Riverside Pool Builders: Custom Gunite Pools, Remodels, Resurfacing & Equipment Repair Across the Inland Empire
C-53 licensed and insured swimming pool contractor serving Riverside, Moreno Valley and the Inland Empire. Free 3D design, itemized pricing, se habla español.
C-53 Licensed & Insured·15+ Years in the Inland Empire·Free In-Home 3D Design·Se Habla Español
Riverside Pool Builders is a C-53 licensed and insured swimming pool contractor with over 15 years of experience designing, building, remodeling, and servicing pools for homeowners in Riverside, CA.
Our work covers new gunite and shotcrete pool construction, pool remodeling and renovation, resurfacing and replastering, waterline tile and coping, pool decking and hardscape, spa and hot tub installation, waterfalls and water features, LED pool lighting, pool automation, gas heaters and heat pumps, solar pool heating, variable-speed pumps with cartridge or DE filtration, saltwater chlorination, leak detection, weekly cleaning and chemical service, safety covers and fencing, and pool demolition.
We finish interiors in PebbleTec, pebble aggregate, polished quartz, and standard plaster, set glass and porcelain waterline tile, and build travertine, paver, and stamped concrete decks.
The Inland Empire is one of the hardest environments in California to keep a pool in, and pretending otherwise is how homeowners end up with a chalky waterline and a $400 summer power bill.
Riverside runs well over a hundred days above 90 degrees, evaporation is relentless, Santa Ana winds fill the water with grit, and the blended groundwater and imported supply that comes out of the tap here is genuinely hard, so calcium concentrates fast in a pool that is topped off all summer.
We build for that with dense stain-resistant interior finishes, corrosion-rated hardware, variable-speed pumps that satisfy California's appliance efficiency rules and cut running cost, and chemistry programs built around the saturation index instead of a test strip.
Riverside Pool Builders holds an active C-53 Swimming Pool Contractor license with the CSLB, is fully insured and bonded, belongs to the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, and backs every construction, remodel, and resurfacing project with a written workmanship warranty. Se habla español.
Pool Work We Do in Riverside
Gunite & Shotcrete Pool Construction
Gunite is what almost every custom pool in the Inland Empire is made of, and for good reason: it lets us build any shape, any depth, and any raised feature you can draw. We tie a steel rebar cage, pneumatically place the shell, and then give it a real wet cure.
Pool Remodeling & Renovation
Pool remodeling keeps the shell, which is the expensive part, and replaces everything you look at and touch: new pebble or quartz interior, new waterline tile, new coping, a resurfaced or replaced deck, and an equipment pad dragged out of the single-speed era into a variable-speed pump, a modern filter, and automation you can run from your phone. A remodel keeps the shell, which is the expensive part, and replaces everything you look at and touch: new pebble or quartz interior, new waterline tile, new coping, resurfaced or replaced deck, and an equipment pad dragged out of the single-speed era into a variable-speed pump, a modern filter, and automation you can run from your phone.
Pool Resurfacing & Replastering
Pool resurfacing replaces the interior finish once the plaster wears out, which every plaster surface eventually does, because it is a wear layer with a service life rather than a permanent part of the pool. Somewhere around twelve to twenty years it goes chalky, then rough underfoot, then it starts etching into small craters that hold dirt no brush will reach.
Pebble & Quartz Pool Finishes
Pebble and quartz pool finishes are the best-value decision available during a resurfacing, because the chip-out labor is identical and only the material cost changes. Standard white plaster is the budget interior and behaves like one, going chalky inside a decade in Inland Empire water.
Waterline Tile & Coping
Waterline tile and coping are the trim on the whole job, and they are the first two things a guest, a buyer, or a home inspector notices. They are also where Inland Empire water does its most visible damage.
Pool Decking & Hardscape
Pool decking in Riverside decides whether the backyard is usable in July, because a bad deck surface at two in the afternoon is simply not walkable barefoot. Surface temperature is a real design input here, not a nicety.
Spa & Hot Tub Installation
Spa and hot tub installation is what keeps an Inland Empire backyard in use from November through March, when the pool itself is a pleasant thing to look at and nothing more. We build integrated gunite spas that spill into the pool, raised spas faced in stacked stone or porcelain with sheer descents, and standalone spas set on a proper pad with the electrical and bonding done to code instead of run off a cord through a window.
