Concrete cancer is not a product defect, and it is not your builder's fault.

It is a chemical reaction inside the concrete itself, and it begins before the mix ever reaches your backyard. The technical name is alkali-silica reaction, or ASR. It can start the day a pool is built, it stays completely invisible for about three years, and by the time you can see it the pool cannot be repaired. Only replaced.

Full disclosure, and it is the first thing said in the episode: River Pools manufactures fiberglass pools. This is not an argument for fiberglass, and you will not hear one. Almost every pool project involves concrete somewhere, whether that is the shell, the patio, the footings, or the deck, which makes this worth understanding no matter what you are planning to build.

C. Terry Brannon, P.E., is an engineer with 50 years in engineering and 40 of those in aquatics. He writes and teaches the concrete curriculum for GENESIS, the industry's leading design and construction education program, and he sits on the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance's ASR Task Force. He has spent his career designing structures out of concrete, which is exactly why he is the right person to explain how concrete fails. He does not work for River Pools and he is not selling anything.

In this conversation, Terry walks through what homeowners actually need to know:

• The three conditions ASR requires, reactive aggregate, moisture, and a pH of 13, and why removing any one of them stops the reaction completely
• Why it starts at the concrete plant rather than with your builder, and what a builder can still do to specify and verify the mix
• What fly ash was quietly doing for decades, and what changed when coal plants stopped producing it
• Why almost every documented case traces back to one concrete placement method
• The three-year fuse, and what cracking in the first weeks of a new pool actually means
• How to tell an ASR deposit from ordinary pool scale using nothing but your thumb
• What confirmation testing costs, why the fast version of the test is no better than a coin flip, and when paying for it is not worth it
• The certificate to ask your builder for before anyone breaks ground, and why a one-year warranty will not cover this

Along the way, Terry describes a pool outside Waco that he followed over several years. The first visit turned up four or five cracks that looked suspicious. A year later there were closer to forty, and the pool was losing six inches of water a day.

None of this is a reason to avoid a concrete pool. It is rare, it is geographically concentrated, and it is entirely preventable. That is the honest headline here: preventable, not fixable. The homeowner who asks two or three specific questions before signing a contract is already ahead of the problem.

Start planning your backyard at https://www.riverpoolsandspas.com, where you'll find self-guided decision tools, a cost estimator, and hundreds of articles built to help you dot the i's and cross the t's before you break ground.

The Pool Guides Podcast – by River Pools Catch the Wave.

The hidden costs of a pool project are not really hidden. They are missed.

They get missed because there is a gap between what a homeowner knows, buying maybe one pool in their lifetime, and what a builder knows after a thousand of them. Nobody is hiding anything. The questions just never come up, and then they come up at the worst possible moment.

Becky Martinez is the Director of Intelligence at River Pools Virginia. She started there in high school running water tests, and 20 years later she has had her hands on the planning, permitting, and logistics of more than 1,000 inground pool installations. She has watched these surprises land on homeowners more times than she can count, which makes her a very good guide for this one.

In this conversation, Becky walks through seven categories of cost that homeowners most often miss:

• Site restoration after the crews leave, and where your builder's scope of work actually stops
• The plat, and why the document that defines your property lines and setbacks is the most important piece of paper in the project
• Excavated dirt, which comes out of the ground at nearly twice the volume of the pool itself and has to go somewhere
• Drainage, patio, and landscaping, which together can account for half the total project budget
• Public and private utilities, including what a locate service will and will not mark
• Safety barriers, where fencing, covers, and door alarms are code requirements rather than upgrades
• Retaining walls and the permit stack, which on a complicated site can run to six permits or more

Along the way, Becky tells the story of a homeowner whose county did not require a plat, who assumed the fence line was the property line, and who ended up with a good portion of a finished patio on the neighbor's land. That one worked out. It very easily might not have.

None of this is a reason to skip the pool. It is a reason to ask better questions before you sign, and to get every answer line itemed in the contract. Becky's closing advice is worth the listen on its own: do not fixate on the pool, and do not put the project off a year to avoid the work of planning it, because the planning is the part that saves you money.

Start planning your backyard at https://www.riverpoolsandspas.com, where you'll find self-guided decision tools, a cost estimator, and hundreds of articles built to help you dot the i's and cross the t's before you break ground.

The Pool Guides Podcast – by River Pools
Catch the Wave.

Everybody asks what a pool costs to build. Almost nobody asks what it costs to own. This episode fixes that.

