We build pools in Tarboro, North Carolina, about thirty-five miles northwest of Greenville in Edgecombe County. Tarboro is an unusual town. Its historic district is one of the largest in North Carolina, running to dozens of blocks of housing spanning the late eighteenth century through the early twentieth. It has one of the very few original town commons left anywhere in the country. And it sits on the Tar River, which has done more to shape the town's recent history than anything else.
The flood history is not background — it is the design constraint
During Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, the Tar River at Tarboro crested at 41.51 feet, a full 22 feet above flood stage. Residents were taken off rooftops by boat and helicopter. Ten days earlier, Hurricane Dennis had already saturated the ground across the Tar and Neuse basins, so when Floyd's rain arrived it went straight into the rivers. Statewide, five-hundred-year or greater floods occurred in every river basin east of Raleigh. Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018 followed the same script on a smaller scale.
For a pool project that means one thing before anything else: we determine where your property sits relative to the mapped flood zone. Property inside a mapped floodplain carries additional requirements and on some parcels real restrictions on what can be built. It is a survey-and-verify step, not a formality.
Equipment elevation and pool behaviour in a flood
A full pool generally survives high water. The weight of the water in it holds the shell down, and once the flood recedes the water is contaminated but the structure is usually intact. What gets destroyed is the machinery — pump, heater, filter, controls — because equipment pads are traditionally set at grade wherever is convenient.
We do not set them that way in Tarboro. Pads go above the local low point, on compacted base, with electrical mounted well up and drainage running off the pad. On property with real flood exposure that elevation decision is the most consequential thing in the whole equipment package.
Never drain a pool ahead of a storm. It is advice that circulates every hurricane season and it is exactly backwards. An empty pool in saturated ground floats out of the ground. Leave it full, protect the equipment, and secure everything loose on the deck.
Historic district lots
Building in Tarboro's historic district brings its own considerations. The lots are old, laid out long before machinery access was a thought. Mature trees are everywhere and many are protected in spirit if not by ordinance. Outbuildings, brick walls and original fencing complicate the route from street to back yard. And local review may apply to visible exterior changes, including fencing, which is directly relevant since a pool requires a barrier at least 48 inches high.
Practically, that pushes historic district work toward gunite, which arrives through a hose and can be built in places nothing can be delivered to, or toward a vinyl liner pool assembled from panels brought in by hand. A one-piece fiberglass shell needs a delivery route and crane room that many of these properties simply do not have.
Newer areas outside the old town
Newer residential building on the edges of Tarboro gives you what the historic district cannot: open access, straightforward setbacks and simpler projects. Fiberglass and vinyl liner installs go in quickly there, and the ground is generally higher and better drained than the river-adjacent parcels.
Groundwater away from the river
Even off the floodplain, this is Coastal Plain country. Sandy loam over a water table that in the poorly drained soil series sits at or near the surface for part of the year. Every pool we build here gets a hydrostatic relief valve in the floor and, on wet lots, a dewatering standpipe alongside the shell and stone rather than sand for backfill. See the design page for how those decisions get made.
Permitting runs through the Town of Tarboro or Edgecombe County depending on the parcel. State requirements are constant: the 48-inch barrier with self-closing, self-latching gates, drain covers meeting the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act standard, and the equipotential bonding grid required under Article 680. Where a project's total cost reaches $40,000 or more, General Statute 87-1 requires a general contractor license from the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors — that threshold rose from $30,000 on October 1, 2023.
What we build
Nearby towns
Questions people ask before they build
Can I build a pool if my property is in the Tar River floodplain?
Sometimes, and the mapped flood zone determines the answer. Some parcels carry additional requirements, some carry real restrictions. It is the first thing we check, before any design work, because it changes what is possible rather than just what it costs.
Will a flood destroy my pool?
Usually not the pool itself, if it was full when the water came. The weight of the water holds the shell down and the structure typically survives. The water in it will be contaminated and need proper treatment afterward. What gets destroyed is equipment set at grade, which is why we elevate pads here.
Are there extra rules in the Tarboro historic district?
Local review can apply to visible exterior changes, and a pool barrier is a visible exterior change. Fence material, height and placement are the items most likely to come up. Establishing what is acceptable before the design is finished avoids the worst kind of delay.
Can a fiberglass shell be delivered to a historic district back yard?
Frequently not. The route from the street has to be wide enough for a rigid shell and there has to be room for a crane or large excavator. On old lots with mature trees, outbuildings and brick walls, that route often does not exist. Gunite and vinyl liner construction fit where a shell cannot be delivered.