Skip to content
RenderSplash
AI concept image of Modern infill pool on a small East Austin lot: a rectangular plunge pool.Save

Austin, TX · Small infill lot

Modern infill pool on a small East Austin lot

A tight, dark-water rectangle against a cedar fence, with just enough deck for two loungers and a cold drink.

One photo of your yard is all it needs.

Suits: contemporary houses on a small infill lot in Texas.

Drawn for a two-story contemporary house with black metal siding, a corrugated roof and big windows, with a small yard with a cedar fence, Mexican feather grass, agave and a single crape myrtle.

Planning cost, TX
$20,000 to $65,000
A range from published prices, not a quote
Build time
2 to 4.5 months
Contract to first swim
Size
16 × 8 ft
3.5 to 5 ft deep
Water
about 4,000 gal
Water surface
130 sq ft

Quick answers about this design

Worked out from this design's own model, so they differ from page to page.

How much water does this plunge pool hold?
About 4,000 gallons. It is 16 by 8 ft with about 130 sq ft of water, 3.5 ft deep at the steps and 5 ft at the deep end. The gallons come from adding up the depth over the real floor, steps and shelf included.
How big a yard does it need?
Plan on a clear area of about 34 by 26 ft for the pool, 4 ft of deck around the water and 5 ft to the fence line. The deck as drawn here is about 33 by 25 ft.
What does this design cost?
A planning range for TX is $20,000 to $65,000 all in: the pool, deck, coping, fence and features listed on this page. Permits and engineering are not in it. It is a range built from published prices, not a quote, and real jobs usually land inside it rather than on its edges.
How long does it take to build?
Plan on about 2 to 4.5 months from a signed contract to the first swim. Permits take from a few days to several months, depending on the town, before work starts.

Chapter 1 of 4

The design

What is in this pool, and how it turns in 3D.

The design, spelled out

Every choice in this pool, what it is, and why it suits this house and this part of the country.

Depth profile

The floor is 3.5 ft deep at the steps and stays level for about 4 ft, slopes over about 5 ft, then runs level at 5 ft for the last 6 ft.

3.5 ft5 ftwater line16 ft long

Design notes

Written with AI tools from this design's own measurements and sources, not by a pool builder. How we write

Why it works here

With little yard to spare, a tight 16 by 8 rectangle against the cedar fence leaves just enough deck for two loungers. Midnight plaster and charcoal tile pick up the black metal siding of the house, and the agave and feather grass stay low so nothing shades or crowds the water.

What to watch

Dark water soaks up sun and can run warm in an Austin summer, and dark plaster shows chalky scale from hard water. A pool this small is for cooling off, not for swimming laps.

How it reads

Midnight plaster with charcoal tile turns the small pool into a deep black-blue mirror that matches the black metal siding. Concrete pavers and concrete coping keep a flat, simple edge, and the cedar fence and feather grass add a warm, pale contrast. In bright sun the water looks nearly black and holds heat. At dusk the surface reflects the sky and the house, and it looks twice as big.

Through the year

Austin has long, hot summers and a short mild winter, so the pool is a cooling spot from spring into fall. The dark water warms fast, so summer swims are best in the morning or after dark. Check the water level often in the dry months, and rinse the dust off the loungers and the deck.

Every choice, row by row (10)
ShapeRectangle

A rectangle with square corners. It is the simplest to build, covers neatly and fits a modern or formal house.

Size16 × 8 ft

A small pool about 8 ft wide and 16 ft long. A plunge pool is for cooling off, soaking and a small yard, not for swimming laps. That is about 130 sq ft of water and about 4,000 gallons.

StepsCorner steps

Steps tucked into a corner. Keeps the water free for swimming and saves space in a small pool. The steps lead into water 3.5 ft deep.

Pool finishPlaster

A smooth cement-based finish. A clean, classic surface that typically needs resurfacing sooner than pebble. In strong sun, a lighter finish fades less and hides scale from hard water.

Finish colorMidnight finish, dark, mirror-like water

A midnight interior. Gives dark, mirror-like water that reflects the sky and the house.

Waterline tileCharcoal

Charcoal glass at the waterline. A bold, modern line that deepens the water color. It runs about 48 linear ft around this pool.

CopingConcrete

Smooth, cantilevered poured concrete. A clean, modern edge that sits flush with a concrete or paver deck. It runs about 48 linear ft around this pool. A light coping stays cooler on bare feet in summer.

