not us dodging you and not wanting to get pinned down, it's just the truth. Several years ago we had four inground pools take over nine weeks to get permits.

In some departments they are just slow, others are legitimately understaffed, and others have written zoning and building codes to discourage swimming pools (New Albany, Ohio). We have a permit that took eight weeks in Cincinnati. The project is similar to those we typically obtain in just two weeks. To add insult, this particular project consisted of us installing a fiberglass pools inside a larger existing concrete pool so zoning should NOT have come into play. Of all projects this should have been a pretty straightforward approval. Cincinnati offered us no explanation.

Pool Availability

If timing is a concern, looking at fiberglass pool models and colors that we have in stock makes the most sense. If you select a pool model that needs to be built, it may take us six to eight weeks depending on where we are in the shipping schedule. This is because we receive a semi-truck ever couple weeks. Each load is a stack of similar models. This week may be Palm Beaches and Malibu pools. The next may be Caribbeans. If you order a special order Key West today, we may not actually get another truck that is compatible for several weeks or longer. This is less or no factor during the season, as our work is scheduled longer and farther out than the factory is.

Site Conditions

This is simple and somewhat obvious but needs to be mentioned. If you have a power line that needs to be moved or trees that need cut down, we need to make sure those items are done BEFORE we schedule the install.

Weather

On average it takes three days of good weather to dry up for one day of rain.

Last but not least. Weather is without a doubt the most complicated variable we work around. When it rains and the ground is wet, it is very hard if not impossible to get on the ground and work. Even though we only need a few days to complete our work, a days worth of rain can require three to four days to dry out and brings most of our production to a stop. Please keep in mind that when we get a few weeks of rain our whole schedule gets pushed back several weeks.

Hopefully this has shed some light on the variables associated with the timing of an in ground pool project. These variables are not unique to our pool company. All outdoor construction is affected in similar ways. Unfortunately, sometimes customers are told what they want to hear and NOT the whole truth.

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