As repair bills for concrete pools built during the COVID-19 construction boom reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, San Antonio homeowners are increasingly turning to fiberglass pools. The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, recorded live at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show and released September 14, 2026, features Jeff and Kelley Turner, owners of Staycation Fiberglass Pools. In the episode, titled San Antonio Homeowners Are Choosing Fiberglass, Here's Why, the Turners explain why a wave of concrete pools are now failing and why fiberglass offers a more reliable alternative.
The Turners point to the rise of ASR, or "concrete cancer," in pools built during and after COVID. Many of these pools were constructed when demand outpaced skilled labor and oversight. Jeff Turner describes fielding calls from homeowners whose concrete shells are disintegrating, forcing tear-outs that can cost $200,000 to $400,000. Most builders carry no insurance to cover such failures, leaving homeowners financially exposed.
A key factor behind these failures is the lack of regulation in Texas. "In Texas, you need more certifications to do hair than you do to build a pool," Jeff Turner says. "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." While PHTA (Pool and Hot Tub Association) certification exists, it is voluntary. Homeowners must specifically ask for it, and many builders operate without it.
The Turners also highlight the true cost of a low bid. A genuine turnkey fiberglass price should include engineering plans, proper bonding, correctly sized pump equipment, and full deck scope. Cut-rate contracts often quietly cut corners in these areas, leading to problems later. Manufacturer warranties from builders like San Juan, which has more than 70 years in the business, and Australia-based Aqua Technics matter because they back the shell with real coverage. Kelley Turner frames the builder-client relationship as a kind of courtship: "You're dating us as a builder..." she says, explaining that a warranty is only as good as the builder behind it.
The episode also covers renovation options, including EcoFinish flame-applied polymer resurfacing, which can extend the life of an existing pool. The Turners break down a hybrid negative-edge rebuild they recently completed in Dripping Springs, where a client's one-year-old fiberglass pool looked thirty years old due to a poor original installation. The full build sequence, from shell to a 30-foot infinity edge over the Hill Country, is available in the video. Viewers can see the completed project on YouTube.
The Turners credit training from Jason Hughes and River Pools, out of Virginia and Illinois, for shaping how they educate clients before signing a contract. Homeowners can see the Turners' completed projects at staycationfiberglasspools.com. The episode is part of an ongoing series profiling the builders, tradespeople, and entrepreneurs shaping the Texas economy, with new episodes posting two to three times a week.
