If you’re researching inground pools for your St. Louis home, you’re probably somewhere between excited and overwhelmed. The vision is clear: a backyard where the family actually wants to spend time, where summer feels different, where you stop planning trips and start staying home. The part that feels fuzzy is the budget.
So let’s actually talk about it.
At Meramec Pools and Outdoors, our team brings over 40 years of combined experience transforming backyards across the St. Louis metro, and the number one question we hear before a first consultation is some version of: “Okay, but what is this actually going to cost me?” Fair question. You deserve a real answer before you sit down with anyone.
This article will walk you through honest pricing ranges for the St. Louis area, break down the two main pool types we build, and explain what actually drives the cost so you can start planning with confidence.
What’s the Real Inground Pool Cost in St. Louis?
Here’s what most homeowners can expect to invest:
Entry-level fiberglass pool (shell, installation, basic decking): $75,000 to $95,000
Mid-range fiberglass pool with upgraded decking, landscaping, and added features: $100,000 to $180,000
Custom shotcrete/gunite pool with full outdoor living integration: $180,000 to $300,000+
A well-designed inground pool isn’t just a purchase, it’s a transformation of how your family lives at home. It’s the difference between loading everyone into the car every weekend and your backyard becoming the place everyone wants to be. When you factor in what families spend on vacations, club memberships, and weekend entertainment, a pool tends to pay for itself in ways that don’t always show up on a spreadsheet. And as a bonus, pools can increase your home’s value by an average of up to 8%.
Fiberglass Pools: Fast Installation, Low Maintenance, Lifetime Warranty
Price Range: $75,000 to $150,000+
An entry-level fiberglass installation typically starts around $75,000 to $95,000, covering the shell, excavation, plumbing, basic coping, and a concrete surround. Add upgraded decking, landscaping, a tanning ledge, automated cover, or built-in spa and you’re looking at $100,000 to $150,000 or more. That’s simply what a well-finished outdoor space looks like when it’s done right.
Fiberglass pools also cost less to own over time. The smooth, non-porous gelcoat surface resists algae far better than concrete, which means fewer chemicals and less maintenance year after year. There’s no liner to replace, no surface to resurface. The pool you install is the pool you keep.
The Build: Fiberglass shells are manufactured off-site and installed as a single, pre-formed unit. Popular models from the Leisure Pools lineup, like The Reflection, The Elegance, and The Riviera, come with built-in benches, entry steps, and tanning ledge options already designed into the shell. Because Meramec is the only certified Leisure Pools installer in the St. Louis metro, every fiberglass pool we install is backed by a lifetime structural warranty.
Timeline: 5 to 10 Weeks. Most fiberglass installs run five to seven weeks from excavation to swim-ready. If your yard requires retaining walls, significant grading, or a full landscaping package, you’re looking at eight to ten weeks. Either way, it moves efficiently. Most clients say it went quicker than they expected.
Shotcrete Pools: Fully Custom Design, Built for Any Yard
Price Range: $150,000 to $300,000+
The range is wide because the possibilities are essentially limitless. A clean geometric pool with quality coping sits at the lower end. A resort-style environment with a freeform shape, integrated spa, waterfalls, fire bowls, premium glass tile, and full hardscaping sits at the upper end. What drives cost is the custom, on-site labor involved in engineering and building a structure from scratch, specific to your yard, your soil conditions, and your design vision.
The Build: Our team excavates the space, installs a precision steel rebar skeleton, and pneumatically applies high-strength, pre-mixed shotcrete to form a seamless, monolithic shell. No predetermined shapes or sizes. Want a vanishing edge overlooking a sloped lot? A lagoon-style freeform design with a natural rock grotto? A tanning ledge with bubblers steps away from an outdoor kitchen and fire feature? All of it is on the table. Shotcrete is also specifically engineered for St. Louis’s freeze-thaw cycles, delivering the structural durability needed to handle Missouri seasons for decades.
Timeline: 2 to 6 Months. A shotcrete build typically runs two to four months. Add a comprehensive outdoor living transformation with extensive hardscaping and landscaping and you’re closer to five to six months. Planning a fall or early winter start means your custom build is ready to enjoy the moment warm weather arrives.
What Else Affects the Total Cost?
Beyond the pool type itself, a handful of other factors will influence your final investment:
Yard Conditions
A flat, accessible, well-drained lot in Ballwin is a straightforward project. A steeply sloped backyard with clay soil and limited equipment access in Wildwood requires more engineering work. Retaining walls, drainage solutions, and custom grading add cost, but they’re also what makes the pool perform correctly for decades. Skimping here is how pools fail.
Decking and Coping Materials
Brushed concrete is clean and cost-effective. Stamped concrete adds character. Bluestone gives a timeless, classic feel that works beautifully with traditional St. Louis homes. Porcelain pavers read as contemporary and sleek. The coping, the material that caps the edge of the pool, is one of the first things you’ll notice every single time you walk out to the backyard, so it’s worth choosing thoughtfully.
Add-Ons and Features
A tanning ledge with a couple of water bubblers. An integrated spa that’s warm and ready for October evenings. A fire bowl at the water’s edge. Color-changing LED lighting that you control from your phone. Automated pool covers that improve energy efficiency and add a layer of safety. Each feature adds to the investment, and each one adds meaningfully to how much you actually use and love your backyard.
Permits
Permits are required for all pool installations in the St. Louis area, and requirements vary by municipality. The good news is that Meramec handles all of it. Permit paperwork, submissions, inspections, and approvals are managed by our team so you never have to navigate that process alone.
What Does the Process Look Like?
One of the biggest sources of anxiety for first-time pool buyers is simply not knowing what to expect. Here’s how it actually works when you work with Meramec.
It starts with a free consultation at your home. We walk the yard, ask the right questions about how you want to use the space, and listen. What does your family actually need? Do you have kids who want to cannonball off the steps, or are you looking for a peaceful adults-only retreat? Are you entertaining large groups, or is this mostly a private escape after a long week? That conversation shapes everything that comes next.
From there, our design team creates a full 3D rendering of your future backyard specific to your property. Not a generic template dropped onto a satellite image. Your house, your yard, your pool. You’ll be able to see how it will actually look before a single shovel of dirt is moved, and that rendering comes with a fully transparent, itemized estimate. You’ll know exactly what you’re getting and exactly what it costs.
From there, the build follows a defined process whether it’s fiberglass or shotcrete: engineering and material selections, excavation, installation, finishes, and a final startup and orientation where we walk you through your equipment, water chemistry, and everything you need to protect your investment for years to come. We don’t hand you a pool and walk away.
Ready to Get a Real Number for Your Backyard?
The right pool is the one designed around your yard, your family, and your budget. Whether that’s a beautifully finished fiberglass pool you’re swimming in six weeks from now, or a fully custom shotcrete environment that becomes the centerpiece of your home for the next thirty years, the best way to get a real number is to have a real conversation.
That’s what our free consultation is for. No obligations, no pressure, just a genuine discussion about what’s possible and what it’ll take to make it happen. You’ll walk away with a 3D rendering of your future backyard and a clear, honest estimate.
Reach out our team today or call 314-720-9999 and let’s start designing the backyard you’ve been thinking about.