Concrete pools installed during the COVID-19 construction boom are now failing at alarming rates, with repair bills reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to pool builders Jeff and Kelley Turner of Staycation Fiberglass Pools. The couple appeared on The Building Texas Show with host Justin McKenzie, recorded live at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show and released September 14, 2026. Their message: homeowners are increasingly choosing fiberglass over concrete to avoid the financial and structural risks now surfacing in older pools.
The Turners attribute many failures to alkali-silica reaction (ASR), commonly called “concrete cancer,” a chemical reaction that causes concrete to crack and disintegrate. They say a large share of pools built during the COVID-era rush are now showing ASR, forcing tear-outs that can cost $200,000 to $400,000. Most builders carry no insurance to cover those repairs, leaving homeowners to absorb the loss.
A key factor, according to Jeff Turner, is that Texas has no state certification requirement for pool builders. “In Texas, you need more certifications to do hair than you do to build a pool. It's wild. And you need to be a chemist to be a hairdresser, and you don't need to be a chemist to build a pool,” he said. The Pool and Hot Tub Association (PHTA) offers voluntary certification, but homeowners must ask for it. That regulatory gap means low bids often hide missing engineering plans, improper bonding, undersized pumps, and incomplete deck work—problems that later surface as costly failures.
Fiberglass pools, by contrast, come with manufacturer warranties that the Turners say offer more reliable protection. They point to San Juan Pools, with over 70 years in business, and Australia-based Aqua Technics as benchmarks for warranty coverage. Kelley Turner framed the builder-client relationship as a kind of courtship: “You're dating us as a builder...” she said, explaining that a warranty is only as good as the company standing behind it.
The Turners also described a recent hybrid negative-edge rebuild in Dripping Springs, where they rescued a one-year-old fiberglass pool that looked thirty years old due to a poor original installation. The full build sequence, including a 30-foot infinity edge over the Hill Country, is available on YouTube. They credit training from Jason Hughes and River Pools for shaping their client-education approach.
For homeowners, the implications are clear: without state oversight, due diligence falls entirely on the buyer. Asking about PHTA certification, manufacturer warranties, and full turnkey scope can mean the difference between a backyard oasis and a six-figure liability. As concrete pools from the pandemic era continue to fail, fiberglass is emerging not just as an alternative but as a safer financial bet. Homeowners can see the Turners' completed projects at staycationfiberglasspools.com.
