A lot of people agree that if you invest in your house, money should be spent in the kitchen or bathroom or lower level to help increase the resell value.

Putting in a pool does not necessarily have the same benefit. If a buyer does not fancy a pool it’s a deal breaker. Conversely, if a buyer wants a pool, it’s a deal maker.

We should know! We’ve had 3 pools in our married life and my parents put a pool in our family backyard in 1973 in Edmonton. Legendary parties at the crescent where we lived. Canadian pool seasons are short but amazing.

Well, we decided to take the plunge here with our new house and this makes pool 4. We talked a lot about it for 2 years and hemmed and hawed and after much deliberation and budget review, we ended up going for it.

I say budget review because people always want to know about price. I know I do. New car, nice, how much? Bathroom renovation, beauty, what did they set you back? It wasn’t inexpensive but we believe it will return its value if we ever sell.

So we did not commit as an investment per se, but rather for our enjoyment in retirement and for our grandkids, family and friends. I also absolutely love the outdoors and this makes for a nice spot to spend time in the summer.

We have experience in this area. 3 of our 4 pools were newly constructed. First in Winnipeg in 1985, it was built by Chantal Kreviazuk’s Dad. (True), he owned Krevco pools.

In 2000 in Stittsville it was built by Club Piscine.

Our last house had a pool when we bought.

This one was contracted to a family business in Stittsville called The Pool Builders.Ltd. owned and operated by the Grandmaison family!!

We are so impressed with them. It started with the fact that they’d even take on the project in Renfrew. Other companies wouldn’t even quote saying it was too far!

The business is run by and consists of 5 siblings who each have an area of expertise or interest. They have 9 kids in the family but not all are involved. Their Father Bob Grandmaison is a local legend and all kids learned their trades from him over the last 45 years. Mostly by experience and hard work.

We first met Dominic Grandmaison one night in March when he came over to check out the back yard and provide his feedback and to walk us through options. Because it’s such a big investment, I was really on guard for any signs of unprofessionalism, disingenuous personality or aggressiveness/urgency to close the deal. I would have passed immediately on working with a company or people like that.

Dominic was absolutely amazing. Very friendly, very patient, very knowledgeable and has a great personality. After about a 90 minute visit we knew that he was the guy and The Pool Builders.Ltd were the company we were going to go with. He had a quote back to us in a few days and we signed the deal.

They would start digging right after the May long weekend.

We had some work to do ahead of time like getting the building permit from Renfrew city hall. You probably won’t be surprised to hear they don’t get many requests for in-ground pools. But they were accommodating and quick.

We also had to meet with an electrician, a gas fitter and a fence contractor to get quotes for their services needed to install a pool and the equipment.

Once Dominic completed the paperwork with us, he handed us off to his sister Shanelle Lee. She was responsible for coordinating the project and communicating with us, keeping us up to speed on where things were in process and what we can expect. Once again, we were extremely happy with her organization and professionalism and personality. She was always super friendly and quick to respond to any notes we’d send and to answer any questions we had.

Our next visit was from another brother, Charles Grandmaison who did the layout work for the dig. It was a foregone conclusion that he would be terrific as well. I spoke to him about details of where the pool will go, paying very close attention to the building codes for lot measurements and locations of various services and taking all his advice about best use of the space. The pool comes with a 30” concrete apron around the perimeter but we had a large cement patio added and it needed to be designed and placed properly. It took about an hour to get everything marked on the lawn.

Charles answered all the questions and said he’d see us the following week.

True to their word, as they had been the entire experience, Charles and his crew of Sean, Patrick and Ron showed up behind our house at 7am on dig day and got going May 21st

I was like a kid in a candy store because I absolutely love watching things like this. And when it’s your own yard, and you have so much invested, I was a very eager to supervise the whole time. That basically meant I said “cool” a lot.

I wasn’t sure what to fully expect in 2024 versus 1985 and 2000 when I watched some of the other pools being built, but because they had such open access to our yard, I could tell they all grinned and thought, this is spectacular for our purposes. In most cases they only have to access yards from the front street and go down the side of an owners (and neighbours’) house. It’s absolutely doable but it’s a lot of work and makes a big mess that has to be cleaned up and landscaped after the job. They all had lots of stories about lack of enthusiasm and cooperation from some neighbours on various jobs. Our access was a dream by comparison. We were very lucky.

The dig would have easily been done in less than a day but it started to rain about 3/4 way through and they decided to halt because wet ground makes a real mess and causes damage.

