What is included in a fiberglass pool package price?

Most pool companies will not put a price on their website. We do, because a homeowner in Hudson or North Canton deserves a real starting number before inviting anyone into the kitchen. The package is the pool itself, finished and running, on a normal site. Everything that depends on your particular yard or your particular town is listed separately, so you can see exactly where the money goes.

Here is what is in the package, item by item, and why we chose each one.

Every package is built around a Liberty Composites fiberglass shell. The published packages run from the Dignity 10x20 and Enrichment 9x17 at $68,400 through the Victory 11x22 at $70,600, the Hero 12x26 at $74,900, the Anthem 14x30 at $90,200, the Devotion 16x40 at $97,500 and the Heavenly 16x38 at $101,300, up to the Virtuous 16x40 at $103,900.

Liberty makes the shells with a gelcoat finish, and Liberty's warranty page covers the shell structure and guarantees the finish coat against osmotic blistering. Warranty terms have changed over the years, so the warranty that applies to your pool is the document you receive with it. We make sure you have it.

Every package includes a Pentair variable-speed pump. This is partly a choice and partly the law. Federal efficiency rules for dedicated-purpose pool pump motors, which took effect on July 19, 2021, effectively require variable-speed technology on the pump sizes used for most inground pools.

The reason is physics, and it saves you money. ENERGY STAR explains that cutting a pump's speed in half lets it use about one-eighth of the energy. A variable-speed pump can run slowly for most of the day to filter the water, then speed up only when the cleaner, a water feature or a heater needs more flow. ENERGY STAR's fact sheet says certified in-ground pumps can use up to 65% less energy than standard pumps. With Ohio residential electricity averaging about 19.5 cents per kWh in mid-2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, that difference shows up on the bill every summer month.

The package includes a Pentair DE filter. DE, short for diatomaceous earth, coats the filter grids with a fine powder that catches very small particles, which is why DE is known for polishing water to a high clarity. It suits a fiberglass pool well, because clear water and a smooth gelcoat together make the pool look its best under the lights at night.

DE is not the only option. We also offer cartridge filtration. Cartridge filters skip the powder and are cleaned by hosing off the element, which some owners prefer. If you have a strong preference, tell us at the design stage and we will talk through the tradeoffs.

Each package includes Pentair MicroBrite LED color-changing lights. The MicroBrite is a compact, 12-volt light, and Pentair's user guide lists seven color-show modes plus fixed colors you select by switching the light off and on in a set pattern. In practice, that means you can leave it on a calm blue on a school night and switch to a slow color show when friends are over.

LEDs also make sense on cost. They draw a small fraction of the power older incandescent pool lights did, and they last much longer, so you are not pulling a light fixture to change a bulb every other season.

The package includes a 4 ft concrete deck wrapped around the pool. That gives you a clean, solid edge to walk on and a finished look on day one. It does not give you room for a dining table, a grill and a row of loungers, and most families add more patio for that reason.

In Ohio, concrete has to survive winter. The Ohio concrete industry's recommendation for exterior flatwork calls for air-entrained concrete, which contains tiny air bubbles that give freezing water somewhere to expand, and it advises about 30 days of air drying after curing before new concrete sees deicing salt. We build decks with freeze-thaw in mind, and we ask you to keep rock salt off the new deck its first winter.

Full installation. Excavation, setting and leveling the shell, backfill, plumbing, and connecting the equipment. The shell has to sit on a properly prepared base and be backfilled in step with the water fill, which is where an experienced crew earns its keep.

Electrical hook-up at the equipment. The pump, lights and other equipment are wired at the equipment pad.

Water fill and startup. We fill the pool, balance the water with the starter chemicals and run the system until it is working the way it should.

A cleaning kit. The basic tools to skim, brush and vacuum from the first week.

3D design and permit handling. Every pool is designed in 3D on your lot before we dig, and we handle the permit process. Permit fees themselves are set by your city or county.

These costs depend on your property and your town, so we price them after a site visit instead of burying a guess in the package:

• Barrier fence. Most Ohio towns base their rules on the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which calls for a barrier at least 48 inches high, gaps small enough that a 4 inch sphere will not pass, and self-closing, self-latching gates. Your town may add its own requirements.
• Extra decking and patio. Anything beyond the 4 ft wrap.
• Spoils haul-off. The soil from the dig has to go somewhere, and wet clay makes poor fill.
• Dewatering. If groundwater fills the hole, pumping it out until the shell is set is extra work that no one can promise in advance.
• The panel-to-pad electrical run. The distance from your house panel to the equipment pad, and whether your panel has room, vary from house to house.

Upgrades are also priced separately: automatic covers and safety covers, spas and spillover spas, sheer descents, bubblers and waterfalls, automation and smart controls, and salt systems.

Picture a hypothetical family in Stow that picks the Hero 12x26 at $74,900. The package gets them a finished pool with a 4 ft deck, running equipment and clear water. On their site visit, we find a few things that sit outside it.

Their backyard already has a 4 ft chain-link fence, but the gate swings inward and does not latch on its own, so the gate needs replacing to meet the barrier rule. The equipment pad will sit about 90 feet from a panel that has two open slots, which makes the electrical run straightforward. They want a 16x20 patio off the shallow end for a table and a grill. The lot is flat, with the kind of heavy soil that holds water in spring, so the quote names dewatering as a possible extra and plans drainage stone behind the shell. The soil from the dig is more than their yard can absorb, so most of it gets hauled.

None of those items is exotic. Almost every Northeast Ohio pool has a version of each. The point of splitting them out is that the family can see which ones they control, like patio size, and which ones the site decides, like groundwater.

At startup we walk you through the equipment: how the pump schedule is set, how to backwash and recharge the DE filter, how to cycle the lights and how to test and adjust the water. The cleaning kit and starter chemicals cover the first stretch of ownership. After that, you can maintain the pool yourself or have us handle openings, weekly cleaning, water balancing, repairs and fall closings.

Put the quotes side by side and check each line: shell brand and model, pump type and brand, filter type, light type and count, deck width and material, electrical scope, startup and chemicals, and who handles the permit. Then check the site items: fence, extra patio, haul-off, dewatering and the electrical run. If a lower quote leaves out a deck, lists a generic pump or stops at the equipment without startup, you are not comparing the same pool.

If the complete number is more than you want to pay at once, we work with lenders including PoolLoan.net and HFS Financial. We do not quote rates. Getting pre-approved early helps you choose between pools you can actually build.

One more thing worth asking every builder: who actually does the work? Some companies sell the pool and hand the dig, the plumbing and the concrete to different subcontractors. Our crews come from construction, mechanical systems and landscaping backgrounds, and we manage the project from design through startup, which keeps one team accountable for how the pieces fit together.