Hillside
Piers & foundations
Drilled concrete piers and grade beams that anchor pools, spas and decks to bedrock on sloped lots.
Signature build
The raised vanishing edge
The lot sloped away from the house, so we lifted the pool onto drilled piers instead of digging into the hill. Water spills over a knife-edge weir into a catch basin wrapped in iridescent glass tile, and the whole wall lights up at night. From the deck it reads as a sheet of water meeting the sky.
Hillside pool piers
Anchored to bedrock. Built to last.
On a slope, the soil under a pool can creep downhill over the years. That is how shells crack and decks pull away. On hillside lots we drill reinforced concrete piers down to bedrock and tie them together with a grade beam, so the pool rests on rock instead of loose fill.
- Soils reportA geotechnical engineer tests the site and sets pier depth before we dig.
- Drilled piersHoles drilled into firm ground or bedrock, filled with rebar cages and concrete.
- Grade beamA steel-reinforced beam ties the piers together under the pool shell.
- Engineered & inspectedStamped structural plans and city inspections before the gunite goes in.
Portfolio
Recent projects
From modern hillside builds to estate pools and full remodels of tired backyards. Tap any photo to see it larger.
After dark
Lighting is half the design
Perimeter LED strips trace the waterline, and in-pool lights wash the glass tile from below. Every color is a tap away on your phone: seafoam for a quiet night, red for a party, ice blue when you want it to look cold and clean.
What we build
One crew, start to swim
New construction
Custom pools & spas
Gunite pools shaped to your lot and your house, including raised and vanishing-edge designs for sloped yards.
Remodels
Resurface & retile
New plaster or pebble finish, glass waterline tile, new coping and a tanning ledge for the pool you already have.
Features
Water & fire
Sheer descents, spa spillovers, stacked-stone walls, fire bowls and in-pool bar seating.
Hardscape
Decks & coping
Travertine, porcelain pavers and precast coping, plus the walkways and planters that tie the yard together.
Equipment
Lighting & automation
Color LED, variable-speed pumps, heaters and phone control for lights, jets and temperature.
How it works
From first visit to first swim
Site visit & design
We walk the yard, talk through how you'll use it and sketch a layout with materials and a clear price.
Engineering & permits
Soils report, pier layout and structural plans for slopes and raised walls. We handle the city permits too.
Build
Drilled piers and grade beams on hillside lots, then excavation, steel, gunite, plumbing and electrical, then tile, coping and decking. You get updates at every stage.
Startup & walkthrough
We fill, balance the water, set up your lighting and controls, and show you how everything works.
Service area
Where we build
From the South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains up the Peninsula, across to Fremont and out to Napa. Don't see your city? Ask us.
- San Jose
- Santa Cruz
- San Martin
- Gilroy
- Morgan Hill
- Los Gatos
- Saratoga
- Atherton
- Napa
- Hillsborough
- Los Altos Hills
- Palo Alto
- Sunnyvale
- Mountain View
- Fremont
