Custom pool construction means the shell geometry, depth profile, shelf placement, spa position and equipment are drawn to your specific lot rather than picked from a set of stock shapes. Moda designs, engineers, permits and builds custom gunite pools throughout Los Angeles starting around $70,000, typically completing construction in 8–12 weeks after permits.
Shell
Engineered gunite
Starting at
$70,000
Design deliverable
Photoreal renderings before build
Typical build
8–12 weeks post-permit
What makes a pool 'custom'?
A custom pool is engineered to your lot's dimensions, grade and views — the shape, depth profile, shelf and spa placement and equipment are all decisions, not defaults.
In practice, on LA lots the constraints do most of the designing. Setbacks, easements, existing trees, the slope across the yard, where the equipment can legally and quietly live, and where you actually sit at 6pm all narrow the options quickly. A good custom design uses those constraints instead of fighting them.
What shapes and features can be built?
Geometric, freeform, kidney, L-shaped, lap and vanishing-edge pools, with baja shelves, benches, swim-ups, grottos, deck jets, sheer descents, fire features and integrated spas.
Baja / sun shelves — the single most-used feature we install, especially with families
Bench seating and swim-up bars against the kitchen or bar
Deck jets, sheer descents, water walls and pebble spillways
Fire bowls and fire troughs set into the coping or raised bond beam
In-water loungers and shallow lounge zones for view lots
Raised bond beams and tiled retaining walls for grade change
How deep should a pool be?
Most family pools we build run about 3.5 ft at the shallow end to 5–6 ft at the deep end; a diving pool needs 8 ft-plus and a specific hopper profile, which few LA lots justify anymore.
The trend across our projects is decidedly toward shallower, more usable water: a big shelf, a long 4 ft-to-5 ft sport bottom you can stand in anywhere, and no diving well. It swims better, heats faster and costs less to run.
What goes around the pool?
The deck, coping, planting and shade structures are part of the same build — Moda self-performs all of them, so the yard is finished when the pool is finished.
Paver decks — Angelus Courtyard from about $18/sq ft, Belgard Dimensions from about $24/sq ft, Arterra porcelain from about $35/sq ft
Travertine and natural stone coping and decking
Turf inlay bands between paver fields (see our Encino and Rolling Hills projects)
Outdoor kitchens, pergolas and fire lounges built on the same schedule
Low-voltage lighting, drainage and irrigation integrated before hardscape goes down
Completed Moda projects
Real photography from projects we designed and built. No stock imagery.
Modern Pool with In-Water Loungers
Baldwin Hills, CA
Modern Concrete Pavers & Pool
Santa Clarita, CA
Modern Pool & Spa with Sun Shelf
Costa Mesa, CA
Plunge Pool & Spa
Tarzana, CA
Modern Pool & Spa
Santa Clarita, CA
Travertine Pool Deck with Pool, Spa & Turf Inlay Bands
Free consultation with a licensed design-build contractor. Or price it yourself first — our estimate builder gives you an itemized range and an AI rendering in a few minutes.
