The honest answer, from the builder who's priced more Idaho pools than anyone: most gunite pools in the Treasure Valley start around $80,000–$100,000, and the final number depends on choices you control. Here's exactly where the money goes.
Every yard is different, but after hundreds of Treasure Valley builds the patterns are clear. These ranges reflect complete, permitted, swim-ready gunite projects — not stripped-down teaser numbers.
Ranges assume typical Treasure Valley site conditions and 2026 material pricing. Unusually difficult access, major elevation changes, or premium finishes can move a project beyond these bands — and a free on-site estimate pins down your exact number before you commit to anything.
Two pools with the same square footage can differ by $50,000. These are the variables that actually drive the difference — and the ones worth thinking about before your first design meeting.
More water means more excavation, more steel, more gunite, and bigger equipment. Going from a 15×30 to an 18×36 pool touches every line of the budget. Depth matters too — a deep end for diving adds excavation and shell cost that a play-depth pool avoids. Right-sizing the pool to how your family will actually use it is the single biggest cost decision you'll make.
An integrated spa typically adds $25,000–$40,000. Waterfalls, sheer descents, bubblers, deck jets, tanning ledges, and automation each add their own line. Built during original construction they're far cheaper than retrofitting later — the crews and concrete are already there. Our advice after four decades: pick the two features you'll use weekly rather than five you'll use once.
Interior finish choices span from classic white plaster to colored quartz and pebble finishes that cost more but last longer and change the entire look of the water. Waterline tile, trim tile, and coping stone run from simple to spectacular. These selections can swing a project by $10,000–$30,000.
A flat lot with wide side-yard access is the cheapest dig in the valley. Slopes, retaining walls, tight gates that force smaller equipment, long concrete pump runs, and rock or groundwater all add real cost. This is also where Treasure Valley experience pays off — we've built on Boise bench slopes, Nampa clay, and Caldwell river-bottom ground, and we price it accurately the first time.
The pool is only half the backyard. Broom-finished concrete decking is the budget baseline; pavers, travertine, and stamped finishes cost more per square foot. How much deck you pour — a walkway ring versus a full entertaining patio — often affects the total as much as the pool's own size.
Variable-speed pumps, properly sized filters, heaters, and automatic covers add upfront cost but repay it every month you own the pool. Undersized plumbing and cheap equipment are the false economy of pool building — they make every future utility bill higher. We engineer hydraulics so the pool is inexpensive to run for decades. More on that below.
Construction price gets all the attention, but you'll live with the operating cost for thirty years. Two identical-looking pools can differ by hundreds of dollars a season in electricity, chemicals, heat loss, and repair frequency — entirely because of how they were engineered.
This is the quiet advantage of hiring a builder with deep expertise in hydraulics. Correctly sized pipes and variable-speed pumps move the same water with a fraction of the energy. An automatic cover holds heat through Idaho's cool nights and cuts evaporation. Durable finishes stretch the years between resurfacing.
My philosophy is that once constructed, a pool should not cost a lot of money or time to own.
— Scott Pahl, Founder, Universal PoolsThe cheapest time to build a pool is while your yard is still dirt. No fences to remove, no sod to destroy and replace, no sprinklers to reroute. If you're buying new construction in a growth area, getting the pool designed before landscaping can save five figures.
Comfortable running a rake — or a skid steer? We offer owner-assisted builds where you handle prep, cleanup, and non-licensed work while our crews do the excavation, steel, gunite, plumbing, and electrical. A meaningful discount for sweat equity, popular on rural Canyon County lots.
A slightly smaller pool with one great feature beats a sprawling design with compromises everywhere. We'd rather build you a pool that fits your budget honestly than upsell features you won't use — that's how a builder keeps a reputation for 45 years.
Upfront, yes. Over a lifetime, the gap narrows or reverses: vinyl liners need replacing every 7–10 years, fiberglass constrains size and shape, and neither matches engineered concrete through decades of freeze-thaw. Gunite is the only construction we offer because it's the only one that truly fits Idaho.
Roughly $25,000–$40,000 when built into the pool structure, depending on size, elevation, and finish. Built simultaneously with the pool, it shares excavation, steel, and gunite costs — retrofitting one later costs substantially more.
With well-designed hydraulics and a cover, most Treasure Valley owners spend a few hundred dollars a season on chemicals and electricity, plus heating if and when they choose to extend the season. Poorly engineered pools can cost several times that — which is why we obsess over efficiency at design time.
A quality inground pool is a real asset in this market — outdoor living drives Treasure Valley buying decisions. An aging or damaged pool cuts the other way, which is where remodeling often returns more than it costs at sale time.
Construction cost is similar valley-wide — the same crews and materials build every pool. What changes is the site: Nampa and Caldwell lots tend to be larger with easier access, while Boise bench and foothill lots more often involve slopes and retaining.
Pool construction is billed in stages tied to completed milestones — excavation, steel and plumbing, gunite, finish work — so payments track real progress you can see in your backyard. We walk through the full schedule with every quote, before you sign anything.
Ranges are useful; a real quote is better. Tell us about your yard and your wish list, and we'll walk the site, measure it honestly, and hand you an exact figure. Free, no pressure, within one business day.