One builder’s grid, priced by the foot of edge
| Line | Price | Included |
|---|---|---|
| Pool Package | $51,000 | Up to 80 ft of perimeter and 400 sq ft of deck: white or light gray plaster, flagstone/brick/precast coping, 6 in waterline tile, 2.7 hp variable speed pump, UV + automatic chlorine feeder, dual timer, 2 lights, equipment pad, Spray Deck |
| Pool & Spa Package | $70,000 | Up to 90 ft of perimeter and 500 sq ft of deck: Pool Package items + 7x7 ft (inside) spa with spillway, 400,000 BTU gas heater, 1.5 hp air blower |
| Extra perimeter | $560 | per linear ft |
| Extra decking | $15 | per sq ft |
| Tanning ledge w/2 bubblers and an umbrella hole | $1,800 | per each |
Most gunite cost pages print a range and stop. One builder among those read prints the grid it quotes from: Gulf Gunite Pools, in Long Beach, Mississippi. Its Pool Package costs $51,000 for a pool up to 80 ft around, with 400 sq ft of deck. Every foot of edge past that adds $560, and every square foot of deck past the allowance adds $15. The builder adds that “shape does not affect price”: a rectangle and a lagoon with the same perimeter cost the same.
That one sentence explains how the calculator prices. It measures the edge, not the water. A 15 × 30 ft rectangle has 90 ft of perimeter, 10 ft past the allowance, so $5,600 on top of the base. A 6 ft deck around it covers 684 sq ft, the outer rectangle minus the pool, which is 284 sq ft past the 400 included and $4,260 more. The grid total is $60,860; without any deck beyond the allowance it would be $56,600.
Because the edge is what costs, the price per square foot of water falls as the pool grows. The 15 × 30 at $60,860 works out to $135.24 per square foot of surface. A 20 × 40 ft pool with no extra deck has 120 ft of edge, prices at $73,400 and comes to $91.75 per square foot. Any per-square-foot figure you read elsewhere hides that slope.
The grid does not price depth. A pool dug to a diving depth costs this builder the same as a shallow one on paper, which is why the calculator flags it when you pick a board: ask what the deeper hole adds. The Pool & Spa Package, $70,000 for up to 90 ft and 500 sq ft, follows the same extra rates, and a tanning ledge with two bubblers and an umbrella hole is listed at $1,800. Pick “My builder’s grid” to enter any other builder’s base, allowances and rates.
What chapter 8 of the pool code asks of the shell
The design water depth as measured at the shallowest point in the shallow area shall be not less than 33 inches (838 mm) and not greater than 4 feet (1219 mm).
Pools shall have a means of entry and exit in all shallow areas where the design water depth of the shallow area at the shallowest point exceeds 24 inches (610 mm).
Where water depth in the deep area of a pool exceeds 5 feet (1524 mm), a means of entry and exit as indicated in Section 809.2 shall be provided in the deep area of the pool.
Pools over 30 feet (9144 mm) in width at the deep area shall have an entry and exit on both sides of the deep area of the pool.
The International Swimming Pool and Spa Code gives permanent inground residential pools a chapter of their own. The calculator runs three of its rules on the depths you enter. The first is the shallow end: at its shallowest point the design water depth must be at least 33 in and no more than 4 ft. A 3 ft shallow end, 36 in, sits inside that window. A 2 ft 6 in wading end does not, and neither does a pool that is 5 ft deep everywhere.
The second is the count of ways in and out. A shallow area deeper than 24 in needs a means of entry and exit; a deep area deeper than 5 ft needs one of its own; and a pool wider than 30 ft at the deep area needs one on both sides of it. The 15 × 30 at 3 to 6 ft therefore needs 2: steps or a ladder at the shallow end and a ladder or recessed treads at the deep end. Each is a line a builder should name. The grid read does not list steps or ladders among its inclusions, so ask.
The chapter also fixes a construction tolerance of ±3 in on the overall length, width and depth, and ±2 in on other dimensions unless the design engineer specifies otherwise. A shallow end drawn at exactly 33 in has no room for the minus side of that tolerance; draw it a little deeper.
The flow the pump must reach
The circulation system equipment shall be sized to provide a turnover of the pool water not less than once every 12 hours.
