Arizona pool questions, answered straight.

Yes. The in-home visit is complimentary and there is no obligation. We measure the yard, check access and grade, and listen to how you want to use it. About a week later you see your yard in 3D and revise it until it is right.

We call within one business day to hear about your yard and set a visit time that works. You can also call us directly at (602) 346-6840, Monday to Saturday, 7am to 6pm.

Yes. Every Apex pool is designed in 3D before it is quoted. About a week after the in-home visit you see your yard in 3D, and you revise it until it is right. Only once the design is approved do we put a firm written quote in your hands.

No. Every yard is different, so we do not publish prices. A firm written quote follows the complimentary in-home visit and a 3D design you have approved, with the schedule and warranty spelled out, so the number you sign is based on your actual lot.

Yes. Apex works with HFS Financial, a home-improvement loan marketplace that matches homeowners with lenders offering fixed-rate personal loans for pool projects. Checking your options takes about a minute and uses a soft credit check, so it will not affect your credit score. Loans fund directly to you, and every offer is subject to the lender's credit approval. HFS Financial and Apex are not lenders.

Arizona requires a licensed contractor to build a pool. Apex handles the design, HOA submittal and project management, and every Apex project is built by a licensed, bonded and insured Arizona contractor we partner with. Apex itself does not hold an ROC license. You will receive your builder's ROC license number on your written contract and can verify it anytime at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (roc.az.gov).

Apex designs your pool and manages the project. Construction is contracted and performed by our licensed partner, PEAC Construction Services LLC of Peoria, Arizona (ROC #327629, A General Engineering, and ROC #346837, KB-2 Dual Residential and Small Commercial). PEAC pulls the permits under its own license and schedules the city inspections. You can verify both licenses at roc.az.gov.

The whole Phoenix Valley: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek, Tempe, San Tan Valley, Peoria, Surprise, Glendale, Goodyear and the communities around them.

Plan on 3 to 6 months from signed contract to your first swim, with roughly 8 to 16 weeks of active construction once we break ground. The wildcard is almost always permits and HOA approval, which can take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months depending on the city and your community. We publish the schedule up front and start the permit and HOA work early so the paperwork is not what holds you up.

Yes, if you start in time. Because the full timeline runs 3 to 6 months, contracting in early fall through winter puts you on track to swim by spring or early summer. Summer is our busiest stretch, so the earlier you lock in a design and get into the permit queue, the better your odds of hitting a specific deadline. We publish the schedule so you can hold us to the date we give you.

Your builder does, and Apex coordinates it. Construction is performed by a licensed, bonded and insured Arizona contractor, who pulls every permit under their ROC license and schedules the city inspections at each stage: the pre-gunite inspection before the shell is shot, and the final inspection at the end. Apex manages the whole process so you never have to call the city or stand in line at a permit counter. You will receive your builder's ROC license number on your written contract and can verify it anytime at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (roc.az.gov).

If your neighborhood has an HOA, we prepare the full submittal package (the site plan, elevations, and any materials the board asks for) and manage the review for you. In master-planned communities around Gilbert, Queen Creek, and San Tan Valley, HOA approval usually takes about 2 to 4 weeks. We start that submittal as early as possible because it runs in parallel with engineering, so it rarely adds to the total timeline if we begin on day one.

It can. From roughly July through September, monsoon storms can shut down a dig day or a shotcrete day for safety, and a flooded excavation has to be pumped out before we continue. The National Weather Service marks Arizona's monsoon season as June 15 through September 30. We build weather days into the published schedule so a normal monsoon season does not blow up your timeline, and if a storm costs us a day, you see it reflected honestly rather than hidden.

Caliche is a hard, cemented layer of desert soil, a calcium carbonate that has bonded the dirt into something close to concrete. It is a documented Sonoran Desert soil, common across the Valley and especially the East Valley, and when an excavator hits a thick seam it can slow dig day from a couple of days to the better part of a week. We assess the likelihood at the design visit and price it honestly up front, so a hard dig does not become a surprise change order later.

A pool that sits in full Arizona sun can climb into the 90s by August, which stops feeling refreshing. The main fix is a chiller or a reversible heat pump that pulls heat back out of the water, and the same unit can warm the pool in winter. Design choices help too: shade over part of the water, and knowing that darker interior finishes run a few degrees warmer. On a smaller spool, the jets keep water circulating, which also helps it shed heat overnight.

Yes. A chiller or reversible heat pump can drop water temperature 10 to 15 degrees in July, and the same unit can warm the pool in winter. Shade over part of the water and a lighter interior finish help too.

Ground-up gunite (shotcrete) pools shaped around your lot: play pools with a flat 3.5 to 5 foot depth wall to wall, spools and cocktail pools of about 10 to 16 feet for tight yards, geometric pools squared to the house, freeform pools that follow a Sonoran yard, and pool and spa combos with a raised spa spilling into the pool on one equipment pad.

A Baja shelf is a shallow ledge, about 9 to 12 inches deep, built into the pool for lounging, kids and in-pool chairs. It is one of the features that can be designed in from the start, along with swim-up bars, water and fire features, in-floor cleaning, saltwater chlorine generation, automation and chillers.

If the interior finish is worn, stained or rough underfoot, that is a resurfacing: a new plaster, pebble or quartz interior over a sound shell, about 1 to 2 weeks from drain to swim. If the tile is dated, the coping is chipped or the deck is cracking, that is a remodel: new tile, coping, decking and equipment as separate line items, typically 2 to 4 weeks once the tile is on hand. Many older Valley pools do both at once.

Most shells are structurally sound, so a remodel costs a fraction of a new build. A full rebuild is only recommended when the structure itself is failing. We check the shell at the in-home visit and tell you which one your pool actually needs.

Typical remodels run 2 to 4 weeks once the tile is on hand. Tile, coping, decking and equipment are separate line items, so a smaller scope finishes sooner. The work stays above the shell, which is why a remodel is measured in weeks rather than the 3 to 6 months a new build takes.

About 1 to 2 weeks from drain to swim. That covers draining the pool, chipping the failing finish back to a sound shell, installing the new plaster, pebble or quartz interior, and the cure and startup chemistry that follow the refill.

Plaster lasts 10 to 15 years in hard Valley water before it stains and turns rough underfoot. Pebble runs 15 to 20 years or more, which is why many Valley pools move to a pebble or quartz interior when the original plaster is due.

The chip-out takes the failing interior back to a sound shell, and waterline tile repairs are part of a resurfacing: the tile line is inspected while the pool is drained and damaged pieces are put right before the new plaster, pebble or quartz interior goes in. Replacing the whole tile line along with coping and decking is a pool remodel rather than a resurfacing.