Pool questions, answered

Send the form with a few photos of your pool or yard, or call 0447 663 868. Photos help us understand the job before we talk, and we usually reply within one business day. We confirm the price after seeing the pool or the yard, and quotes are free.

Greater Sydney, across nine regions: the Northern Beaches, North Shore, Hills District, Ryde area, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, Sydney City, Western Sydney and South West Sydney. The service areas page lists every suburb.

Yes. Superior Pools & Spas Pty Ltd holds NSW Contractor Licence 483576C for swimming pool building and for wall and floor tiling, current to 31 August 2030. You can check it on the NSW licence register.

Yes, when it is over $20,000. NSW law requires Home Building Compensation cover for residential building work over $20,000, and we arrange it before the job starts. The certificates issued for our jobs are recorded on the NSW licence register.

Residential building work in NSW carries the statutory warranties of the Home Building Act 1989: six years for major defects and two years for other defects. Pumps, filters and other equipment also carry their manufacturer’s warranty.

For residential work over $20,000, NSW law caps the deposit at 10% of the contract price, and the rest is paid in progress payments as each stage is finished, for example the excavation, the concrete shell and the interior. Smaller jobs follow the payment terms in the quote. The contract sets out every payment before work starts.

Yes. We carry $20 million public liability insurance and workers compensation for our crew.

More than 15 years of building and renovating pools sit behind Superior Pools & Spas, which started in 2024. In that time we have built over 50 pools and renovated more than 100.

Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, and Saturday, 8am to 2pm. Call 0447 663 868, or send the form any time.

Yes. How machinery and concrete reach the yard affects the method and the price, so side access, driveways and neighbouring fences matter.

Every new in-ground pool needs approval before it is built. Many Sydney pools qualify for complying development, approved by council or a private certifier; others need a development application, for example on heritage, bush fire prone or flood-affected land. We arrange the approval as part of the job.

Usually 8 to 12 weeks on site once the approval is through: excavation, steel, the concrete shell, then plumbing, tiling, coping and the interior. Rock, tight access and wet weather can add time, and the approval itself takes a few weeks before work starts.

Yes. Concrete is the usual choice for a slope because the shell is formed to suit the ground. A sloping or rocky block can need retaining walls and engineering, which adds to the cost, so it is worth knowing early.

In NSW a pool must have a compliant child-resistant barrier and be registered on the NSW Swimming Pool Register before it is used. The barrier is usually certified as part of the pool’s approval.

Fibreglass is quicker to install and costs less to start with, but you choose from set shapes and sizes. Concrete is built to your design and suits awkward blocks. Our guide to concrete and fibreglass pools compares them in detail.

Usually with a gas heater or a heat pump. Gas heats quickly for occasional use; a heat pump costs less to run for regular use.

An attached spa usually shares the pool's filter and plumbing, with its own jets and heating. A standalone spa needs its own equipment.

Often, if there is room beside the pool and the structure and equipment allow it. It needs an inspection of the pool first, and usually approval.

Usually 4 to 8 weeks on site once the approval is through: about 4 to 6 for a standalone spa and 6 to 8 for one built with a pool. Rock, tight access and wet weather can add time.

Most take two to four weeks from draining to refilling. A full renovation with structural repairs, new coping or a remodel can take three to eight weeks, and wet weather adds time while the pool is empty. The quote sets out the timing for your pool.

For resurfacing, retiling below the waterline and most crack repairs, yes: the surface must be dry to prepare it and for the new material to bond. Some waterline tile and coping work can be done with the water lowered rather than emptied.

Resurfacing, repainting and retiling a pool in the same shape usually don’t need approval. Changing the pool’s size, shape or depth, or adding a spa, usually does, and a pool that is substantially altered or rebuilt has to meet the current safety barrier standard.

Only if the leak is found and repaired first. A leak can be in the shell, a fitting, the plumbing or the equipment: a leak detection specialist pinpoints it, we repair it, and only then does a new surface go on. Resurfacing over an unfixed leak just hides it.

