Gunite Swimming Pools

A custom gunite pool changes how you live at home, with weekends spent around the water, evenings outdoors with the fire going, and a backyard your family gravitates to without needing a reason. Miller Landscape is a specialist gunite pool contractor serving North Atlanta, Alpharetta, Roswell, Milton, Woodstock, and surrounding communities.

We design and build custom inground gunite pools exclusively, with no fiberglass, vinyl, or prefabricated shells. Every pool is a concrete structure engineered from scratch for your property and how you want to use it.

Why Homeowners Choose Gunite

Fiberglass and vinyl pools are factory-made products. They ship in a fixed shape and get set into an excavation. Custom gunite pools are built differently, the shell is formed on-site using pneumatically applied concrete over a custom rebar framework, which means every dimension, depth profile, spa position and feature detail is engineered around your property rather than constrained by a manufacturer's mold.

No Limits on Shape or Size

Fiberglass pools are capped by what fits on a flatbed. Gunite isn't. Freeform layouts, geometric designs, attached spas, tanning ledges, raised bond beams, beach entries — all achievable because the structure is built in place. For a large custom backyard, that flexibility is what makes the project work.

Structurally Permanent. Lower Long-Term Cost.

A gunite shell is reinforced concrete. It doesn't flex under soil pressure or degrade from chemical exposure. Vinyl liners crack, fade, and need full replacement every 10–15 years. Fiberglass surfaces develop spider cracking and color fade requiring gel coat refinishing. Gunite's interior finish is resurfaced on a similar schedule — but the shell never needs structural replacement. Over 20–30 years, gunite consistently wins on total cost.

What It Means for Your Property Value

In North Atlanta's market, buyers notice. A custom gunite pool with premium finishes and integrated hardscaping adds a different level of value and visual impact to a property than a standard fiberglass installation. The investment holds through resale in a way that vinyl and fiberglass rarely match.

Custom Gunite Pool Design

Every custom gunite pool design starts with a site visit. Before a line is drawn, we assess your lot: grades, drainage, soil conditions, sun exposure and how the yard connects to the house. That shapes everything that follows.

Our design team then develops a pool specific to your property. You'll see the shape, depth transitions, features, and how the pool relates to the surrounding patio in 3D before construction begins. The design package includes permit drawings, material selections, and a fixed-scope estimate.

Designed Around How You Use Your Backyard

Pool visibility from the kitchen. Seating areas that stay comfortable well after sunset. Shallow ledges where children play while adults gather nearby, and a spa with a direct view of the fire feature. These aren't incidental details; they're design decisions made early that determine whether a backyard becomes the center of family life or just a place the pool happens to be.

Indoor-Outdoor Connection

Pools that connect naturally to the house and stay visible from the main living areas feel like part of the home rather than something added later. We design around those connections from the start so the backyard feels connected, functional, and comfortable to use every day.

What Makes a Gunite Pool Worth the Investment

It's not just the pool. It's what the pool makes possible. Large family gatherings centered around the water, a kitchen steps from the deck, fire features visible from the spa, and a yard that gets used every warm day instead of sitting empty. When a pool is designed as part of a cohesive backyard rather than added as a separate feature, it becomes the element that makes the entire space work. That's what gunite construction, designed and built under one roof, actually delivers.

Gunite Pool Installation and Construction

Miller Landscape manages every phase of gunite pool construction, including site assessment, design, permitting, excavation, construction, and startup, under one roof. There is no hand-off between firms and no gap between what was designed and what gets built.

How Construction Works

After permit approval, excavation is performed to engineered depth and rebar is placed to the structural specifications in the permit drawings. The gunite shell is then formed and sculpted on-site by our crew. Plumbing, electrical, water features and equipment are installed during construction, followed by interior finishing and coping installation around the perimeter. Final inspections, equipment startup and owner walkthrough close the project.

Timeline and Investment

Most gunite pool projects in North Atlanta take several months from permitting through final startup, depending on site conditions, weather, project complexity, and county review timelines. Permitting across Cherokee, Cobb, Forsyth, and Fulton counties can take several weeks before construction begins, especially during peak season.

Custom gunite pool pricing in North Atlanta depends on the size of the pool, property conditions, material selections, and the scope of surrounding outdoor living features. Projects involving retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, fire features, or sloped terrain require additional engineering and construction planning. We provide fixed-scope estimates after evaluating the property and project goals.