Cristian sits down with Tyler Hermon of Pools of Fun in Indianapolis, who has spent 18 years in the industry assisting with pool sales, five retail stores, and a full maintenance division. That combination is rare, and it is exactly why he can walk you through the real ten-year picture on fiberglass, vinyl liner, and concrete pools without flinching.

You will hear where the money actually goes: the liner replacement that tends to show up around year ten, the concrete resurface that costs roughly double, and the pumps, heaters, and salt cells you will swap whether you planned for them or not. Tyler is honest about insurance too, including why a diving board or slide can quietly cost you coverage, and how an automatic cover pays you back on chemicals, heat, and peace of mind.

Then comes the part you cannot put on a spreadsheet. In roughly a thousand pools sold, Tyler cannot name one family who said it was not worth it. As he puts it, the maintenance people fear and the maintenance they actually deal with are rarely the same thing.

A few things that come up along the way:
• Which pool type is cheapest to own over a decade, and why
• The difference between paying up front and paying later
• What really drives insurance and property tax changes on a pool
• When doing your own maintenance saves money, and when it just costs you a Saturday
• Why "we will wait until the kids are older" is the regret Tyler hears most

If you are weighing a pool and trying to picture life ten years in, this is the conversation to have first.

Planning your own backyard? Head to riverpoolsandspas.com for a pricing estimator, decision-making tools, and hundreds of articles built to help you decide with confidence.

Most homeowners spend more time around their pool than in it. Which means the patio, the deck, and the gathering spaces around the water carry most of the experience. So how do you plan that space well?

In this episode, Cristian sits down with Trey Watford, lead designer at River Pools Virginia, for a practical, design-driven conversation about patio square footage. They cover the realistic averages, the dimensions behind every common gathering space, and the side-by-side comparisons that show why allocation matters more than total size. If you're planning a fiberglass pool and trying to figure out how much patio you actually need, this one's for you.

In this episode

• Why patios get underestimated and how to avoid the most common regrets • The honest average patio size, and when your needs land outside it • How much room each zone really needs (conversation, dining, fire pit, hot tub, grill, outdoor kitchen) • Minimum walkway widths around the pool for safety and comfort • Practical ways to visualize your space at home before signing anything • How to phase your patio over time without ending up with a patchwork look

About Trey Watford

Trey Watford is the lead designer at River Pools Virginia. He brings a Virginia Tech background in landscape architecture and years of hands-on experience designing high-end outdoor living spaces around fiberglass pools.

Watch the video version on YouTube to see Trey's design walkthroughs on screen. Search The Pool Guides Podcast.

Start planning your pool at riverpoolsandspas.com.

Catch the wave.

Most homeowners plan the pool and figure out the outdoor living space later. That's the mistake. In this episode, landscape architect Trey Watford, lead designer at River Pools Virginia, walks you through the design process from discovery to final plan, so you can approach your own project with confidence no matter who you work with.

Trey covers the questions every homeowner should ask themselves before a designer ever shows up, why site analysis is the most underrated part of the process, what a $250K–$300K backyard project actually includes, and how to bring that number down without losing what matters most.

Whether you're early in your research or already speaking with builders, this episode will give you a clearer picture of what great backyard design looks like, and what questions to ask to make sure you get it.

Topics covered:

• Where the design process actually begins (it's not where you think)
• The "dot connecting" method for deeply understanding your backyard vision
• Site analysis, elevation readings, and why skipping this step is costly
• Professional designer vs. order taker - what's the real difference?
• Live design walkthrough of a real River Pools project
• Budget reality: what drives costs up, and how to bring them down
• Where to start if you want to begin planning tomorrow

Resources mentioned: riverpoolsandspas.com — pool type selector, shape and size tool, and pool cost calculator

If you live in a region where winter temperatures regularly drop below freezing, choosing the right type of swimming pool is more complicated than it might seem.

In northern climates like Wisconsin, frost can reach several feet into the ground, and freeze–thaw cycles can create pressure on pool structures both from the surrounding soil and from the water inside the pool itself.

In this episode of The Pool Guides Podcast, Cristian Shirilla sits down with Michael Bowers of Pool Pros Wisconsin, a builder with nearly 30 years of experience installing pools in one of the coldest parts of the United States.

Together they explore how the three primary pool types — vinyl liner pools, fiberglass pools, and concrete pools — perform when exposed to harsh winter conditions.

Michael shares firsthand insights about frost depth, groundwater pressure, installation best practices, and the winter maintenance steps that can prevent costly damage.

