The Pool Design Process in
Southeastern Pennsylvania

How Blue Tree turns a backyard vision into a buildable plan: designer-led discovery, full site evaluation, 3D renderings of the whole yard, and collaborative material and feature selection before a shovel touches the ground.
43 years
in business since 1983
8+
designers on staff
3D
renderings every project
7 counties
across Southeastern PA

What Sets Blue Tree's Pool Design Apart

Most pool companies send a salesperson with a brochure. Blue Tree sends a degreed designer who walks your yard, reads the slope and soil, and designs the pool together with the patio, landscape, lighting, and drainage as one plan. You see your complete backyard in 3D, with your house in frame, and refine it on screen before construction is ever scheduled. The same designer stays with your project from that first sketch through the final walkthrough. Blue Tree has designed outdoor spaces across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties since 1983, and brings a 15-year pool construction track record to every plan.

Written by Jeff Mattiola, Blue Tree's founder and pool construction lead, and reviewed by sales manager Jérôme Besnard.

Established
3D
Backyard Renderings
70 to 90
Employees

Our Pool Design Process

Good pools start with a good plan. Here is how a Blue Tree designer takes your project from a first conversation to a 3D rendering you approve, step by step.
1

Step 1: Free On-Site Consultation

A Blue Tree designer comes to your property, not a salesperson. They walk the yard with you and look at slope, soil, drainage, sun exposure, and access for equipment. Then the conversation turns to your family: how you want to swim, where you want to gather, and what budget you have in mind. The visit is free, and nobody pushes you toward a same-day decision.
2

Step 2: Site & Conditions Evaluation

Back at the office, your designer studies what the property allows. Clay soils, rock near the surface, grade changes, existing drainage, and township setback and impervious surface rules all shape what can go where. This evaluation is why a Blue Tree plan fits the property it is built on, instead of dropping a catalog pool into a yard that cannot support it.
3

Step 3: Custom Design & 3D Renderings

Your designer creates a plan for the pool and everything around it: hardscape, landscape, lighting, drainage, and fencing. You review 3D renderings of the complete backyard, with your house and property in frame, and refine the shape, depth, and layout on screen. Changes happen now, while they are easy to make, long before anyone breaks ground.
4

Step 4: Material & Feature Selection

Together you choose the details that make the pool yours: interior finish and waterline tile, coping and decking materials, water features, Jandy equipment, and pool and landscape lighting. Your designer explains the tradeoffs on cost, maintenance, and look for each option, so every selection fits your property, your budget, and the way you live outdoors.
5

Step 5: Proposal & Approval

Your designer delivers an itemized proposal that covers the complete project: pool, landscape, hardscape, drainage, and lighting, with no buried change orders. You review the numbers against the renderings, ask questions, and adjust the scope if you want to phase the work. Once you approve the plan, the same team carries it into permitting and construction.

What You Design With Your Designer

A custom pool is a set of choices, and you make them with a designer who has guided hundreds of Southeastern PA homeowners through the same decisions. These are the elements you shape during design.
Aerial view of a backyard with a swimming pool, hot tub, lounge chairs, blue umbrellas, landscaped garden, wooden deck, and fenced yard. The pool area is surrounded by greenery and stone pathways.

Pool Shape & Depth

Geometric, freeform, lap, or plunge. Your designer shapes the pool to your property and the way your family swims, with depths planned for safety and use.
A modern backyard with a rectangular swimming pool, patio seating, umbrellas, potted flowers, a fire pit, and a large tan house in the background under a cloudy sky.

Finishes & Tile

Interior plaster finish and waterline tile set the color and feel of the water. You compare samples and see them rendered in your backyard before choosing.
A stucco house with white-trimmed windows sits beside a landscaped garden with large rocks, shrubs, and stone steps leading up from a curved poolside patio under a partly cloudy sky.

Coping & Decking

The coping and the deck around the pool are chosen together with the patio so materials, color, and drainage work as one design, not as separate jobs.
A serene backyard pool with clear blue water, surrounded by stone decking, lounge chairs, an umbrella, and lush green trees in the background. Two in-pool loungers and colorful flowers are also visible.

Water Features

Waterfalls, sheer descents, bubblers, and spillover spas are planned into the shell during design, never added on as an afterthought.
A round stone hot tub with a waterfall feature flows into a blue swimming pool, set in a backyard with a wooden fence and lush green trees in the background.

Jandy Equipment & Automation

Variable-speed pumps, heaters, filtration, and Wi-Fi automation are specified during design so the pool runs efficiently from the day it fills.
A swimming pool with a small waterfall feature flows over rocks, surrounded by colorful flowers and greenery, with a wooden fence and lush trees in the background on a sunny day.

Lighting & Landscape

Pool and landscape lighting and the planting around the pool are designed in from the start, so the space looks finished and works after dark.

