3 Things You Need to Know About Pool Excavation
Read article
Custom Pool Builders in Carefree Since 2004
Let's Make Your Dream Pool Come to Life
Concrete pools and spas built for Carefree lots, where the boulders on your property are protected features rather than obstacles to clear. Family owned, owner run, building here since 2004.
Recognized as a Best Pool Builder by Phoenix Architects20+ Years
Twenty Years of Backyards Built in Carefree
Carefree backyards transformed since 2004
Turning Dream Pools into Reality. One Pool at a Time.
We begin with the land in front of us, not a shape we already like. In Carefree that is not just good manners, it is the grading code. Boulders and rock outcroppings on your site are treated as significant features that grading must not disturb or obscure, so the pool is designed to sit among them. Handled well, those boulders become the best thing about the finished backyard.
Your Backyard Paradise Awaits!
Ready to talk it through? Start with a Carefree pool builder who knows what the grading plan has to say before it gets submitted.
Meet Nate Green, Founder of Saturn Pool Company
Nate and his family have called the Valley home since 2003, and he has been building pools since 2004. Carefree is demanding ground and he prefers it that way. A lot with boulders you cannot move and a wash you cannot redirect forces a real design rather than a template. Twenty years on he runs it the same way. Build it properly, price it honestly, answer your own phone.
It is why most of our Carefree work arrives by referral. This is a small town where people compare notes, and a pool that still looks right after ten summers argues better than anything we could write. Prepare to be excited.
20+ YearsBuilding Carefree backyards since 2004
Family-OwnedPersonalized service on every project
LicensedBonded & Insured, ROC #199211
HundredsOf custom pools built across the Valley
What we build
What can Saturn Pools do for you?
Four things, done properly, for Carefree homeowners. Design leads, construction follows, and here the grading and drainage plan governs more of both than anywhere else we build.
01 / Design
Custom Pool Design Services
Every Saturn pool begins as a conversation about your land rather than a page from a catalogue. In Carefree the first question is what the town considers significant on your site. Boulders, rock outcroppings, archaeological features and larger washes all have protection under the grading rules, and the natural drainage channels have to keep entering and leaving the property the way they always have. We establish that before drawing anything, because a layout that ignores it will not be approved.
+
Pool shaped to sit among the boulders that have to stay
+
Decking and grading drawn so storm flow still crosses the lot
+
Interior finish, waterline tile and coping picked as one set
+
Grading and drainage plan prepared to the town's standard notes
02 / Construction
New Pool Construction
We build concrete, in-ground pools, the most durable shell available in desert ground. A poured shell copes with ground movement and heat swings in a way a prefabricated one cannot, and it leaves you free on shape, depth and size. Most builds run 8 to 12 weeks depending on scope, permits, inspections and weather. Carefree adds requirements many builders overlook. Stormwater controls have to be in place before work begins, and excess cut material has to leave the site rather than being spread across the lot.
+
Engineered concrete shell poured to the approved drawings
+
Town of Carefree permits and inspections handled for you
+
Precision excavation between rock that cannot be disturbed
+
Spoil hauled off site and stormwater controls set up first
03 / Spas
New Spa Construction
A spa can be lifted into the pool as a spillover feature or built on its own as a standalone retreat. Either route, it is drawn and poured within the same project, so tile, finish and decking read as one piece rather than an afterthought bolted on a year later. Carefree lots often have a natural high point with a view worth sitting in, and a spa set into that spot uses the land better than dropping it beside the back door because that was easier.
+
Raised spillover spas built into the pool
+
Standalone spas set where the view actually is
+
Tile, finish and decking carried across pool and spa
+
Equipment sited discreetly on a constrained lot
04 / Features
Pool Features and Add-ons
This is where a pool stops being a rectangle of water. Water features, fire, lighting, shade and decking all change how often the yard gets used. The boulders already on your lot do more for a Carefree backyard than any feature we could add, so the good work is usually lighting them properly, running the deck up to them and letting a spillover fall against real rock rather than an imported imitation of it.
+
Spillovers falling against the real rock already on site
+
Tanning ledges, swim outs and built in seating
+
Uplighting that picks out boulders without washing out the sky
+
Decking run up to the rock, ramadas and outdoor living
Your Backyard Transformation Starts Here
Let's Design the Pool You've Always Wanted
From first sketch to final splash, our Carefree crew handles every detail so you can simply enjoy the result.
Schedule Your Free ConsultationAbout Saturn Pools
A family business that never outgrew the family part.
Designing and building backyards in Carefree since 2004
Saturn Pools is family owned, and Carefree has been on our map since we started in 2004. Very little about how we operate has changed. The owner is on every job, a single call reaches design and sales together, and no question needs relaying through a department to get answered.
A pool is a serious long term investment and a Carefree build gets treated that way. We stay alongside you from the opening design conversation through to the final walkthrough, and we remain easy to reach long after the water goes in. Plenty of our customers date back to the early years, and their referrals still bring in most of what we build.
Read the full story2004
Building pools in Carefree since
Family owned
The owner is on every job
Hundreds
Of backyards completed across the Valley
8 to 12 weeks
Typical build, start to first swim
Locally owned and operated
Our Commitment to Quality
The best part of your pool is the part you will never see.
Steel, plumbing and gunite go underground the day after they are inspected. Nobody photographs that stage. It is also the part that decides whether your pool still looks right a decade from now. Carefree is unforgiving ground. You are cutting between boulders that must stay, on lots where the drainage has to behave exactly as it did before you started, and the spoil cannot simply be pushed to one side. Shortcuts taken below grade always surface later.
Waterline
01
Quality over volume
Some builders quote a Carefree lot from a photograph and revise it once the excavator hits rock. We take on only the work we can supervise properly, and we price boulder and drainage constraints after standing on the ground.
