Resurface or remove your pool? A Phoenix cost comparison.

What each choice costs

A basic plaster resurface and a typical removal land in the same price band, so cost alone rarely settles it. Quartz and pebble cost more up front but last longer here.

Pool resurfacing cost by finish

Partial fill-in vs full removal

1. A partial fill-in breaks up the top of the shell, punches drainage holes in the bottom and fills the hole with soil. It's the cheaper removal, but Angi says a partially removed pool area isn't suitable for new buildings because of settling and drainage, and that buyers have to be told about it.
2. A full removal takes the shell out and backfills the hole, which leaves ground you can build on later once the fill is properly compacted.
3. If you might ever add a room, casita or garage over that spot, plan on full removal and a compaction check before anything is built.

The permit step in the Valley

1. Glendale requires a building permit for pool demolition and infill. Its guideline asks for at least one 24 by 24 inch hole in the bottom of the deep end with a site inspection, an inspection of the drainage holes before filling, no debris, trimmings or yard waste as backfill, removal of above-ground pool plumbing and equipment, and a certified compaction report from a soil engineer if the area will be built on. Coping can stay; if it comes out, it goes to at least 18 inches below finished grade.
2. The City of Phoenix's residential pool permit page covers building pools, not removing them. In Phoenix or another Valley city, ask your city's building or development services office what it requires before work starts, and make sure your contractor pulls the permit.
3. Draining the pool comes first either way, and each city has its own rules for where the water can go.

Draining rules city by city

When resurfacing makes more sense

Keeping the pool? Tell us about it and up to three licensed local contractors can quote the job.

1. You still swim, or you think a buyer in your area will want a pool.
2. The shell is sound and the problem is the finish: roughness, stains, etching or small chips.
3. You want the longest stretch before the next job: pebble often lasts 20 to 30 years and quartz 12 to 18 years in Arizona.

Signs your pool needs resurfacing

Get resurfacing quotes

When removal makes more sense

1. Nobody uses the pool and you'd rather have yard space.
2. You want to build over the spot later (then full removal, not a fill-in).
3. The shell itself has structural problems that a new finish won't fix. A contractor's on-site look is the only way to know.

How long each finish lasts in Arizona

Selling soon?

A pool in rough shape comes up in a home inspection either way. Our home sale guide covers what inspectors flag and how pool repairs fit into an Arizona sale.

Selling or buying a home with a pool