Custom Pool Design and Construction in Aptos

Hills, creeks and redwoods

The things that make Aptos a beautiful place to live are the same things a pool has to be designed around.

Land here rises quickly from the coast into wooded hills, and much of the desirable building ground is on slope. A pool on a slope is a retaining structure carrying real lateral load as well as a container for water, and it is engineered accordingly — more steel, more concrete, and geotechnical work behind it. That is a genuine cost, and it is also what makes a hillside pool safe and durable rather than a gamble.

Creeks are the second factor, and the one that surprises people. A great many Aptos and Santa Cruz County parcels have a drainage of some kind on or near them, and the county’s riparian rules are specific about how close development can come.

And then the trees. Redwoods and mature hardwoods have substantial root systems, and an excavation inside a root zone is both a permitting question and an arboricultural one. On a wooded lot the trees frequently determine where the pool can go before any other consideration does — which, handled well, produces a better pool than an open site would.

County permitting, geology and riparian setbacks

Permits come from the county’s Community Development and Infrastructure department, not from a city. The county administers a certified local coastal program and issues coastal development permits for parcels within the coastal zone, with the Coastal Commission retaining appeal jurisdiction in some areas. Exemptions exist for some accessory development, but they are conditional — proximity to a coastal bluff and local water supply findings can remove them — so it is a parcel-level question rather than a rule of thumb.

The county also runs geologic hazard review. Its geology report requirements set out when an assessment is needed, and location in a fault zone, an area of slope instability, a mapped floodplain or a coastal hazard area can all trigger one. On the hillsides above Aptos this is ordinary rather than exceptional, and it should be in the budget from the start.

The riparian rules are the ones most likely to move a pool. The county’s riparian corridor and wetlands protection provisions establish buffers measured from the bankfull flowline — on the order of fifty feet from a perennial stream and thirty feet from an intermittent one — with an additional structure setback beyond the buffer, and grading, building and tree removal restricted inside the corridor without an exception. If there is any watercourse on or beside your parcel, that is the first thing to establish, and we establish it with the county before drawing anything.

What we do in Aptos

New builds, remodels and ongoing service, all under one C-53 licence.

• Pool constructionNew custom pools and spas in Aptos
• Pool designWorking the pool out before the shovel
• Pool remodelingTaking a dated pool back to the shell
• Pool resurfacingNew plaster, quartz or pebble and fresh tile
• Pool repairPumps, heaters, leaks, valves and covers
• Pool maintenanceScheduled water and equipment care

Building a pool in Aptos: common questions

Nearby

Places we work close to Aptos.

• Santa CruzCity jurisdiction to the north-west
• WatsonvilleSouth into the Pajaro Valley
• Rio del Mar, La Selva Beach and CorralitosAlso on the route
• Building on a sloped lotWhat hillside engineering involves
• Infinity edge poolsWhere the hills and views meet
• Pool designDesigning around trees and grade