By Bryan Hull, co-owner, Del Val Pools & Spas

The other day I bumped into a long-standing customer at the grocery store. We have built pools for him and his wife, their families, and they referred us to their neighbors and then on to friends who had Shore homes. Like any business, we grow by word of mouth. He’s a good customer, and more importantly, he became a great friend. He asked me what was new for the coming year in the pool industry. Usually, I can rattle off a bunch of technology and design changes that are trending, but I realized the answer to his question required a bit more reflection than a few sentences about lighting, waterfalls, pool bars and sun decks.

While I am not qualified to say COVID is “behind” us, I can say a certain period, 2020-2021, is in the rearview mirror. Like many industries, it changed us, and it changed me as COVID took my brother. COVID changed how we vacation, how we utilize our homes, and hopefully, how we value our time with loved ones. I’d like to think that 2023 is the season we move forward—as opposed to last year—which felt more like the beginnings of recovery. Three things however are distinctly different from our pre COVID business model.

Del Val Pools & Spas invested in gunite trucks last year, so every aspect of the pool build is controlled in house. There are no “sub-contractors” which means we control the schedule—Mother Nature permitting of course—and it means we control the labor and associated overhead. We are known for over-engineering pool construction with thicker walls, deeper keel, more rebar, more gunite. Translation: we build pools that last.

Over the last few years, the cost difference between pools with liners and custom gunite has been closing. Shooting our own gunite with our own trucks allows us to close that gap even more. We are designers, and we recognize each job is unique and reflects a dream and vision of the homeowner. Gunite construction allows us to be completely custom and the best process to align with the customer’s goals.

Costs for just about everything seem to be spiraling out of control from eggs to batteries to plastics. Keeping costs down is a science, not an art. With the third generation coming through the ranks at Del Val Pools and Spas, I can say we saw the gyrations coming, initially occurring because of COVID, and we knew there would be ripples in a pond spreading outward for years to come. We now buy supplies and materials in bulk and a year in advance at a minimum. With three locations, we have plenty of storage, so the monthly ups and downs of related industries do not affect us. Also, simply put, after decades of building pools, we know how to do this, and we know how to do it well. Efficiency and experience allow us to have a very sharp pencil when bidding on a new project.

We are building more pools at the Shore than ever before. They are custom, intricate and require special engineering considerations. Realtors, builders and local municipal authorities frequently consult Del Val on projects on the barrier islands in south Jersey. Pools at the Shore require careful planning and frequently are integrated into the piling structure of the home. Plus, you never know what one will find under the sand. Much of the bayside and ocean front are various forms of “fill” depending on when the land was developed. It’s an art form building at the Shore, and it’s where we get to showcase our work since homes are closer together. Sometimes we start a project and find ourselves still constructing pools on the same street months later because one neighbor sees what another neighbor is doing and our capabilities spread down the block. We don’t see it stopping.

So, in response to my friend asking me what’s new for 2023, the answer is a whole lot. The answer is also we are doing the same thing we’ve been doing for decades—three generations of the Hull family building pools, and we it do it better each year because time yields to experience, and experience yields to expertise. We build custom gunite pools, and simply put, we build them better than anyone else.

Del Val Pools & Spas
Serving South Jersey
(856) 629-2999
DelValPoolsAndSpas.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 23, Issue 5 (March 2023). 
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