Construction
Custom pool construction, Corolla to Cape Hatteras
Colin Cox draws the pool in 3-D, then he and his crew build it on Outer Banks sand, from the first stake to Pool School.
Chapter 01
Drawn in 3-D, reviewed against code, walked before a shovel moves
Every client gets a 3-D rendering before construction starts. Colin Cox, who designs the pools and runs the construction side, draws the shape against the actual yard, so the question of where the steps sit or how close the spa lands to the house gets answered on a screen and not in the dirt.
The plans are then reviewed against the 2012 ISPSC codes, and there is a pre-construction meeting before anything is ordered. A project manager also visits the site ahead of the crew, which is the pre-site step in their own build list: pre-planning, permitting, pre-site, plan approval, layout, excavation, steel, gunite, pre-grade, tile and coping, plumbing, electric, deck, screen, interior finish, final clean, and Pool School.
That list is seventeen steps long, and the first four of them happen before the ground is touched. The Cox family has built Outer Banks pools since 2004, and the order exists because a yard that has been drawn, permitted and walked gives the crew very little to improvise.
Rectangular shotcrete pool with stone coping beside a green Outer Banks beach house.
Building on Outer Banks sand
Sandy soil is the first problem on this coast, and the dig is where they answer it. Their standard is to over-dig 6 to 12 in below the pool and compact the base before any steel goes in, so the shell sits on ground that has been made to hold it instead of ground that was merely found.
The steel is #4 (1/2 in) rebar. The walls and floor are shotcrete at a minimum of 8 in, which Four Seasons describes as 33% stronger than the industry standard. That figure is their claim, and the 8 in minimum is the part you can ask to see measured on your own job. The shell is tied together with a 12 in locking beam and a 4-bar bond beam at the top.
Two details sit outside the shell but matter as much. The wire-mesh deck is bonded to the pool equipment to carry off stray ground current, and spa plumbing is run with a minimum 1.5 in suction line and separate returns. The full set of standards is written up below, along with the deck side of the work.
Chapter 03
Shell, liner or fiberglass, and what is warrantied
They build shotcrete pools, fiberglass pools and vinyl liner pools, in free form, geometric and infinity shapes, for residential and commercial clients. Vinyl liners come from nine manufacturers in more than 200 patterns. The Cox family's own pool, built in 2010, still has its original vinyl liner.
Water features and extras are built into the design, not bolted on after: waterfalls, wet decks, spillover spas, raised spas, deck jets, cascading fountains, custom stone and summer kitchens.
The warranty is a published table. The shotcrete shell is warrantied for life. Plaster finishes carry 5 or 10 years. The pool light, cleaner, pump, filter, heater and controls carry 3 years each, and tile, coping, decking and skimmers carry 2 years each. For construction questions, call the construction line at (252) 207-5001. The crew works from Corolla to Cape Hatteras, and the company is based in Point Harbor.
Four Seasons Pool Builders, Point Harbor, NC. Built in 2010, the Cox family pool still has its original vinyl liner. Construction line (252) 207-5001.
Sections of the shell, drawn from their standards
These drawings show the over-dig and the steel schedule described above. The construction standards page walks the whole sequence, and the decking that meets the coping is covered on the pool decks page.
