What to Expect Week by Week in a Katy Pool Build

Published July 1, 2026

The most common question we hear from Katy homeowners is a simple one: how long does this take, and what happens when? A pool is a real construction project, and the honest answer is that it moves in stages, each with its own crew and its own inspection. Here is what a typical gunite build looks like from the first shovel to the first swim.

Week One: Design, Layout, and the Dig

Before anything is dug, we finalize a scaled design and stake out the shape in your yard so you can see it full size. Once the permit clears, excavation begins. A crew and a small excavator shape the hole to the plan, and the spoil is hauled off. Access matters here, and we confirm the route to the backyard early so the equipment fits.

Week Two to Three: Steel and Plumbing

Next comes the steel rebar cage, tied by hand to the contours of the shell, followed by rough plumbing for the skimmer, main drain, and return lines. This is also when the equipotential bonding grid goes in, an 8 AWG copper loop required by NEC 680.26. An inspection follows before any concrete is sprayed. If you are weighing build types at this stage, our custom gunite pool construction page walks through the shell in more detail.

Week Three to Four: The Gunite Shell

The shell is the milestone everyone waits for. Gunite is sprayed pneumatically over the steel, then hand-troweled to shape the floor, walls, steps, and any tanning ledge. After that, the shell needs to cure, which means daily watering for about a week. It looks rough at this point, and that is normal.

Week Five to Eight: Tile, Deck, and Finish

With the shell cured, the crew sets waterline tile and coping, then forms and pours the surrounding deck. The interior finish, whether white plaster, quartz, or a longer-lasting pebble aggregate, is troweled in near the end. Each of these is its own visit, and weather can shift the dates by a day or two.

The Final Week: Startup

Once the interior is in, we fill the pool and begin startup, brushing and balancing the water chemistry over the first several days so the finish cures correctly. We walk you through the equipment, the automation, and the maintenance rhythm before we hand it over.

From layout off Mason Road to the day the water is clear, a well-run build stays predictable when the stages are scheduled and inspected in order. Have questions about your own yard? Contact us or call Ptagonline at (346) 497-0471 for a free on-site consultation.