If you're planning a pool in a colder region, this conversation will help you understand what really matters when selecting a pool that can stand up to harsh winters and deep freezes.

• How harsh winters affect swimming pool structures
• Why frost depth and freeze–thaw cycles matter when installing a pool
• The pros and cons of vinyl liner pools in colder climates
• Why fiberglass pools are often well suited for freeze–thaw environments
• How concrete pools can be engineered to withstand cold climates
• The role groundwater pressure plays in pool stability
• The importance of proper installation and drainage
• Why winter water level management can prevent structural damage

Michael Bowers
Owner, Pool Pros Wisconsin

Michael Bowers has nearly three decades of experience installing swimming pools in Wisconsin, where deep frost lines and harsh winters create unique challenges for pool construction. His expertise in cold-climate pool installations provides homeowners with practical guidance for choosing the right pool and ensuring long-term durability.

The Pool Guides Podcast helps homeowners make confident decisions about choosing and installing a swimming pool.

Hosted by Cristian Shirilla of River Pools, each episode features experienced builders and industry professionals sharing real-world knowledge about pool types, costs, installation practices, and backyard planning.

The goal is simple: give homeowners the information they need to make smart decisions before construction ever begins.

What happens when a frustrated pool buyer decides to become the solution?

In this episode of The Pool Guides Podcast, Cristian sits down with Jeff Sebek, owner of River Pools Kansas City, to unpack the story of how poor communication during his own pool installation led him to start his own company.

Jeff began as a homeowner researching fiberglass pools, interviewing multiple builders, and designing the perfect backyard for his family. But when delays piled up and communication went quiet, he realized something bigger was missing from the industry — clarity and trust.

That experience changed everything.

In this conversation, Jeff shares what homeowners should really look for when choosing a pool builder, how to evaluate trust beyond years of experience, and what the pool construction process should actually feel like once you sign a contract.

What You’ll Learn

• How to choose the right pool builder with confidence
• Whether hiring a first-time pool builder is a smart move
• Why communication can make or break your pool experience
• What “over-communication” during construction looks like
• How referrals reveal the health of a pool company
• Real backyard examples with ballpark pricing insights

If you're considering building a pool, this episode will help you approach the process with clarity — and avoid the mistakes that lead to stress and regret.

Guest: Jeff Sebek

Jeff Sebek is the owner of River Pools Kansas City. After experiencing communication breakdowns during his own pool installation, Jeff launched his company with a focus on transparency, trust, and customer experience. Today, his team builds 40–50 fiberglass pools per year and operates primarily through referrals — a reflection of their commitment to over-communication and long-term relationships with homeowners.

🎙️ The Pool Guides Podcast – by River Pools

“I’m Cristian with River Pools. Thanks for hanging out with The Pool Guides Podcast — and remember, every great backyard story starts with a smart plan. Catch the wave.”

How long does it really take to install a pool?

In this episode of The Pool Guides Podcast, Cristian Shirilla talks with pool industry expert Jason Hughes about what actually controls your pool installation timeline — and why speed alone is a dangerous way to choose a pool.

Common Questions This Episode Answers:

• How long does it really take to install a pool?
• How long does it take to install a fiberglass vs vinyl vs concrete pool?
• What causes pool projects to take longer than expected?
• Do permits and inspections delay pool installation?
• How can I plan my pool project timeline realistically?
  
  

From the moment you sign a contract to the day you finally swim, pool timelines are influenced by far more than just pool type. Scope of work, permits, inspections, weather, contractor backlog, and even the time of year can quietly add weeks or months to your project.

You’ll also hear the true story behind a legendary fiberglass pool install completed in just eight hours and fifteen minutes — why it happened, what it proves, and why you should never expect that timeline for your own backyard.

This episode is designed to help you manage expectations, reduce stress during construction, and choose the pool you’ll enjoy for the next 10+ years — not just the one that promises the fastest install.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why installation speed shouldn’t drive your pool decision
• Realistic timelines for fiberglass, vinyl liner, and concrete pools
• How scope of work quietly adds weeks or months to your project
• Why weather, permits, and inspections affect every pool type
• How to plan your pool timeline without unnecessary stress or regret

Guest: Jason Hughes

Jason Hughes is a partner at River Pools Virginia and a GENESIS instructor with the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA). With more than 20 years of hands-on experience, Jason has worked on thousands of residential pool projects and helps homeowners understand what really matters when planning a pool.