Once the permit is issued and the start date is set, there is a gap of a few weeks where the homeowner can do a handful of things that make a real difference. None of it is complicated. All of it is easier before the equipment arrives than after.
Clear the access path
Every pool needs a route from the street to the backyard wide enough for an excavator, a dump truck backing in, and later a concrete truck or pump. On most Triad lots that means a side yard, and on many it means one specific side yard because the other one has the air conditioner, a slope or a neighbor's fence. We mark the path on the site visit. Before the crew arrives:
- Remove or relocate anything in the path: planters, furniture, a grill, a trampoline, a kids' playset.
- Take down the fence section we identified. Save the panels and posts if the fence is coming back.
- Move vehicles you would like to keep clean. Dust and mud travel further than people expect.
- Flag any irrigation heads or landscape lighting along the route so the crew can lay protection over them.
Move the plants you want to keep
Anything inside the pool footprint or the working area around it is going to be gone. Shrubs, perennials and small trees that matter to you should be dug and heeled in elsewhere, or potted, before excavation. Late summer is not the ideal season to move plants in the Piedmont, so if the start date falls in August, decide which ones are worth the risk and water them well after the move. Mature trees are a separate conversation; our post on trees and pools covers root zones and what happens to a tree when its roots are cut.
Irrigation and low-voltage lines
Turn the irrigation controller off and leave it off until we tell you the lines are restored. If you have the original layout, share it. If not, walk the yard with the system running and mark every head with a flag. Landscape lighting and invisible fence wire get the same treatment. Lines in the pool area will be cut; lines outside it survive if we know where they are.
Pets and kids
An open excavation is dangerous and a working site is loud. Dogs in particular tend to treat the trench as a project of their own. During construction the backyard is a work zone with temporary fencing, and pets need another arrangement for going out. Plan it before the dig, not the morning of.
Talk to the neighbors
A pool build brings noise, trucks and dust for weeks. A conversation beforehand about the schedule, the parking and where the crane will set up goes a long way. Neighbors who know what is happening are far more patient than neighbors who find a concrete pump in the street at seven in the morning. Being a good neighbor with a pool starts before the pool exists.
Parking and staging
The crew needs somewhere to park and somewhere to stage materials: rebar, pipe, pallets of pavers or coping, the equipment pad components. Usually that is the driveway and part of the front yard or the access path. If you need the driveway clear on certain days, tell us and we will plan around it.
Utilities and the house
We handle the 811 locate. What we need from you is knowledge of the private lines: the gas line to the grill, the drain from the downspouts, the power to the shed. Also make sure there is an outside water spigot and a power outlet the crew can use; both are needed throughout the build.
Decisions that are due
By the time the yard is being prepared, most selections should be made: interior finish, tile, coping, decking, equipment. A decision that slips can stall a stage weeks later. If anything is still open, close it now, and if you are unsure how the stages line up, the stages of a gunite build shows what gets ordered when.
What to expect the first morning
Equipment arrives early. The layout is painted, the utility marks are checked, and the excavator starts. By the end of the first day there is a hole where your lawn was, a pile of red clay somewhere in the yard or already trucked out, and the project has visibly begun. From there it moves stage by stage, and we keep you updated at each one.
We build across the Triad, including Oak Ridge and Summerfield. If you are getting ready for a build or still deciding, request a free consultation and we will walk the yard with you.