Pool + Patio: One Project, One Team, One Schedule

Why a Pool Alone Is Rarely the Real Project

A hole with water in it is not a finished backyard. Once the shell goes in, you still need decking around the coping, grading so water drains away from the house, a patio or paver area for furniture, and often a retaining wall if the yard slopes toward the pool.

Most fiberglass pool companies install the shell and stop there. The patio, hardscape, fencing, and lighting get handed off to a second contractor, sometimes a third. Each one has its own schedule, its own contract, and its own opinion about how the yard should be graded.

Outdoor Solutions is a Class A design-build contractor based in Bealeton that does pools, patios, and full landscape construction under one roof. That means the pool and everything around it get designed as a single yard, not stitched together after the fact.

What a Complete Backyard Project Includes

A full pool-and-patio project typically covers:

• The pool. Fiberglass shell, plumbing, filtration, and electrical, sized and placed to fit the lot and the setbacks required in your county.
• Patio or deck space. Poured concrete or paver surrounds for lounging, dining, and pool furniture, tied visually to the coping and to the rest of the hardscape.
• Retaining walls. Needed on sloped Northern Virginia lots to hold back grade near the pool and keep runoff from draining into the water or against the foundation.
• Fencing or an automatic safety cover. A code-compliant barrier is required in every jurisdiction we serve — either a 48-inch fence, which can double as a design feature, or a powered automatic safety cover complying with ASTM F1346 for homeowners who would rather not fence the yard. Outdoor Solutions installs both.
• Lighting and planting. Low-voltage landscape lighting and foundation planting finish the space so it reads as one yard, not a construction site with a pool in the middle.

See the full build breakdown on our fiberglass pools page.

Why Bundling Beats Sequencing

When one contractor handles the whole yard, the site gets graded once. Excavators and dump trucks mobilize once. There is one design that accounts for drainage, sightlines, and traffic flow between the pool, the patio, and the house, instead of a patio contractor working around decisions the pool crew already made.

Sequencing separate contractors usually means paying for mobilization twice, regrading a yard that was already graded for the pool, and living through two (or three) separate construction timelines instead of one. It also means two companies to blame when the patio settles unevenly against the coping, or the retaining wall was never built to handle the pool's drainage.

One contract with Outdoor Solutions means one point of contact and no finger-pointing between trades. The pool shell carries Thursday Pools' one-time transferable limited lifetime structural warranty plus a 15-year surface warranty against osmotic blistering, and Outdoor Solutions backs its own hardscape and masonry work — patios, walls, and paver work — with a 3-year workmanship warranty against settlement or separation. Compare that against a pool-only build on our fiberglass vs. gunite vs. vinyl page.

What the Add-Ons Typically Run

Every yard is different, but these are the ranges Outdoor Solutions works with most often across Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier counties. These hardscape add-ons don't carry the pool's price floor — Outdoor Solutions takes on patio, wall, and fencing projects at any size:

• Patio (concrete or paver, ~1,200 sq ft): roughly $12,000-$13,000 and up, depending on material and detailing.
• Retaining walls: roughly $10,000-$35,000, driven mainly by wall height and how much grade change the slope requires.
• Fencing: roughly $8,000 for a typical code-compliant pool barrier, more for decorative or extended runs.

These are add-ons to the pool itself, which installed in Northern Virginia typically starts around $80,000 and runs to $185,000 or more depending on size and equipment, with most mid-range projects landing between $120,000 and $175,000. For a full cost breakdown, see our Northern Virginia pool cost guide or start with pool financing options.

One Design, One Schedule, One Contract

Because Outdoor Solutions designs the whole yard before anyone breaks ground, the patio layout, retaining wall placement, and pool shape get worked out together, not adjusted around each other mid-build. That single design pass is also what keeps the project on one schedule instead of three overlapping ones.

It matters for permitting too. Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier counties all call for a site plan showing the pool, structures, and disturbed area together — see Fairfax County's site plan rules, Loudoun County's site plan rules, Prince William's submission process, and Fauquier County's requirements. A design-build contractor submits that plan once, as one project, instead of filing separate permits for the pool and the patio down the road.

Ready to plan a full backyard rather than just a pool? Contact us to start the conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to build the patio and pool at the same time?

No, but it is usually cheaper and simpler if you do. Building them together means one mobilization, one grading pass, and one design that accounts for both from the start. Phasing them apart means paying to bring equipment back and re-grading a yard that was already finished once.

Can Outdoor Solutions build a retaining wall on a sloped lot?

Yes. Many lots in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier counties slope enough that a retaining wall is needed to hold grade near the pool and keep water draining away from it rather than into it. Wall cost depends mostly on height and how much grade change the slope requires, typically $10,000-$35,000.

Does the pool fence count as part of the project or is it separate?

It is part of the same project. Every county we serve requires a code-compliant barrier around the pool under the 2021 ISPSC — a 48-inch fence, or a powered automatic safety cover complying with ASTM F1346 for homeowners who prefer no fencing; Outdoor Solutions installs both. Building the barrier alongside the pool and patio means it can be designed to match the rest of the yard instead of getting added later as a plain chain-link afterthought.

Will a design-build contractor cost more than hiring separate companies?

Not typically. Sequencing separate contractors usually costs more once you account for double mobilization, redundant grading, and the extra project management of coordinating two or three companies yourself. A single design-build contract folds that coordination into one price and one schedule.

How do permits work when the pool and patio are part of one project?

Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier counties all require a site plan showing the pool and any structures within the disturbed area. Submitting the pool and patio as one project means one set of plats and plans instead of filing again later when the patio gets added. See our county-specific permit pages for details: Fairfax County permit details, Loudoun County permit details, Prince William permit details, and Fauquier permit details.