Gunite Pools
Custom Gunite Pools
Beautiful Gunite Pools for Your Backyard Paradise
When a new pool is on your wishlist, gunite pools are a completely customizable way to bring your vision to life. Some homeowners start with a shape in mind. Others know they want room for weekend gatherings, poolside dining, a quiet place to unwind, ADA handicap accessibility, or a family swimming pool with a grotto, pool slide, and diving board that their children can grow up enjoying. At Burton Pools & Spas, your dreams and desires are the starting point.
Maybe you want a place where everyone gathers on summer afternoons. Maybe your perfect swimming pool has a long stretch for laps, a shallow area for kids, a built-in spa for evenings, or a beach entry design that gives someone you love more independence in the water. Maybe your property simply calls for something you cannot find in pre-made pool options.
With stunning custom design, Burton gunite pools give you the freedom to choose the dimensions, depth, layout, and finishes that make sense for your property and your lifestyle. From graceful curves to clean architectural lines, we create custom inground pools with room for your personality in every detail.
Our five convenient gunite pool builder locations serving Northwest Arkansas, Southwest Missouri, and Southeast Oklahoma help turn your ideas into a pool that feels like it belongs with your home. Let our industry-leading pool designers and pool contractors help you turn backyard possibilities into a space you love to come home to. Ready to get started? Schedule your free pool consultation to explore your options.
Why Choose a Gunite Swimming Pool?

A gunite swimming pool is custom-built on your property, giving you extensive control over its shape and features. That flexibility makes it an appealing choice when you have a particular look, layout, or experience in mind.
- Design freedom: Explore pool designs with sweeping curves, straight edges, generous swimming areas, ADA pool amenities, or separate spaces for relaxing.
- Structural durability: A steel-reinforced concrete shell provides a strong foundation for long-term enjoyment.
- Distinctive finishes: Plaster, pebble, and tile options let you influence the color, texture, and overall appearance.
- Personalized features: Add fun features like tanning ledges, beach entries, pool lighting, fire and water features, slides, and more.
Custom Gunite Pool Features



The best pool designs start with the details that matter most to you. With flexible inground pool installation options, Burton Pools & Spas’ experienced pool builders can incorporate features that make your backyard more functional, comfortable, and distinctly yours.
Options include:
- Freeform gunite pool or geometric pool designs
- Tanning ledges and sun shelves
- A walk-in zero entry pool or beach entry pool with a gradual slope into the water
- Poolside, spillover, or in-pool spas
- Built-in pool benches and seating
- Vanishing or infinity edge pool
- Deep-water and shallow-water zones
- Lap swimming areas
- Custom pool steps and swim-up areas
- A grotto, pool slide, or diving board
- Pool waterfalls, fountains, cascades, scuppers, and bubblers
- Fire features
- Decorative tile, pool coping, plaster, quartz, or pebble finishes
- In-pool volleyball or pool basketball
- Grab bars, pool handrails, and pool ladders
- ADA accessibility residential pool lift
- LED pool lighting
- Pool heater
- Pool automation
- Automatic pool cover
- Robotic pool cleaner
- And more…
A family swimming pool can be designed very differently from a pool centered around exercise, entertaining, therapy, or quiet relaxation. Gunite pools allow your Burton Pools & Spas pool contractor to customize your pool perfectly.
Premier Gunite Pool Construction in NW Arkansas, SW Missouri, & SE Oklahoma