Section 810.1 turns the volume into a flow. Once every 12 hours means the whole pool passes through the filter at least twice a day, so the minimum flow in gallons per minute is the volume divided by 720, the minutes in 12 hours. The volume comes from the surface times the mean of the two depths, converted with the exact 1728 cubic inches per cubic foot and 231 per U.S. gallon.
For the 15 × 30 ft pool at 3 to 6 ft that is 450 sq ft at a mean depth of 4.5 ft, 15,148.05 gal, and a minimum flow of 21.04 gpm. The 20 × 40 ft at 3.5 to 8 ft holds 34,410.39 gal and needs 47.79 gpm. The code sizes that flow on the filter’s maximum flow with clean media, so it is the filter and pump pair that has to deliver it. The Gulf package names a 2.7 hp variable-speed pump; whether it reaches your figure at your plumbing is a question for the builder’s hydraulic sheet, not for this page.
A sloped floor between the two ends makes the mean depth an approximation. For a hopper-bottom or a long flat shallow area, enter the surface and ask the builder for the gallons on the plan; the flow follows the same division.
A diving board sets the size of the hole
| Pool type | Depth at A | Depth at B | Width at B | Minimum length (WE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type I | 6 ft | 7 ft 6 in | 12 ft | 28 ft 9 in |
| Type II | 6 ft | 7 ft 6 in | 15 ft | 28 ft 9 in |
| Type III | 6 ft 10 in | 8 ft | 15 ft | 31 ft 3 in |
| Type IV | 7 ft 8 in | 8 ft | 18 ft | 31 ft 3 in |
| Type V | 8 ft 6 in | 9 ft | 18 ft | 36 ft 9 in |
A board is not an accessory added at the end. Table 804.1 sets a minimum water envelope for each pool type, and section 804.1 forbids applying negative construction tolerances to it. The calculator checks the three figures you can read from a plan: the length against WE, the width against the width at point B, and the deep end against the depth at point B. The full envelope, with its points A to E and the slopes between them, stays the designer’s drawing to check.
Run the default pool with a Type I board. Its 30 ft length clears the 28 ft 9 in minimum and its 15 ft width clears the 12 ft at point B, but a 6 ft deep end is short of the 7 ft 6 in the table asks for at B. The pool has to be dug deeper to take the board. For the largest type the gap widens: a Type V envelope asks for 9 ft at B, 18 ft of width there and 36 ft 9 in of length, so even the 20 × 40 ft pool at 8 ft falls short.
None of that shows up on a perimeter grid, which is the reason to ask for the diving envelope in writing, priced, before signing.
Two fence lines: while digging, and after
The construction sites for in-ground swimming pools and spas shall be provided with construction fencing to surround the site from the time that any excavation occurs up to the time that the permanent barrier is completed. The fencing shall be not less than 4 feet (1219 mm) in height.
Where spas or hot tubs are equipped with a lockable safety cover complying with ASTM F1346 and swimming pools are equipped with a powered safety cover that complies with ASTM F1346, the areas where those spas, hot tubs or pools are located shall not be required to comply with Sections 305.2 through 305.7.
The code asks for a fence before there is a pool. From the day excavation starts until the permanent barrier is complete, the site of an inground pool must be surrounded by construction fencing at least 4 ft high. That is a line of its own, with its own run around the dig and its own rate, and the calculator keeps it apart.
After the build, the permanent barrier of section 305.2, at least 48 in high, is a second line. Section 305.1 offers one way around it: a pool equipped with a powered safety cover that complies with ASTM F1346 is not required to meet sections 305.2 to 305.7. A spa needs only a lockable cover for the same exemption; a pool needs a powered one. Choose the cover in the calculator and the barrier line becomes the cover’s price, which no source read prints, so it is yours to enter. If a glass barrier is the plan, the glass pool fence calculator counts its panels and checks its height and gate latch.
Reading a gunite pool quote
The grid is a starting point. Put your builder’s base, allowances and extra rates in “My builder’s grid”, then add the lines a grid leaves out: the construction fence, the barrier or cover, and a single other line for the permit, electrical work or anything else written on the quote. A blank field means the line is not part of the job; a zero means another line covers it.
