Fiberglass Pools vs. Concrete: Texas Homeowners' Guide

The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, was recorded live at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show and released September 14, 2026. Titled San Antonio Homeowners Are Choosing Fiberglass, Here's Why, the episode features Jeff and Kelley Turner, owners of Staycation Fiberglass Pools, in the second installment of the show's San Antonio Home and Garden Series. Watch the full episode on YouTube to see the discussion.

A wave of concrete pools built during the COVID-era construction boom are now failing, with repair bills landing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Turners explain why and walk McKenzie through the critical questions every homeowner should ask before signing a pool contract, including the rise of ASR—"concrete cancer"—in pools built during and after COVID, why Texas requires no certification to build a pool, what PHTA certification actually covers, the true cost of a low bid, and what a genuine turnkey fiberglass price should include. They also discuss why manufacturer warranties from builders like San Juan and Aqua Technics matter, and renovation options like EcoFinish flame-applied polymer resurfacing. Jeff doesn't soften his point: "In Texas, you need more certifications to do hair than you do to build a pool. It's wild. And you need to be a chemist to be a hairdresser, and you don't need to be a chemist to build a pool." He described fielding calls from homeowners whose concrete shells are disintegrating, forcing $200,000 to $400,000 tear-outs that most builders carry no insurance to cover.

The Turners also break down a hybrid negative-edge rebuild they recently completed in Dripping Springs—a rescue job for a client whose original fiberglass installer left them with a one-year-old pool that looked thirty. The full build sequence, from shell to a 30-foot infinity edge over the Hill Country, is in the video. See how they rebuilt it - watch on YouTube. They credit training from Jason Hughes and River Pools for shaping how they educate clients before they ever sign a contract. San Juan (more than 70 years in the business) and Australia-based Aqua Technics are the two manufacturers they point to as warranty benchmarks—and bonding, pump sizing, and deck scope are where they say cut-rate contracts quietly fail. Homeowners can see the Turners' completed projects at staycationfiberglasspools.com.