Building on Sloped and Wooded North Atlanta Properties

Most North Atlanta lots aren't flat. Alpharetta and Roswell neighborhoods commonly drop 10–20 feet from house to property line. Milton properties have mature canopy, exposed rock, and limited access. Woodstock and Canton lots sit on clay-heavy subsoil with drainage that needs engineering before a pool can be positioned.
These conditions limit fiberglass as an option. For an experienced gunite pool builder, they're standard terrain.

Sloped Lots

A sloped rear yard requires the pool to be engineered as part of a grade transition, with retaining walls, drainage, and patio elevations coordinated from the start. When handled correctly, those challenges become assets through tiered levels, elevated spa spillovers, and views down the yard that a flat property can't replicate.

Wooded and Rocky Properties

Milton and Cherokee County lots regularly involve root systems, subsurface rock, and tight equipment access. We assess these conditions during the site visit and account for them before construction begins, not after the project is already underway.

Clay Soil and Drainage

Georgia's red clay doesn't drain well. Without proper drainage engineering, hydrostatic pressure can build around the pool shell over time. We include drainage planning in every installation as a standard part of the construction process, not as a correction after problems appear.

HOA Communities

Many Alpharetta, Milton, and Roswell neighborhoods require architectural review before pool construction can begin. We design projects with HOA requirements and permitting considerations in mind so the approval process moves as smoothly as possible.

Pool, Patio, and Outdoor Living Features Built Together

The pool, patio, kitchen and fire features work best when they're planned as one project. Mismatched elevations, drainage running toward the pool, and kitchens without sightlines to the water are often the result of outdoor elements added separately over time.

What We Build Around Every Pool

• Patio in brick, porcelain, natural stone, or concrete pavers
• Retaining walls and grade transitions
• Outdoor kitchen with built-in grill, refrigeration, and counter seating
• Outdoor fireplace, fire pit, or fire bowls at the water's edge
• Landscape planting and outdoor lighting

Why It Matters

One contractor designing and building the full scope means the pool edge connects to the correct patio elevation, drainage functions as a single system, and every element, including kitchen placement, fire feature position, and seating flow, was planned in relation to the water. The result is a backyard where pool, patio, kitchen, and fire features work together naturally rather than compete for space.

Custom Gunite Pool Features

Because gunite pools are built on-site, they allow for highly customized layouts, elevations, and integrated design features tailored to the property and outdoor living space.

• Tanning ledges and baja shelves for shallow-water lounging and sun exposure
• Integrated spas designed as part of the pool layout with spillover edges and shared finishes
• Infinity edges and raised bond beams that create elevation changes and architectural definition
• Water features such as sheer descents, waterfalls, fountains, and spillways
• Swim-up bars and custom gathering areas integrated into larger outdoor entertainment layouts

Smart Features and Nighttime Ambiance

• LED pool lighting for nighttime visibility and ambiance
• Pool automation systems that control equipment, lighting, water features, and spa temperature from a smartphone
• Fire bowls and fire pits positioned around the pool and patio area for evening entertaining

Gunite Pool Renovation and Replacement

Many North Atlanta homes built through the 1990s and 2000s have existing gunite pools that are aging, structurally compromised, or no longer suited to how the homeowner uses the yard. We handle renovation and full replacement with the same design-build approach as new construction.

Renovation

When the shell is structurally sound, renovation addresses surface condition and feature updates — resurfacing, tile and coping, equipment upgrades, spa addition, lighting, patio reconfiguration. The right renovation completely transforms an aging pool without the cost of starting over.

Replacement

When a pool shell shows structural cracking, the original construction was poorly executed, or the homeowner wants a completely different layout, full replacement is often the better long-term solution. Rebuilding also creates the opportunity to redesign surrounding patios, retaining walls, and outdoor living areas as part of the same project. See our full renovation and replacement page for more detail.

Our Gunite Pool Services

• Gunite Pool Design — Site assessment, custom design, 3D rendering, permit drawings, and fixed-scope estimates
• Gunite Pool Installation — Full construction management from excavation through startup and owner walkthrough
• Gunite Pool Renovation and Replacement — Resurfacing, structural repairs, feature additions, and complete rebuilds

Serving North Atlanta Homeowners

Miller Landscape builds custom gunite pools throughout Woodstock, Alpharetta, Roswell, Marietta, Johns Creek, Canton, Milton, Cumming, Kennesaw, and the greater North Atlanta area.
Schedule a Free Consultation today or call us at 770-591-5234.