“Put in a fiberglass pool” they said. “It will be easy”.
I’ll start by saying we absolutely love our pool and I am so happy that we did it – but boy, was it a process. Our pool came over on a barge and was lifted over our house with a crane!
In March of 2021 we ordered our fiberglass pool with the hope that we would be swimming by that summer. As everyone who tried to do anything during covid knows, “best laid plans” and all.
Fast forward a year (and a month, but who is counting?)
The pool arrived on island and was sitting in our yard on April 1, 2022. I kind of thought they just dug a hole, buried the pool, added some water and voila. But alas, no – you literally need every single subcontractor on the island. Ok slight exaggeration, but that’s what it felt like.
You need a surveyor, an electrician, someone to move a lot of dirt, a plumber or a representative from the gas company, a stone mason, irrigation, and a landscaper. Oh, and on Nantucket you need an architect or landscape architect to get you through the HDC process (even if your pool can’t be seen from the street or the neighbors’ homes).
We are really lucky that we were able to assemble a fantastic team to help Future Pools get.it.done. A major shout out to Kevin Dineen of Nantucket Electrical Contractors; Neil Paterson and Scotty McIver at Neil Paterson Inc. – best stone selection around; Seth Lynn who did all of the gorgeous stonework and probably never wants to hear about pool brackets ever again; Paul Santos for making sure we “colored within the lines” of our property; Julius Pasys for helping us plan where everything should go in the backyard, so that if we wanted to do future work we could; Steve Hollister and Tom Olcott for getting us through the HDC; Yates Island Gas for making sure we had heat to the pool; Greg Raith for all of his help moving so.much.dirt; Waterworks for redoing the irrigation it felt like we had just put in (and had to chop to pieces during the install); Nantucket Lightshop for help with the exterior lighting plan; Surfside Hydrangea for having the most beautiful plant and tree selection; and Narval Marks for making our landscaping dreams come true.
I also have to share this picture of Neil hand digging trenches. MVP.
The amazing part is that by July 1st we were swimming. Everything was planted and we had grass. Even though we had to wait 13 months for the pool to arrive (did I mention the fiberglass shortage Leisure Pools told us about after the fact?), the install only took exactly three months.
It went from this on April 1st….
To this on July 1st
Some commonly asked questions & answers:
* our pool color was graphite grey.
* pool float is by Oliver James but Frontgate as a great option as well.
* favorite beach towels are from Serena & Lily and Kassatax.
* for our coping and patio we used a granite called blue mist instead of bluestone because it is more durable in New England weather, heats up a bit less than bluestone (although it still gets hot!) and the color looked great with the pool.
* our outdoor furniture is Kingsley Bates from Arrowhead on island, and the outdoor sofas are from Restoration Hardware.
* our landscape lighting is from Nantucket Lightshop.
* the pool was made by Leisure Pools, installed by Future Pools (and the village that is Nantucket).
What else would you like to know?!