Designed for Southeastern
Pennsylvania's Yards and Townships

A pool design only works if it fits the property and the township it sits in. Across Southeastern Pennsylvania, clay-heavy soils hold water, so drainage has to be planned into the design rather than fixed later. Rock sits close to the surface on many lots, which can shape where the pool goes and how deep it can run. Township setbacks and impervious surface rules vary by municipality and can limit pool size and decking area. Blue Tree has designed pools across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties since 1983, and confirms the specific requirements for your property during site evaluation, so the plan you approve is one that can actually be built.
A backyard with a stone-edged swimming pool, small waterfall, and a patio area featuring striped chairs and a blue umbrella, surrounded by lush landscaping and a large house in the background.

Design the Pool with the Rest of the Backyard

Patios and Pool Decks: Paver patios, natural stone surrounds, sitting walls, and outdoor kitchens designed alongside the pool so materials, grading, and drainage are planned as one.

Landscape Around the Pool: Planting designed for reflected heat and splash, with screening for privacy and four seasons of interest, drawn into the same plan.

LED Landscape Lighting: Path, patio, and accent lighting designed in from the start so the pool area is usable and safe after dark.

Pool Service and Seasonal Care: Ongoing pool service through Premier Outdoor Services, handled by the same company that designed and built the pool.

A modern backyard with a rectangular swimming pool, patio seating, umbrellas, potted flowers, a fire pit, and a large tan house in the background under a cloudy sky.

Curated Transformations

Browse recent projects from across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties.

Everything Your Outdoor
Space Needs. One Team.

From the pool to the patio to the plants that frame it all. We handle the full picture so nothing falls through the cracks.
Custom inground pool and paver patio with a fire pit behind a two-story home

Custom Pools & Water Features

Resort-style pools, spas, waterfalls, and grottos, designed for your property, not from a catalog
Aerial view of a curved paver patio with a pergola and outdoor dining set

Patios, Walls & Outdoor Kitchens

Structures built to last generations by craftsmen who take pride in the details
Front-yard landscape bed with a Japanese maple, layered shrubs, and fresh mulch at a stone home

Landscape Design & Planting

Native plants, seasonal color, and designs that thrive in Southeastern PA's climate
Blue Tree technician treating a backyard lawn with a stand-on spreader

Lawn Programs

Science-backed fertilization, weed control, and aeration for the lawn your neighbors will notice
Landscape lighting illuminating the facade of a brick home at dusk

Landscape Lighting

Professionally designed LED systems that add safety, security, and ambiance after dark
Blue Tree crew spreading mulch with wheelbarrows in a landscaped backyard

Year-Round Care

Seasonal cleanups, pool service, and ongoing care that keeps everything looking its best

Common Questions

A Blue Tree designer, not a salesperson, comes to your property and walks the space with you. They look at slope, soil, drainage, sun exposure, and equipment access, then ask how your family wants to swim, entertain, and use the yard. You talk through ideas and budget. There is no charge and no pressure for a same-day decision. The visit gives your designer what they need to start a plan built for your specific property.

Yes. Blue Tree creates 3D renderings of your complete backyard, with your house and property in frame, so you can see the pool, patio, planting, and lighting together before a single shovel touches the ground. You review the shape, depth, finishes, and features on screen and request changes while they are still easy to make. The rendering you approve is the project Blue Tree builds.

Most designs come together over two to four weeks after the on-site visit, depending on how many revisions you want and how complex the project is. Families who use this time to refine the plan, settle finishes, and lock features tend to have the smoothest builds. Starting the design in fall or winter positions you for a spring construction start and a summer swim.

The whole backyard. One designer plans the pool together with the patio, landscape, lighting, drainage, and fencing as a single design. That is the core difference from pool-only builders, who design the shell and leave the rest of the yard for you to coordinate. Designing it all at once means materials, grading, and sight lines work together, and there is no second contractor to schedule later.

Your designer walks you through every choice: pool shape and depth, interior finish and waterline tile, coping and decking materials, water features, Jandy equipment, and lighting. You also plan the surrounding landscape and hardscape. Nothing is decided alone. The designer explains the tradeoffs on cost, maintenance, and look so each choice fits your property, your budget, and the way your family lives outdoors.

The on-site consultation is free, with no obligation. Blue Tree provides 2D and 3D renderings of your backyard as part of the design and proposal process so you can see the full plan before you commit. Your designer also delivers an itemized estimate that accounts for the complete project: pool, landscape, hardscape, drainage, and lighting, with no buried change orders.

Ready to Start?

Whether you're dreaming of a resort-style pool, a patio built for gathering, or a landscape that finally feels like you, let's talk.
  • No Obligation
  • Free On-Site Visit
  • Custom Design Proposal
Blue Tree Outdoor Living
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