Water Features & Waterfalls
Riverside Pool Builders builds water features for Inland Empire yards that bake by day and cool fast after sunset. Sheer descents and spillways here fight evaporation and wind-blown grit more than soft coastal mist.
LED Pool Lighting
Riverside Pool Builders installs LED pool lighting for Inland Empire heat, Santa Ana dust, and evening cool-downs after long hot days. West-facing lenses bake and collect grit films that cut output between cleanings.
Pool Automation & Controls
Riverside Pool Builders sets automation that still runs when IE heat and dust punish cheap boards on bare pads. We mount controllers out of the worst west sun when the wall allows, keep physical overrides at the pad, and program filtration for overnight turnover instead of high-RPM all day.
Pool Heaters & Heat Pumps
Pool heaters turn a five-month Riverside pool into a nine- or ten-month one, and they are what makes the spa worth having at all. The Inland Empire gives you a long unheated swim season and then takes it away abruptly in October.
Solar Pool Heating Systems
Solar pool heating uses the one resource the Inland Empire has in obscene surplus, and there is a strong argument for pointing some of it at your pool. A system is unglazed polymer collectors on the roof, a diverter valve, a differential controller and two sensors, and essentially nothing else.
Variable-Speed Pumps & Filtration
Riverside Pool Builders keeps filtration alive through IE heat, dust storms, and long filter-cleaning seasons. Baskets and cartridges load with grit after Santa Ana runs.
Saltwater Chlorination Systems
Saltwater chlorination does not give you a chlorine-free pool, and any company implying otherwise is either confused or selling. It makes chlorine on site by passing lightly salted water across a coated titanium cell, so you stop hauling jugs, chlorine levels stay far more stable through a Riverside summer, and the water feels noticeably softer on skin and eyes.
Pool Leak Detection & Repair
Pool leak detection in Riverside starts with proving there is a leak at all, because in July an uncovered Inland Empire pool loses a genuinely surprising amount of water to evaporation and wind. A bucket test settles it in a day: if the pool drops meaningfully faster than a bucket sitting on the step, you have a leak, and if it does not, you have summer.
Weekly Pool Cleaning & Service
The net is the least important tool on the truck. What a weekly visit actually buys is a water test and the correct dose, done by the same person often enough that they hear the pump note change in April instead of watching the water turn in July.
Pool Safety Covers & Fencing
Riverside Pool Builders installs safety covers and fencing for Inland heat, wind uplift, and California barrier expectations on real yards. Ultraviolet light embrittles straps, lids, and cheap fence coatings faster than mild coastal catalogs admit.
Pool Demolition & Removal
Riverside Pool Builders demolishes and fills pools when Inland Empire owners convert yards on hot, dusty lots. Demo includes permits, utility kills, and haul plans that respect HOA streets and summer heat.
Why Riverside Chooses Riverside Pool Builders
- ✓Over 15 years building and servicing pools across Riverside and San Bernardino counties
- ✓Hard-water and scale programs built around the saturation index, not a test strip
- ✓Variable-speed pumps and equipment that meet California appliance efficiency rules
- ✓3D design and an itemized quote before anyone touches a shovel
- ✓C-53 licensed with the CSLB, insured, bonded, and a PHTA member
- ✓In-house crews from excavation through start-up — no mystery subcontractors
- ✓Se habla español
About Riverside Pool Builders in Riverside, CA
Riverside Pool Builders has spent over 15 years building, remodeling, and maintaining swimming pools across Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, Redlands, and the wider Inland Empire. We started as a two-truck service and resurfacing operation and grew into full custom construction the slow way, on referrals from people whose pools we kept running through the worst of the summer.
Today we handle everything from a plunge pool on a tight Wood Streets lot to large custom backyard builds, and we still run every project with our own crews rather than handing your yard to a subcontractor you will never meet.
What separates a good Inland Empire pool company from a bad one is not the showroom.
It is whether the gunite got a real wet cure in 100-degree heat instead of being left to flash off, whether the equipment pad was plumbed with unions so the next repair is not a demolition, whether the bonding grid was done to code, and whether somebody answers the phone in August.
We design in 3D so there are no surprises, we specify hardware and finishes chosen for hard water and relentless sun, and we back every construction, remodel, and resurfacing project with a written workmanship warranty.