02
One call, one owner
One number reaches both sales and design. With a grading and drainage plan to prepare and a town review to clear, that saves a great deal of chasing.
03
Premium materials
Premium materials and proven methods, with the detail work checked before gunite covers it. Cutting a shell in among rock leaves no margin for a careless pour.
04
A warranty that holds
The pool and its equipment carry a warranty, walked through with you and backed by each manufacturer. We are still reachable once the water is in.
ROC 199211
Licensed, bonded and insured
Since 2004
Building pools across the Valley
Family owned
The owner is on every job
Pebble Tec
Manufacturer backed finish
Service Area
Twelve communities. One crew.
We build across the Valley with one crew, and Carefree sits just off Tom Darlington Drive. We work lots around the Boulders and Desert Forest, out through the streets near the Sundial, and along the desert edges toward Black Mountain. Choose your city below to see the local build details that apply there.
Start where you are
You do not have to be ready to build. You just have to be ready to talk.
Three ways in, depending on how far along you already are. Every one of them is free.
01
Just looking
See finished builds
Real backyards we designed and built across the Valley, from first sketch to first swim.
Open the gallery
02
Getting numbers
Get a free estimate
Pricing for your yard and your wish list, so you can plan a budget before you commit to anything.
Start my estimate
03
Ready to design
Book a design call
Sixty minutes to sketch your pool, talk through features and be honest about budget.
Pick a time
Why homeowners choose us
Why Carefree homeowners keep passing our number along.
Most of our work arrives by word of mouth, one Carefree backyard at a time. Referrals only happen when the build went well and the builder is still around afterward to take the call.
01
Two decades of building here
We have built here since 2004, across twenty summers and twenty monsoon seasons. Hundreds of customers on, the same people still handle design and construction.
02
Quality before volume
We would rather build fewer pools properly than spread crews across a packed calendar. Cutting between protected boulders is slow work and it does not reward a builder in a hurry.
03
Answers, not a runaround
One call reaches both sales and design. We answer questions as they arise, and we explain what the town expects on your grading plan before it becomes a revision notice.
04
We do not disappear
The relationship does not end when the water goes in. If something needs attention two years down the line, the same team is still here to handle it.
If Anthem Pets referred you to Saturn Pools, and we build your pool, we’ll donate $100 to AP! And even if you don’t choose us, would you please consider a donation to a great organization that helps to care for our pet family?
FAQ for Carefree Residents
These are the questions Carefree owners ask us most. The town's grading and drainage rules shape a pool project here more than the pool code does, so several of these answers are specific to building in Carefree.
How much does a concrete swimming pool cost in Carefree?
Price comes down to interior and decking materials, the equipment package, and features such as waterfalls, lighting and firepits. Carefree adds its own line items. Excavating between boulders that have to stay put is slower and more precise than digging an open lot. Excess cut material has to be hauled away rather than spread, which is a real haulage cost on a rocky site. Stormwater controls have to be installed before work starts. None of it is exotic, but it has to be in the quote from the beginning.
A real figure needs a real look at the property. We walk the lot, note the boulders and outcroppings, trace where water crosses the site, then come back with pricing built around your land instead of an average.
How long will my new pool take to build in Carefree?
Pool projects typically take 8 to 12 weeks once construction begins. Scheduling, scope, permits, inspections, material availability and weather all move that. In Carefree the grading and drainage submittal is the part worth planning properly, since a plan that does not address the protected features on your site comes back for revision. Worth knowing too that a town plan approval lasts 180 days, so if a project stalls after approval the drawings may need updating and resubmitting.
Can the boulders on my lot be moved for the pool?
Usually not, and this is the rule that most shapes a Carefree design. Town grading standards say work must not disturb or obscure significant visual or environmental features on the site, and boulders and rock outcroppings are named directly, alongside archaeological sites and larger washes. So the honest answer is that the pool gets designed around the rock rather than the rock cleared for the pool. In practice that is no bad thing. A pool that sits into an existing boulder field looks like it belongs there, which is difficult to fake.
What does Carefree require on the plans?
Carefree runs its own building department out of Sundial Circle, and a pool means a building permit plus a grading and drainage submittal. The town publishes standard notes that have to appear on every drawing involving grading and drainage, so the plan set is more prescriptive than in many towns. Approval covers scope rather than detail, which means the contractor stays responsible for meeting town, county, state and federal requirements regardless of what got stamped. Any change from the approved plan has to go back for review before it is built. We prepare the package and manage the review.
There is a wash across my property. Can I still build?
Carefully, and it is a genuine design constraint rather than a formality. The town requires that natural drainage channels keep the entrance and exit points and the hydraulic behavior they had before you built, and washes carrying a large enough hundred year flow are protected features in their own right. A pool, its deck and its equipment pad all displace water, so the grading plan has to show storm flow still crossing the property the way it always did. We work that out at design stage, because it is far cheaper than regrading a finished yard.
What stormwater controls are needed during the build?
Before anything starts, and it is a condition rather than a suggestion. Carefree expects stormwater best management practices in place prior to the beginning of work, which in practice means track out prevention at the access point, straw wattles or silt fencing where runoff would leave the site, and lined containers or basins to catch concrete washout water so it never reaches the ground. Gunite and plaster days generate exactly that kind of wastewater. It is a small amount of setup that keeps a site compliant and, frankly, keeps your property clean during the build.
Where does all the excavated rock and soil go?
It gets hauled off the property, which surprises people who assume it can be spread or bermed somewhere out of sight. Carefree requires excess cut material to be removed from the site, so on a rocky lot where a pool excavation produces a large volume of spoil, that haulage is a real cost worth having in the quote rather than discovering halfway through. It also means the finished yard is not left with a mound of rubble in the corner, which is very much the point of the rule.