A successful Burton Pools & Spas’ gunite pool installation begins well before excavation. Your yard’s slope, available space, construction access, and drainage all influence the project. So do the details that matter to you, from the position of the entry steps to the view from your kitchen window.
When looking for a pool place, discuss your priorities, budget, and preferred features with your Burton inground pool builder. Ask what your proposal includes, how the work will be scheduled, and what to expect as construction progresses.
Choosing a Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Missouri, or Northwest Arkansas inground pool contractor should feel like finding someone who understands both your property and your plans for enjoying it. And with Burton Pools, you get the best.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gunite Pools
What Is a Gunite Pool?
In everyday residential pool terminology, “gunite pool” is a specific type of custom concrete pool. A gunite swimming pool is a steel-reinforced concrete pool that is formed and built directly in your backyard. Unlike a fiberglass pool shell that arrives in a predetermined shape, a gunite structure can be created in an impressive range of sizes, depths, curves, angles, and configurations. That freedom is one of the biggest reasons homeowners choose a gunite inground pool.
The pool begins with excavation and a steel framework. Concrete material is then pneumatically applied to create the structural shell. Depending on the application method, the material may be referred to as gunite or shotcrete. After the shell is completed, the pool can be finished with pool tile, coping, plaster, quartz, pebble, pool decking, lighting, water features, and other personalized details.
Are There Gunite Pool Companies in My Area?
When comparing pool builders, pool contractors, or any pool company, look closely at experience with custom construction, design capabilities, communication, completed projects, service after construction, and the company’s long-term presence in the area.
For almost 50 years, Burton Pools & Spas has served homeowners across Northwest Arkansas, Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Missouri, and surrounding communities. If your search began with inground pools, custom pools, where to buy a pool, custom pool builder, or local pool installers, you can work with a local Burton team that understands both pool construction and long-term pool ownership.
Looking for a pool store, too? Burton Pools has locations in Fort Smith, Springdale, Greenland/Fayetteville, Hot Springs, and Joplin, for all your swimming pool needs.
What Affects Gunite Pool Cost?
There is no single price for a custom gunite pool because there is no single gunite pool design.
Your gunite pool cost can be affected by:
- Overall pool size
- Shape and design complexity
- Excavation and site conditions
- Depth
- Interior finish
- Pool decking and coping selections
- Built-in spa additions
- Tanning ledges and entry features
- Water features
- Pool lighting
- Pool heating
- Pool automation
- ADA and accessibility features
- Pool fencing
- Pool landscaping or surrounding outdoor living work
A highly detailed freeform pool with a spa, water features, premium finishes, and extensive decking will be a different project from a smaller, straightforward design.
The team at Burton Pools & Spas can help you determine which features for swimming pools for sale matter most to you and build the conversation around your property, priorities, and budget.
Can I Get Pool Financing for a Custom Gunite Pool?
Absolutely! Burton Pools & Spas offers pool financing options for qualified customers who want to make a new inground pool more manageable within their budget. Our team can walk you through current pool loan choices while you plan your custom pool and help you understand the options available for your entire backyard project.
Can a Gunite Inground Pool Fit a Smaller Backyard?
Often, yes. A custom layout can make productive use of a compact space, but setbacks, easements, access, and local requirements determine what is possible. Let Burton Pools & Spas evaluate your available area to see if a gunite pool is the best fit for your yard.
What Is the Difference Between Shotcrete vs. Gunite?
Both methods create concrete structures, but the materials are mixed differently.
With gunite, the dry ingredients travel through the delivery hose before water is added at the nozzle. With shotcrete, the concrete is mixed with water before it enters the hose.
Both methods can be used to create reinforced concrete pool shells when properly specified and installed.
Can a Gunite Swimming Pool Be Any Shape?
Gunite offers tremendous design freedom because the shell is constructed on-site rather than produced from a mold. Curves, geometric shapes, long lap areas, varying depths, built-in spas, tanning ledges, and unusual property configurations can all be considered during design.
Can I Build a Zero Entry Pool with Gunite?
Yes! Gunite is particularly well suited for zero-entry and beach-entry designs because the entrance can be formed as part of the pool structure. The available slope and final configuration will depend on the size of the property, pool dimensions, local requirements, and overall design.
Is Gunite Good for a Handicap Accessible Pool?
A gunite swimming pool is an excellent choice when you need accessibility options for disability or limited mobility. Because the pool structure is custom-built, handicap accessibility can be considered from the beginning with features such as walk-in entries, wide steps, pool handrails, ADA grab bars, residential pool lifts, shallow areas, transfer areas, additional deck space, and more. Contact us for a special consultation to meet the specific needs of your loved one.
Burton Pools & Spas Specializes in ADA and Handicap Accessible Pools
How Long Does a Concrete Pool Last?
A well-built and properly maintained gunite pool can remain in service for decades. Individual interior finishes and components have their own service lives, so resurfacing, pool equipment replacement, tile work, or other updates may eventually become part of ownership.
Burton Pools & Spas is also available for pool renovation services for existing pools.
How Long Does Gunite Pool Installation Take?
Gunite construction usually takes longer than fiberglass pool or vinyl liner pool installation because the structure is created at your property in multiple stages. Excavation, reinforcement, plumbing, shell construction, curing, decking, finishes, weather, inspections, custom features, and site conditions can all affect the schedule.
Your Burton pool design team can discuss the expected timeline for your specific project. The sooner you schedule your consultation, the sooner you can get on our build schedule!
Who Should I Hire as My Pool Contractor?
You need a pool company with demonstrated experience building the type of pool you want, established local operations, a portfolio of completed work, clear communication, and support that continues after construction.
A custom gunite project deserves a pool builder who understands both the technical construction and the way design decisions affect how your family will use the finished space. As one of the nation’s Top 50 Pool Builders with almost 50 years of experience building some of the region’s favorite pools, Burton Pools & Spas is the name you can trust for your gunite pool project.
Let’s Bring Your Vision to Life!
Your backyard plans are personal. Maybe you want more space for family time, an expansive space for entertaining, easier access to the water, or specific features you have wanted for years. A gunite pool gives you the flexibility to start with those priorities and design from there.
Bring us your wish list, the property challenges, the accessibility considerations, and even the ideas you are still working through. We will help you shape them into a custom gunite pool that feels right for your home, your family, and the way you want to spend your time outside.
Burton Pools & Spas proudly serves Fort Smith, Springdale, Greenland/Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Joplin, and surrounding communities across the tri-state area. Schedule your pool consultation today!