Arizona licensed, bonded & insured·Serving Arizona homeowners since 2005·Peoria design showroom·Written, itemized project scopes·Project-specific payment & warranty terms

Behind the Build

The work behind
the wow.

Anyone can show you a sunset shot of a finished pool. This page shows what actually goes into one — surveyed footings, engineered block walls, plumbed pool shells, tiled spas, and layered finishes.

Every photo below is from a real AE jobsite. No staging, no stock, no filters.

Get a Ballpark Estimate See finished projects

Engineered, not improvised

Stamped plans, surveyed layout, inspected at every phase.

Self-performed crews

Hardscape, block, plumbing, and finish work led by AE staff — not strangers.

Built to outlast trends

Cell-filled CMU, proper rebar, and details you'll never see — but will feel for decades.

Layout, footings & rebar

Every wall, pool shell, and raised feature starts with surveyed layout, dug footings, and engineered rebar — capped in safety orange before a single block is set.

AE Advant-Edge work truck on jobsite with trenched footings, palms, and crew member tying rebar into a fresh block wall — AE truck on site — trenched footings poured, first block courses going up.

Long trench footing with rebar cage, orange safety caps, palms, and open dirt grade across the backyard — Fresh footing trench with tied steel and clean layout lines before the wall goes up.

Rebar footing trench running past palm trees with plumbing sleeves laid along the grade line — Footing steel and plumbing sleeves staged side by side during the earliest structural work.

Open footing trench with vertical rebar, dirt stockpiles, and multiple PVC runs stacked beside the excavation — Vertical dowels set and plumbing stockpiled before the pour sequence begins.

Straight trench footing with a full rebar cage and orange safety caps extending toward the far corner of the yard — Long structural run tied out and ready for the next pour.

Close view down a narrow footing trench showing tied steel, spacers, and orange safety caps along the top bars — Close-up of the cage work — tied steel, spacing blocks, and caps all in place.

Corner of a footing trench with bundled white PVC sleeves and rebar cage beside a palm tree root zone — Utility sleeves and footing steel coordinated tight to the landscape edge.

Rebar footing trench with palms, soil berms, and compacted backyard grade in the background — Another angle on the footing layout showing depth, grade, and reinforcement continuity.

Square concrete pier pad with four capped rebar dowels centered through a CMU block starter — Pier footing poured and doweled — ready to carry a future structural column.

AE truck and trailer parked behind an early CMU wall run with open trenching and rough dirt grade across the backyard — Early layout and footing work — truck, trailer, trenching, and first wall runs all in frame.

Early CMU block walls under construction with AE Advant-Edge trucks and trailer staged on the open dirt jobsite — Early structural walls going up with AE rigs staged across the open jobsite.

Deep block foundation trench with vertical rebar running along the side yard past palms toward the front house and paver walkway — Side-yard footing wall with vertical rebar tied — front yard finished while back yard is still bones.

Crew members laying CMU block into a long backyard wall with vertical rebar and pool plumbing visible nearby — Early wall layout under way — block, rebar, and plumbing all meeting in the same zone.

Freshly mortared CMU block wall with vertical rebar and plumbing stub-up along trench — Block wall coursing with vertical rebar tied for cell-fill.

Pool equipment pad with plumbed PVC manifold, pumps and filter beside in-progress block wall — Pool equipment pad plumbed and set before walls close in around it.

Backyard with capped rebar, finished perimeter block wall, and traffic cone in foreground — Perimeter walls topped and capped — site secured between phases.

Block walls & raised features

Pool perimeter, raised spa walls, planters, and BBQ island shells are laid in CMU block — the bones every finish later relies on.

Two AE crew members in safety yellow laying CMU block on a perimeter wall with pool equipment manifold in foreground — AE crew laying block — equipment manifold already plumbed on the other side.

Two AE crew members laying CMU block on a long perimeter wall with vertical rebar, raised blue-tiled spa, and pool shell behind — Perimeter block going up with the raised spa already tiled in the background.

Crew member working a long block wall beside the pool equipment pad with raised blue-tiled spa, mountains, and palms behind — Long structural run set beside the equipment pad — spa tiled, walls climbing.

AE crew tying rebar and laying block on a tall perimeter wall with the gunite pool shell and raised tiled spa already in place — Vertical dowels and fresh block coursing along the shell — spa and pool already formed.

Mid-build view across the backyard with raised block walls, pool shell, paver patio, and front house visible past the construction zone — Mid-build view — structural walls rising while finished areas show what's coming.

AE Advant-Edge trailer on jobsite with crew member laying block wall and palm trees behind — Crew working perimeter block — AE rig parked just beyond.

Two crew members setting block on a long retaining wall with pool equipment and trenching on the right side of the yard — Long run of structural block going up along the equipment side of the yard.

Close-up of fresh CMU corner with tall rebar dowels, pool shell and tiled spa visible beyond — Corner detail before cell-fill — rebar tied and ready for the next lift.

Raised block wall and open pool shell with AE truck and trailer parked beyond the backyard wall during mid-build — Structural wall work continuing with AE vehicles staged just beyond the shell.

CMU wall under construction in front of a gunite pool shell and finished lawn beyond — Block walls stepping up in front of the shell before finish materials go on.

CMU block wall under construction along a pool with mosaic-tiled spa wall behind it — Pool perimeter wall going up alongside the existing spa shell.

Raised planter wall with vertical rebar awaiting cell-fill, gunite pool shell behind — Raised planter wall set — rebar standing for the next pour.