From gunite construction and remodeling to resurfacing, decking, solar heating, automation, leak detection, and weekly service, Riverside Pool Builders is a single point of contact for a pool that looks good and costs less to run.
We hold an active C-53 Swimming Pool Contractor license with the California State License Board, carry full liability and workers' compensation coverage, and belong to the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance. Se habla español, the estimate is always free, and we will tell you when you do not need the work.
Service Areas
Riverside Pool Builders serves Riverside, CA and surrounding communities including:
How It Works
1. Design & itemized quote
We measure the yard, check setbacks, easements, and overhead lines, and model the pool in 3D so you see the real thing before you sign. The quote itemizes everything down to the coping, so you know exactly what is and is not included.
2. Permits, engineering & excavation
We pull the City of Riverside, county, or local jurisdiction permits, handle the engineering, and schedule the dig. Inland Empire lots hide decomposed granite, caliche, and old fill, so we price the excavation honestly rather than discovering it on day three.
3. Steel, gunite, plumbing & finishes
Rebar cage, pneumatically placed gunite, a proper wet cure through IE heat, plumbing sized for a variable-speed pump, bonding grid, tile, coping, interior finish, and deck. Same in-house crew start to finish.
4. Start-up, safety features & handover
We fill it, brush the new interior daily through start-up, balance the chemistry, and set up your two required drowning-prevention safety features. Then we walk you through the equipment and the app until you can actually run it.
Recent Projects Across the Inland Empire
Full gallery →What Riverside Customers Say
Three companies quoted our build and only these guys walked the slope and explained why the retaining wall mattered. The 3D model matched the finished pool almost exactly. Crew was on site every day through August heat.
Remodel on a 1984 pool. New pebble interior, new travertine coping, and they rebuilt the equipment pad with a variable speed pump. My electric bill dropped enough that I noticed on the next statement.
Explicaron todo en español y no me apuraron para decidir. El acabado quedó perfecto y el precio fue el mismo que la cotización. Muy recomendables.
Chased a leak for a year with two other companies. These guys pressure tested every line, found a sheared return under the deck from soil movement, and re-plumbed the run instead of patching it again.
Solar panels on the roof and a small gas heater for the spa, exactly the setup they recommended instead of the bigger system I asked for. Swim season is basically March to November now and the gas bill barely moved.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a new pool cost in Riverside?
Most inground gunite pools in the Inland Empire land between the mid-$60,000s and the low $100,000s once decking is included, and a build with a raised spa, a tanning ledge, a rock waterfall, automation, and a heater sits at the upper end. Fiberglass shells generally come in lower. We give a firm itemized quote after the free in-home 3D design rather than a square-foot number over the phone.
How long does a pool build take in the Inland Empire?
Excavation to fill usually runs 8 to 12 weeks, and our weather rarely stops us the way it stops builders elsewhere. The real schedule risk here is permitting and inspection timing, which varies a lot between the City of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and unincorporated Riverside County. Remodels and resurfacing take 1 to 3 weeks.
What safety features does California require on a new pool?
California's Swimming Pool Safety Act requires new and remodeled residential pools to include at least two approved drowning-prevention safety features from an approved list, which includes an enclosing barrier, removable mesh fencing, a safety pool cover, exit alarms on doors leading to the pool, self-closing self-latching devices, and alarms. We include the selection in the design conversation instead of surprising you at final inspection.
Why does my Riverside pool scale up so fast?
Hard water plus extreme evaporation. Every gallon that evaporates leaves its calcium behind, and a Riverside pool can lose a meaningful amount of water a week in July, so the calcium hardness in the water climbs all summer while you top off from a hard tap. The fix is not more acid, it is managing the saturation index deliberately, sometimes with a partial drain, and using a dense interior finish that gives scale less to grab.
Do you service pools you did not build?
Most of our service book is pools other companies built. We take over weekly cleaning, chemical service, repairs, leak detection, resurfacing, and full remodels anywhere in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. If your last pool guy stopped showing up in August, you are not the first person to call us about it.
Is solar pool heating worth it in Riverside?
In this specific climate, often yes. We get the sun for it, and a properly sized roof-mounted collector array can add two to three months of comfortable swim season with essentially no fuel cost.
The honest limits are that it needs adequate unshaded south or west roof area, it heats slowly rather than on demand, and it will not get a spa to 104. Most of our happiest customers pair solar for the pool with a small gas heater for the spa.