Buying a Pool? Why a Pool Builder Shouldn’t Be Your First Call

By Jeremy Ruben, Founder of LANDOVA Design & Planning · October 20, 2026

Before You Call a Pool Builder · Part 1 of 7

Jeremy brings firsthand experience as a high-performing pool salesperson and designer. During his time on a pool sales team, he closed deals at nearly three times the rate of the rest of the team.

If you want a pool, calling a pool builder sounds like the obvious first step. I understand the instinct. I used to be the person sitting across the table, helping homeowners imagine the pool and asking them to move forward.

I was good at it. During my time on a pool sales team, I was closing deals at nearly three times the rate of the rest of the team. I’m telling you that because this advice comes from someone who succeeded inside that process. I know how compelling a design presentation can be. I also know how much a homeowner can leave undecided while feeling ready to buy.

My advice: before you hire someone to build your pool, hire someone to help you define your backyard. That is the reason I built LANDOVA.

Your first conversation can set the boundaries of the project

Picture a familiar beginning. You tell a builder you want a pool. You talk about shape, size, a sun shelf, perhaps a spa. A drawing arrives. There is a price. You start comparing that price with another builder’s drawing.

Meanwhile, the questions that determine how you will actually use the space may still be open. Where will you eat dinner? Will the furniture fit without blocking the route to the water? What happens to the lawn and irrigation? Where will you find shade? How does a future kitchen fit?

There does not have to be bad intent for this to happen. A company can give you an honest proposal for the work it expects to perform while you imagine a much larger finished result.

A beautiful pool is one decision inside a bigger decision

The pool changes the yard around it. Its position affects the patio, views from the house, access, planting and the space left for everything else. Once those relationships become construction commitments, revisiting them can mean new drawings, revised pricing or physical rework.

That is why “we’ll figure out the landscaping later” deserves a closer look. Choosing plants later may be reasonable. Discovering later that there is no useful planting space, no privacy or no practical route for future work is a different problem.

The first design conversation should establish what a successful backyard means for your household. The pool then earns its place within that plan.

The order I recommend

1. Define the life you want outside. Everyday routines, entertaining, children, pets, privacy, maintenance and the hours you will use the space.
2. Understand the property. Record existing conditions and identify questions about access, levels, drainage, utilities and boundaries that need qualified verification.
3. Develop one whole-yard concept. Coordinate the pool with the patio, furniture, shade, landscape and future phases.
4. Make the scope and investment clear. Separate included work, allowances, exclusions and unresolved items.
5. Invite builders to price that project. Compare their proposals against a common basis, then choose who will execute it.

Planning first does not mean ignoring construction expertise

Good builders bring essential knowledge. Early trade input can reveal access problems, equipment considerations and cost implications that should influence the design. LANDOVA’s process makes room for that input before you are forced to treat every design conversation as a construction sales decision.

The difference is who is organizing the decisions and what you are approving at each stage. A concept is not an engineered construction document. A preliminary estimate is not a final contract. A rendering is not proof that every pictured item is included.

You should know which of those things you are looking at.

Already talking to builders? You can still reset the conversation

You do not have to throw away useful work. Gather the drawings and proposals you have. Write down what you still cannot answer. Are the quotes for the same pool? Is the patio sized for your furniture? Has anyone shown the entire finished space and identified who provides each part?

If the answers are unclear, pause the comparison long enough to define the project. A helpful builder can respond to a clearer scope. You gain a more useful basis for deciding.

You should choose a pool builder because that builder is right for your plan—not because the first persuasive presentation became your plan.

Before you ask someone to price your pool, let’s define your whole project.

Read the complete series

1. Buying a Pool? Why a Pool Builder Shouldn’t Be Your First Call — You are here
2. You Want a Backyard. The Proposal May Only Include a Pool.
3. A Pool Salesperson Is Selling a Pool. Who Is Helping You Plan?
4. Three Pool Quotes Can Mean Three Completely Different Projects
5. The Pool Price Isn’t the Backyard Budget
6. Five Stars for the Sales Pitch. But Has Anyone Built the Pool Yet?
7. The Better Way to Buy a Pool: Plan With LANDOVA, Then Choose Your Builder

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