Finished cinder block perimeter wall with vertical rebar awaiting cell-fill — Backyard perimeter wall ready for cell-fill and grout pour.

Concrete block enclosure with mixer and wheelbarrow, raised spa visible beyond — Interior structural walls staged for the next pour.

Pool shell, plumbing & spa

Excavation, plumbing rough-in, and the gunite shell take shape — raised spa walls get tiled, then wrapped in stacked-stone veneer before the deck ever goes down.

Gunite pool shell with formed steps, benches, and rebar dowels, raised tiled spa visible at far end with mountains beyond — Gunite pool shell with steps and benches formed — raised spa already tiled.

Wide jobsite view showing open shell work, block walls, equipment plumbing cluster, soil stockpiles, and a red AE truck at the far edge — Wide mid-build view — shell, walls, plumbing, and on-site staging all visible in one frame.

Wide view of block walls with raised blue-glass-tiled spa, pool shell, and equipment manifold under desert sky — Raised spa tiled in blue glass while perimeter walls finish out.

Pool perimeter block walls with raised tiled spa, plumbing manifold, and mason finishing block in background — Spa wall tiled — perimeter block being closed in around the shell.

Wide jobsite view with raised tiled spa, pool shell, perimeter walls, and crew member finishing block beside the equipment pad — Shell, spa, and perimeter walls all visible together mid-build.

Raised blue-tiled spa and pool shell with structural walls and unfinished deck area stretching toward the far boundary — Spa tile in, shell formed, and the surrounding structure ready for coping and deck work.

Crew member working beside a raised wall with pool equipment manifold, rough dirt grade, and AE trailer visible behind the shell — Equipment, shell, and raised wall details all coming together before finishes start.

Two AE crew members at the raised wall and pool shell with plumbing manifold and tiled spa visible across the yard — Crew dialing in the shell and wall alignment with the equipment side already roughed in.

Wide view across the shell toward the raised tiled spa and block piers before final decking is completed — Raised spa, block piers, and shell all set before the finished deck ties everything together.

Pool shell and raised tiled spa with a block wall under construction and AE truck visible near the far edge of the jobsite — AE truck on site while block and shell work continue side by side.

Raised tiled spa and pool shell with crew working on adjacent block wall, AE truck and trailer parked in the background — Shell and block work progressing together with AE crew and vehicles on site.

Pool shell with travertine-capped walls, raised spa with stacked-stone veneer, and rebar standing in adjacent footing — Travertine caps set on the shell — adjacent feature footing rebar in place.

Excavated pool area with raised spa wall built and plumbing trenched, wheelbarrow on site — Pool excavation with the raised spa wall set and plumbing routed.

Blue mosaic glass tile spa with raised water-feature wall and pool shell beyond — Spa wrapped in blue glass mosaic — raised water feature plumbed.

Overhead view of raised tiled spa with travertine coping, mosaic interior, and surrounding paver deck — Raised spa with travertine coping and mosaic interior — overhead.

Close-up of stacked-stone veneer panel on raised spa wall with built-in LED light strip and travertine cap — Stacked-stone veneer and integrated LED strip on the raised spa wall.

Coping, decking & finishes

Travertine coping, large-format pavers with banded borders, stacked-stone veneer columns, and step risers — the layered finishes that turn a structural shell into a finished backyard.

Pool shell with paver coping started, raised tiled spa, and stacked pavers staged beside palms ready for install — Paver coping started around the pool — material staged for the deck pour.

Close-up of blue glass spa tile and light stone coping with AE crew member working along the outside edge — Tile and coping detail in progress — craftsmanship at the waterline and cap edge.

Large-format gray paver deck being installed around the pool with a crew member cutting stacked-stone veneer at the raised wall — Deck field going in while stone veneer detail work finishes at the raised wall.

Nearly finished large-format paver deck with dark border band, raised spa and stacked-stone wall visible at the far side — Border banding locked in — deck lines cleaned up around the pool and spa.

Wide view of pool shell, raised wall, block piers, and large-format pavers extending toward the house side of the yard — Deck layout spreading across the yard while structural walls stay exposed for final finish work.

Close-up of a raised wall with metal beam brackets, exposed block cells, dark paver border, and large-format gray deck pavers — Raised wall detail before closure — hardware, steel, and border banding all locked into place.

Pool with paver coping started, raised wall with stacked-stone veneer, and rebar still in adjacent wall — Paver coping and stacked-stone veneer starting around the spa.

Close-up of large-format gray pavers with travertine and dark band borders, pergola lumber stacked behind — Paver field with travertine + black-paver border banding — pergola lumber staged for the next phase.

Paver deck installed around a recessed feature with scalloped edge and banded paver border — Recessed feature framed in by the banded paver deck.

Stacked-stone column with travertine cap and paver deck, AE Outdoor Living truck visible in background — Stacked-stone column with travertine cap — AE crew on site.

AE Outdoor Living work truck on the jobsite with block walls and pool under construction — AE truck on site — materials and crew, start to finish.

Wide view of pool shell with raised tiled spa, step risers, and full paver deck installed — Step risers and paver deck installed — finishes coming together.

Backyard overview showing finished pool deck, raised spa, and perimeter walls awaiting backfill — Backfill phase — final grading before turf and plant install.

Nearing the finish line

Decking complete, palms set, walls capped — the moment a jobsite becomes a backyard. Tile, water, plants, and lighting are next; the bones are already there.