Pool builder in Los Angeles.

A new gunite pool with basic decking typically runs $85,000–$130,000 in the LA market. The range is wide because access and site conditions drive it more than pool size does. A flat lot with easy equipment access lands at the low end; a hillside property requiring engineering, retaining and crane access lands at the top or above it. We give a firm number after a site visit, not before.

Plan on three to five months from permit issuance to swimming, with design and plan check adding time in front of that. The shell goes in relatively quickly; the schedule is dominated by permit turnaround, inspection sequencing, gunite cure time, and decking. Hillside builds with engineering run longer.

Yes. Every in-ground residential pool requires a building permit from LADBS, plus electrical and plumbing permits, and the plans have to show the required safety barrier. Setbacks from property lines and from the septic system or easements are checked at plan review. Hillside properties may also need grading approval and a soils report.

Yes — a large share of LA pools are on slopes. What changes is the structure underneath. Depending on the soils report you may need caissons, grade beams, or a retaining structure, all engineered. The other constraint is access: if excavation equipment can't reach the pad, the dirt leaves by conveyor or crane, and that cost is real. We assess both on the first visit.

State law requires new residential pools to include at least one approved drowning-prevention safety feature. The common choices are an isolation fence separating the pool from the home, an approved safety pool cover, self-closing and self-latching gates on access points, or approved door and pool alarms. Your local jurisdiction may require more than one. It's inspected as part of final sign-off.

Less than most people assume once it's filled. The initial fill is the big number; after that the ongoing use is evaporation and splash-out. In LA's dry heat a pool loses meaningful water each week in summer, and a cover cuts that substantially. Local water agencies periodically restrict new-pool filling during declared shortages, so it's worth checking your agency's current rules before you schedule the fill.