DeckConcrete pavers

Grey interlocking concrete pavers. Pavers move with the ground and can be lifted and reset, which helps where the soil freezes or shifts. The deck is about 630 sq ft here. Here the deck is the hottest thing in the yard, so surface color matters as much as material.

PlantingModern

Ornamental grasses, gravel strips and square planters. A tidy, low-maintenance frame that suits clean architecture. A low-water planting plan keeps leaves out of the water and the bill down.

FurnitureLoungers

Loungers: A pair of chaise loungers. The first thing people want on a pool deck.

Coping
48 linear ft
Deck
630 sq ft

Why it fits the small infill lot

The yard: a small yard with a cedar fence, Mexican feather grass, agave and a single crape myrtle. A small infill lot asks for a compact pool and a deck that does double duty. Neighbors are close, setbacks bite into the usable area and the house often fills the lot. A narrow rectangle with a corner step and a shared deck for dining and lounging uses the space best.

Why it fits the contemporary house

The house is a two-story contemporary house with black metal siding, a corrugated roof and big windows. A contemporary house asks for hard edges, quiet colors and one confident feature. Rectangles, large-format porcelain or concrete, and a single water feature keep the yard calm and let the architecture lead.

Turn this design around in 3D

This is the model behind the numbers above, with this design's own shape, steps, finish and deck. It loads when you scroll to it.

The same choices as the picture, as a model you can turn.

AI concept image of Modern infill pool on a small East Austin lot: a rectangular plunge pool.

Turn it, zoom in, switch the dimension lines on.

In your yard

How would this swimming pool look on your home?

See this exact design as a photorealistic video, filmed in your own yard, from one photo.

You pick the film, add one photo, and see the picture before you decide anything.

A sample yard photo

A frame from an example film

A sample yard photo on the left, and on the right a frame from an example AI film of a pool in a backyard.

Chapter 2 of 4

Will it work for you

Your yard, your climate, and what the pool asks of you after the build.

Will this fit your yard?

A planning estimate, built from the model's own dimensions. Your town's setbacks decide the real answer.

Clear area to plan on

34 × 26 ft

About 884 sq ft. The pool alone is 16 × 8 ft.

Plan on a clear area of about 34 by 26 ft for the pool, 4 ft of deck around the water and 5 ft to the fence line. The deck as drawn here is about 33 by 25 ft.

The 4 ft walkway and 5 ft setback are our planning allowances, not code. Towns set their own distances from the water to the lot line and the house, so ask yours before you commit to a layout.

Will it fit your yard?

Enter the clear area, from the house to the back fence and side to side.

Texas: what the climate asks of this pool

A Texas pool earns its keep through long, hot summers, so shade, deck temperature and water loss decide how it feels.

  • Deck material matters in July. Light concrete, travertine and some porcelains stay far cooler on bare feet than dark pavers.
  • Heat and wind raise evaporation, so a pool in Texas loses water faster than the same pool in a mild region. A cover or a shade structure helps.
  • Many parts of the state have expansive clay soil. It moves with wet and dry spells, so the shell, the steel and the deck joints are built for movement.
  • A pergola or shade sail over part of the deck often decides whether people sit outside at 4 p.m.

Keeping it up

What this pool asks of its owner, by finish, climate, deck and feature.

  • Plaster in this climate

    Plaster is the finish most likely to etch or scale in hot, hard-water country, so keep the calcium and pH in range and plan for an earlier resurfacing.

  • When it is resurfaced

    Plaster is usually redone every 5 to 15 years, depending on the water and the builder (HomeAdvisor, pool resurfacing and Shasta Pools, plaster versus pebble). On this pool that is about 330 sq ft of interior.

  • Concrete pavers deck

    Sweep sand into the paver joints each year and pull weeds early, before they lift the pavers.

  • Sun and water loss

    Heat and dry air take water out of the pool quickly. A cover, a pool shade and a smaller surface all cut the top-ups.

  • Yearly running cost

    Owners commonly budget $3,000 to $5,000 a year for chemicals, power, service and repairs (HomeAdvisor, in-ground pool cost, 2026).

Chapter 3 of 4

Cost and timeline

A sourced range to plan with, and how long it takes.

What this design costs: a planning range

Built line by line from this design's own measurements and published prices. It is a range to plan with, not a quote.