Yes. A new interior or a repaint is the time to change it: darker blends make the water look deeper, lighter ones make it look brighter and larger.

A rendered interior lasts many times longer than paint and feels better underfoot, but it costs more and needs a sound, unpainted surface or a strip back first. Paint suits a pool that was painted before and a tighter budget.

It depends on the finish, the water and how the pool is used. Paint has the shortest life, rendered finishes such as pebble and quartz last many times longer, and a fully tiled interior lasts longest. Keeping the water balanced matters more than anything else, because unbalanced water etches and stains every finish.

Yes. The paint has to be stripped back to sound render first, because a rendered finish won’t bond to paint. That preparation is part of the job and part of the price.

Usually one to two weeks. The pool is drained, prepared and repaired, then surfaced or painted and left to cure before it is refilled and the water balanced. A damaged old surface, or rain while the pool is empty, can add time; the quote sets out the timing for your pool.

Autumn and spring are easiest: mild enough for the interior to cure properly, and outside the main swimming months. It can be done year-round, avoiding heatwaves and heavy rain during application.

Exact matches are rare on older pools, because tile ranges change. That's why waterline tiles are usually replaced as a full band rather than patched.

Usually the grout. Water chemistry and age wear it down, and once it goes, water gets behind the tiles and they start to lift.

New waterline tiles usually take a few days to a week, depending on how much water has to come out and how the old tiles come off. A fully tiled interior takes longer, typically two to four weeks, with time for the adhesive and grout to cure before the pool is filled.

Often the water only needs to come down below the tile line. If tiles further down or the render behind them have failed, the pool has to be emptied.

With good preparation and balanced water, acrylic and chlorinated rubber paints usually last about 3 to 5 years, and epoxy about 7 to 10. Paint over flaking or damp render can fail within a season, which is why the preparation matters most.

Paint holds best on a pool that has been painted before or has a smooth render. A pebble or quartz interior that has worn out is usually better resurfaced. Paint types don’t all go over each other either: epoxy can’t go over acrylic or chlorinated rubber without stripping it first, so we check what is on the pool before quoting.

Usually. Changing a pool’s shape, size or structure is building work, approved as complying development through a private certifier or by council. We arrange it before work starts, and the barrier has to meet the current standard when the pool is finished.

Yes. New walls can be formed inside the old shell to shorten it or change its shape, and a deep end can be raised by forming a new floor over the old one. Both are tied into the existing structure with new steel.

Most take four to eight weeks on site, after the approval: breaking out, formwork and steel, concrete, then rendering, tiling and the new interior. The size of the change and the weather decide where in that range a job sits.

Usually, because the excavation and most of the shell are already there. A remodel with structural change typically starts around $25,000, while a new concrete pool starts around $45,000.

Usually one to three weeks: about one to two for a new interior, and longer when new jets, lighting or structural repairs are part of it. The spa is drained for the work.

Yes. Worn jets can be replaced or more added, and lighting and heating (electric, gas or a heat pump) are best added during the renovation, while the spa is empty.

Yes. We work with the strata committee or building manager on access, timing and the paperwork, and bring the spa up to the standard it needs before residents use it again.

An interior typically lasts 10 to 15 years and pumps and heaters around 8 to 12, so most concrete spas are renovated several times over their life. Hot water and sanitiser wear a spa faster than a pool.

A crack that's chased out and filled is sealed, but if the ground or the structure is still moving it can open again nearby, so the repair takes in why it cracked.

Yes. Water escaping into the ground can wash out what supports the shell and paving, and the loss adds up on the water bill.

Pinpointing a leak is a specialist’s job: a leak detection company pressure-tests the pipes and dye-tests the shell and fittings. Once the leak is found, we repair it, whether it is a crack in the shell, a skimmer box or a fitting.

Usually a little: a patch rarely matches an aged interior exactly. If the surface is near the end of its life anyway, repairing the cracks and resurfacing at the same time gives an even finish.