We just completed our pool with SoAz May of 2025. 50 days from excavation to water! We absolutely love our new backyard oasis!! We are in a new build with a miniature backyard. SoAz packed a lot of punch in our small space utilizing every inch. I love listening to the water flow over my spillway and nothing beats turning on the pool/spa features from my cellphone!!! I am extremely pleased with our experience and highly recommend SoAz for your pool build.
The process from design, to permit, to build, to final completion was rather smooth, with timely communication from SoAz along the way. As with any project, there are bound to be a few hiccups. SoAz was responsive to questions or concerns.
DESIGN: I had a specific vision that needed to blend with accessibility for my elderly parents and Designer Matt Miller helped us achieve that. He was very efficient and revised the design several times until it was just right. Raised spa by our entry steps doubles as a hand hold and we widened the entry steps. We did not want a sun shelf in our limited the pool size, so we opted to add a bump out bench to maximize swim space. This has been a great addition for adults to relax in the pool and converse with those in the spa or on the patio. Design attention to detail was impressive, down to the hide-it lids in the travertine for our skimmer and auto fill. What is usually an eyesore is invisible!!
Plaster, tile, and hardscape decisions can get overwhelming and I changed my mind a few times along the way. Itzel Rodriguez the Construction Coordinator was amazing and ordered samples and sent photos of SoAz completed projects to help with the decision process.
CONSTRUCTION: Itzel kept me informed during the entire process of what was happening when. Utilities marking, staking the yard, excavation, shotcrete, tile and decking, plaster, and chemical start-up and walk-thru. Once the permitting process was done things moved quickly!
The subs that SoAz works with were great. We chose a tricky tile (hexagon shaped) for our spa corner spillway and the masons (thank you Kevin) were amazing and laid it precisely. I adore watching the water flow over my gorgeous spillway. We chose silver travertine coping and decking and the masons were very meticulous with levels and rubber mallets lining up the tiles. For a tumbled natural stone, there is virtually no variation at the edges. No stubbed toes happening in our yard! Really quite talented masons.
SoAz also handled all the yard grading and worked with our gutter company, leaving receptacles for the gutter downspouts to tie into.
We went with a dark PebbleSheen (Ocean Blue) and we love the modern color with the sparkle of the abalone shells. The plaster is smooth and my kids never have bloody toes after hours of swimming.
COMPLETION: Don’t let the mess and chaos scare you, they got you. They will get it all back to base. Better than base. Braun Barney was our project super and he checked in often with the subs and me. If I had any questions or concerns he was quick to respond and address. Everything was cleaned up and they re-rocked access ways, the gate and wall were put back up, and an auto close added to the gate. Braun did a final walk-thru for a final punch list.
CONCLUSION: I highly recommend SoAz. We solicited several proposals with different pool builders. SoAz wasn’t the cheapest, but they weren’t the most expensive either. We really liked working with Matt during the proposal phase and appreciated his quick responses and follow through. Based on our initial interactions with Matt, a personal referral and their online reviews, we decided to move forward with SoAz. We were not disappointed!! You won’t be either.
POOL SPECS:
Pool 28’x13’6” | Spa 7’x8’
Interior: Pebble Sheen Ocean Blue
Coping/Decking: QDI Silver Travertine
Waterline Tile: Noble Tile Story Dark 3x12
Spillway: Merola Tile Cassis Hex Flower
Spa Sides: QDI Honed Silver Travertine
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E. Plum