Planning range, TX

$20,000 to $65,000

Everything on this page, built: the pool, the deck, the coping, the fence and the features. It is a range, not a quote. Every line is at its lowest published price for the low end and its highest for the high end, so a real job lands inside it rather than on an edge.

Prices are scaled for TX by a damped regional factor of 0.99 (the state's cost of living is 97.1 against 100 for the US, and we use half the gap). Land clearing, landscaping beyond what is listed, a pool house's interior and financing are not in it.

Where the range comes from

The pool
$20,000 to $39,000
128 sq ft of water at $90 to $250 a square foot (shell, excavation, plumbing, equipment, plaster), held to the small concrete pool price. Steps and the sun shelf are part of the shell.
Coping
$500 to $500
48 linear ft at $6 to $12 a foot.
Deck
$2,000 to $4,500
626 sq ft at $3 to $7 a square foot installed. HomeAdvisor's installed figure. Fixr's $6 to $8 is materials only.
Tight access
Up to $20,000
Up to $20,000 more when the site is hard to access. Bob Vila puts the average excavation at $3,400, which the base pool price already includes, and says it can reach $20,000 when access is hard. Nothing extra if the machines get in.
How we built this range, and the sources

We measure this design in the 3D model (water area, shell area, coping, deck, tub, what stands on the deck), multiply each quantity by a published price range per unit, add the lines and scale them for the state. The prices are from the pages below, collected in October 2026. Where two sources disagree the range spans both, and the line says so.

The method is written out, with every rate, at docs/POOL-IDEAS-COST-MODEL.md in our repository, and one file holds the rates, so a change of price changes every page at once.

  • HomeAdvisor's installed figure. Fixr's $6 to $8 is materials only.

How to get a number you can trust

Ask two or three local builders to quote the same scope in writing: the pool, the deck, the fence, the electrical, the permits and the landscaping, each on its own line. Then compare the lines, not the totals. Share this page with them: the size, the choices and the 3D model give a builder a starting point. To see how the published prices are built up and where they disagree, read inground pool cost, line by line.

How long it takes to build

From a signed contract to the first swim, before the yard additions.

Contract to first swim

2 to 4.5 months

Permits take from a few days to several months, depending on the town, before work starts. Weather, inspections and the builder's schedule move every date.

Nothing in this design adds a stage beyond the usual order: excavate, steel and plumbing, shell, tile and coping, deck, finish, fill.

What it is made of

The materials list for this design, with its own quantities from the model.

The materials list (5 lines)
InteriorPlaster, midnightabout 330 sq ft of shell
A smooth cement-based surface. It is the least expensive interior and the one most likely to stain, etch or scale if the water chemistry drifts.
Waterline tileCharcoalabout 48 linear ft, 10 in. band
Charcoal glass makes the water read dark and mirror-like, and it shows mineral spots until they are wiped off.
CopingConcreteabout 48 linear ft
Cast or poured concrete with a clean, square line. Plain, tough and the easiest to repair, though it can heat up in direct sun.
DeckConcrete paversabout 630 sq ft
Interlocking concrete pavers. Easy to repair one piece at a time, and the joints need topping up with sand now and then to keep weeds out.
PlantingModern
Ornamental grasses, gravel strips and square planters. Tidy and low water, with the beds kept away from the skimmer.

Chapter 4 of 4

Talk to a builder

What to ask before you sign, and how to bring this design to them.

Questions to ask a builder about this design

Specific to what is in this pool. Ask them before you sign.

  1. 01What does the soil report say for this lot, and how is the shell designed for clay that moves?
  2. 02With the pool tight against the cedar fence, how will the builder reach the equipment later and protect the fence footings during the dig?
  3. 03Will a pool this small have room for the equipment, and can I swim in it or only soak?
  4. 04What base sits under the pavers, and how are they locked in against movement?
  5. 05What is in the quote and what is left out, such as the deck, fence, electrical, permits and landscaping?

Make it yours

Start with this design and add a photo of your own yard. The free visualizer places the pool on it, with your choices ready to change.

See this pool in your yard, freeUpload your yard

More like this

Region:TexasSetting:Small infill lotHouse style:ContemporaryFeature:Small backyard poolFeature:Plunge poolAll pool ideas

This is a design idea for a sample yard, and every picture is an AI concept image, not a built pool. Sizes, gallons and areas are estimates from the same maths as the 3D model, and the price and time ranges are planning figures from published sources, to help you talk to a builder.

Last updated