He was back the next day to finish in about 90 minutes. Ok, hole dug.

I had to go to Edmonton the next weekend so I wasn’t here when the next sibling, Benji Grandmaison and his crew came to erect the walls, lay the hoses for jets and skimmer and to cement the wall braces. Dawn handled the supervision that morning. That took a few hours only.

The next step after the concrete set was to backfill around the walls with stone and to do the concrete forms around the pool and the new patio. They also added the coping around the inside ledge which would hold the concrete on the pool side of the apron.

Cement day was insane. Firstly it was one of those 40 degree humidex days, which aren’t fantastic for pouring and working with concrete. Time is a real enemy. It didn’t help that the cement truck was an hour late and there is an urgency between the time the cement truck gets filled at the factory and when it arrives at any construction site. Add the high temperature and humidity and it was a challenging pour.

Even though the crew had great access and many hands and wheelbarrows, they had to work hard and quickly. So there were 3 or 4 guys bringing the cement from the truck to the forms and Benji and his brother Justin Grandmaison did most of the troweling.

By the time they got to the last part of the patio the cement was hardening quickly and there was a slight discolouration but it has since generally evened out.

A week later we were nearing the finish line. Next step was to mortar the bottom of the pool with yet another cement truck mixture. It was cool watching them trowel the bottom portion. It was no where near as hot that day so easier I think.

They installed the pump, filter and heater and hooked up the water lines to the equipment.

They also delivered and placed a large load of river rock to landscape around the pool. No more grass. That was not a cakewalk either as 4 or 5 of the crew filled the wheelbarrows and brought them up to place the stone properly.

We had some timing complications for the fencing unfortunately. The pool could not be filled until the yard was fenced. We used Bytowne Fencing to do the job. They couldn’t come out until a week later than we’d have preferred, so I had to rent some temporary construction fencing. The company we used was great, Modern Fence Rental in Carleton Place. They delivered and installed next day and picked up fence panels but it wasn’t cheap. Actually the rental was very cheap, it was the delivery etc that was pricy but that’s the way it is. I was happy with the service.

The next day, our gas fitter was out hooking up the heater. He had very decent access to the meter as it was fairly close. It took him a few hours and he was exactly on budget. He was super nice guy from Stittsville, Steve Cardillo who runs his own company called Hi-Flame.

One day later, the electrician came out and did his thing. He was a super nice guy from Almonte. Dennis Portt from Portt Electric. It was pretty complex to my assessment. The previous owners had a hot tub on a patio and they took it when they moved, but they had left the hydro hook up ready for a new use. We made a decision that morning to install a GFI fuse for the equipment. They aren’t cheap but it was way easier than me having to put up a fence around the equipment because it was too close to the pool edge, and needed to be grounded or protected for code. Once again, not cheap but….

The electronics are not surprisingly impressive as all new digital gadgets are. We can make adjustments to the heat, pump speed, chlorination, chemicals and lights from an app on the phone. It’s a long way from the single outdoor on/off switch from our other pools.

The last day was Friday June 14th.

So it took just over 3 weeks from start to finish. Amazing.

The crew showed up with the liner to install. This process too was interesting to watch.

Liners are not new by any means (our 1973 pool had one) but it’s impressive to see how well they fit. Computer design. Who knew? Finishing touches for the stairs, skimmer, jets, lights and drains were done. They needed to be careful with those box cutters. I was nervous for them but this wasn’t their first rodeo.

Now we wait for the water truck. It was 2 hours late so the lads went out for a break and I threw the garden hose in while the super sonic vacuums worked on sucking all the air out from between the liner and pool bottom. Think of a giant food sealer!!

Once the water truck arrives and threw the hose in, it filled very quickly!!

The magic moment of turning on the equipment and the heater was here and after that occurred, the job was complete from The Pool Builders!!

We cranked the filter and heater and voila. Pool owners again!

Bytown Fencing came the next week and finished the permanent fencing. I felt for those guys too as it was another 40 degree day. I honestly thought they had heat exhaustion by late afternoon so I tried to keep them hydrated.

We added a few cedar trees and flower pots around the pool and we assembled a gazebo on the patio!!! It came in 5 boxes, each weighing 100 pounds. Ugh! That story in another blog. Never!!

This was a big decision for us but we’re really happy with how it all turned out and yes, it was an adventure.

Absolute kudos to The Pool Builders Ltd. for being so great to work with. It’s a great family story and I know they will keep up their standards and service and they will continue to be successful. Rest in peace Justin!!!

Thanks for reading.