Read what the base includes before comparing two bids. The Gulf package lists plaster, coping, a 6 in waterline tile band, a variable-speed pump, a UV unit with an automatic chlorine feeder, a timer, two lights, an equipment pad and a spray deck. A bid that is lower on the base and silent on the tile band, for instance, is not lower yet; the waterline tile calculator counts that band wall by wall. Already have the pool and only the concrete around it needs work? The pool deck resurfacing calculator checks the slope a new surface needs.
Gunite pool cost questions
Can you get an inground pool for $20,000?
Not from the gunite grid read for this page: its smallest package starts at $51,000 for up to 80 ft of perimeter. This page reads no vinyl or fiberglass price, so it cannot say what those materials cost. Whatever the shell, the code lines stay: entries and exits, the pump flow, the construction fence and the barrier.
What does a gunite pool cost per square foot?
On a perimeter grid the answer changes with size. With the Gulf Pool Package, the 15 × 30 ft pool with a 6 ft deck comes to $135.24 per square foot of water, and a 20 × 40 ft one without extra deck to $91.75. The builder prices edge and deck, not water area, so compare bids on the same perimeter instead.
How much does a 12x24 inground pool cost?
A 12 × 24 ft rectangle has 72 ft of perimeter, inside the 80 ft the Gulf Pool Package includes, so its base is $51,000. With a 6 ft deck all around, 576 sq ft, the extra deck adds $2,640 for $53,640. At 3 to 6 ft it holds 9,694.75 gal and needs at least 13.46 gpm.
What does a 16x32 gunite pool cost?
On the Gulf Pool Package grid, 96 ft of edge is 16 ft over the allowance, $8,960; a 6 ft deck of 720 sq ft adds $4,800. Total: $64,760, before fences, permit and any diving depth. One Mississippi builder’s grid, read October 27, 2026.
What is the average cost of installing an inground pool in Alabama?
No Alabama grid was read, so this page has no Alabama average. A Birmingham builder in the results publishes line items for a single 15 × 30 ft pool, not a grid. The nearest published grid is Gulf Gunite Pools in Long Beach, Mississippi: the same pool prices at $60,860 on it. Enter an Alabama builder’s figures in “My builder’s grid”.
What goes into the cost of an outdoor pool?
For a gunite pool, the lines this page counts are the builder’s package with its extra edge and deck, a construction fence while the site is dug, a permanent barrier or a powered ASTM F1346 cover, and an other line for the permit and electrical work. The code also asks for the entries and exits and the pump flow computed above; check that the package covers them.
What is the average cost to replace a pool deck?
This page prices new deck only as the Gulf grid does, $15 per square foot past the allowance. For an existing deck, the pool deck resurfacing calculator checks whether the slab’s slope fits the new surface and prices one manufacturer’s coating steps.
How long does a gunite pool take?
No builder schedule was read, so the page gives no duration. The code does set one span: from the first excavation until the permanent barrier is complete, the site keeps a construction fence at least 4 ft high. Price that fence for the whole time the builder’s schedule gives.
What is a gunite pool?
A pool whose shell is concrete sprayed in place, then finished; the Gulf package, for instance, finishes it in white or light gray plaster. The pool code does not set rules by shell material: chapter 8 of the ISPSC applies to any permanent inground residential pool, gunite or not.
Is a gunite pool better than vinyl?
This page does not rank materials, and it reads no vinyl price. What it shows is that the code lines do not change with the shell: the same shallow-end window, the same entries and exits, the same 12-hour turnover and the same fence rules apply to both.
What does this gunite pool cost calculator do that others do not?
It prices on a builder’s own grid instead of a national average, and it runs four model-code checks on your pool: the shallow-end depth, the count of entries and exits, the minimum pump flow and the diving envelope, plus the two fence lines.
Read the result with its boundaries
- The code checks read the 2021 ISPSC as adopted in New Hampshire, on UpCodes. A state or city can adopt another edition or amend it; the local building department decides.
- The price grid is one builder’s published offer in Mississippi, read on October 27, 2026. It is an example, not a national or local average.
- The volume uses the mean of the two depths, an approximation for a sloped floor. The diving check reads three dimensions of Table 804.1, not the whole envelope.
- No excavation, steel or concrete quantity is computed. Those are the builder’s.