We build pools in Williamston, North Carolina, about thirty miles north of Greenville in Martin County, where US 13, US 17, US 64 and NC 125 all converge. Williamston is a crossroads town on the Roanoke River, with a compact commercial historic district listed on the National Register that carries buildings from the mid-nineteenth century through the 1920s — Greek Revival, Colonial Revival and Romanesque work, the county courthouse, a flatiron building and a 1920s theatre among them.
The river is the defining feature for anything you dig here.
Roanoke River bottomland is the wettest ground we work in
The Roanoke has one of the largest intact bottomland hardwood floodplains on the east coast, protected in part as a national wildlife refuge, and Williamston sits right at its edge. Bottomland like that exists because the ground is low, flat and saturated for much of the year.
In Coastal Plain terms, that means the poorly drained soil series — the sort described in this region as having a seasonal high water table at or near the surface, with runoff slow or ponded. Sandy, easy to dig, and full of water.
An inground pool in that ground is a boat unless it is built not to be. Every pool we put in around Williamston gets:
- A hydrostatic relief valve in the deepest part of the floor over a gravel pocket, so rising groundwater comes into the pool instead of lifting it.
- A dewatering standpipe alongside the shell — a perforated capped pipe you can drop a pump into before the pool is ever emptied. Cheap during the build, impossible to add later.
- Clean stone around and under the structure rather than native sand, so the backfill drains and consolidates instead of settling for a decade.
- Often a raised bond beam, so the shell sits less deep into the water table and surface runoff stays out of the pool.
- Well points during excavation on the wettest sites, pumping the water table below floor elevation for the duration.
Flow control on the Roanoke does not mean no flooding
The Roanoke is a regulated river with upstream dams, which changes its behaviour compared to the Tar or the Neuse. It does not remove flood risk. Extended high-flow releases combined with heavy local rain produce prolonged high water in the bottomland, and prolonged is the operative word — ground that stays saturated for weeks is harder on a pool than a fast crest that drops.
So flood mapping gets checked before design, and equipment pads get set well above the local low point on compacted base with electrical mounted high. And the same rule applies here as everywhere in eastern North Carolina: never drain a pool before a storm.
What suits this ground
Gunite is often the right choice here because it is heavy, it can be detailed for uplift, and a raised bond beam is easy to build into it. Fiberglass works well provided the backfill is clean stone placed in balanced lifts alongside the water going in — it is the least forgiving shell type in wet ground and the one where installer discipline matters most. Vinyl liner pools need stone drainage under the floor and frequently a sump under the deep end, because groundwater moving under a vinyl floor washes fines out and produces soft spots and liner wrinkles.
Access is generally good on Martin County lots, which are larger than city lots and reachable, so a fiberglass shell can usually be trailered directly to the excavation.
Septic, wells and permits
Most properties outside the town are on private septic and a private well. Drainfield and repair area get located before design. Well water in this region frequently carries iron and manganese, which stain pool surfaces and foul salt cells once chlorinated, so fill water gets treated up front.
Permits come through the Town of Williamston or Martin County. State requirements do not vary: a barrier at least 48 inches high 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. No travel charge to Williamston.
What we build
Nearby towns
Questions people ask before they build
Is the ground around Williamston too wet for a pool?
It is wet enough that the pool has to be engineered for it, not wet enough to rule it out on most lots. Relief valve, dewatering standpipe, stone backfill, often a raised structure, and well points during excavation on the worst sites. Built that way, pools here last. Built without any of it, they float.
Does the Roanoke flood like the Tar and the Neuse do?
Differently. Upstream flow regulation changes the pattern, so instead of the fast dramatic crests that happened on the Tar in 1999, the Roanoke bottomland tends to see prolonged high water. That is arguably harder on a pool, because the ground stays saturated for weeks rather than days.
Can you get a fiberglass shell to a Martin County property?
Usually yes. Lots out here are larger and more accessible than city lots, which means a shell can normally be trailered directly to the hole without a crane lift. The constraint here is groundwater rather than access.
Do you charge extra to travel to Williamston?
No. Williamston is inside our service area at no travel charge. It is about a thirty-mile run up from Greenville. Longer runs are usually scheduled in blocks, so lead times can be a little longer than in Pitt County itself.