Building a House in Cyprus
backyard pool with sun loungers on artificial grass in a garden in Cyprus

Łukasz:

Building a Pool in Cyprus - A Guide from Experience

🏊 Building a pool at your home in Cyprus - a complete guide from my experience

In Cyprus, a pool isn’t a luxury - it’s a very practical part of the house. With temperatures of 30-40 degrees for the entire summer and over 300 sunny days a year, the ability to jump into the water in your own garden is a huge comfort.

We decided to build a pool primarily for convenience and time savings. The beaches are beautiful, but our favorite one is 30 minutes away from home, packed with people during the season, and getting there takes a lot of time. Thanks to the pool, we can enjoy the water every day - for over 6 months a year, and with heating, even around 9.

In this article, I describe step by step what building our pool looked like: from excavation and construction, through installations and tiling, to launch and maintenance costs.

This isn’t a theoretical guide - everything below happened at my place, in my garden, in practice.

🏗️ 1. Choosing the pool type - why concrete?

We decided on a concrete pool with tiles, not a liner pool, for several reasons:

  • the price difference was small (20-30 thousand euros, depending on size and materials)
  • durability of a concrete pool is much greater
  • appearance of a tiled pool is much better
  • a liner requires periodic replacement, concrete doesn’t

We didn’t consider an overflow system (mirror surface pool) because it was significantly more expensive, and the visual benefits weren’t worth the extra cost for us.

🏞️ 2. Excavation and site preparation

The first stage was excavating for the pool. In our case, it took several days, but not without challenges - we had to chisel through rocks, which is very common in Cyprus.

The terrain wasn’t ideal, so the crew had to properly prepare and level it. After a few days, we had a ready “hole” in the ground, level and prepared for construction.

🔩 3. Pool construction - reinforcement and concrete

After excavation, the actual building began. First, the crew laid out:

  • metal formwork
  • floor and wall reinforcement
  • pipes for the filtration system

Only at this stage was everything poured with concrete. This is one of the most important moments, because the quality of the pour determines the pool’s future durability.

This stage went smoothly - after a few days, we had a raw concrete shell.

💧 4. Water and electrical installations

Before the tiles, all installations need to be run. In our case, they installed:

  • 2 skimmers
  • 3 return jets
  • a vacuum port for the pool cleaner
  • pipes and wiring for 2 LED lights
  • pipes with a minimum 50 mm cross-section (I don’t know the exact diameter, but they’re solid)

This is a typical setup for a garden pool with a capacity of about 60 cubic meters.

🛡️ 5. Waterproofing

A special waterproofing coating was applied to the concrete shell to protect the pool from leaking.

This is very important - in Cyprus, there are many older pools without good waterproofing that start losing water after years.

In our case, everything was done properly and the seal is perfect.

🧱 6. Tiling the pool

This is the stage that transformed the concrete shell into a real pool.

  • we chose the tiles ourselves
  • laying took several days
  • grouting went smoothly
  • a few days after the work was completed, we could start filling with water

The look of the tiles matters hugely - they give the pool its character.

⚙️ 7. Technical equipment - filter, pump, chlorinator

Technical equipment was installed in parallel with tiling.

We have:

  • a sand filter (about 600 kg of sand)
  • a solid pump (AstralPool brand, very good quality)
  • a chlorinator (automatic salt/chlorine dosing)
  • the entire system is controlled by a timer - the pump runs 6 hours daily

We installed the chlorinator a bit later, but it’s a great investment - water maintenance is much simpler thanks to it.

💦 8. Filling and first launch

Filling the pool took several hours because it required several water deliveries.

After filling everything, the technician who installed the pump and filter came and did:

  • the first launch
  • a leak test of the installation
  • initial chlorinator settings

At the beginning, a shock chlorine treatment was performed. After a few days, the water was perfectly clear and we could start using the pool.

💸 Pool maintenance costs - how much does it really cost?

Here are the real costs from my home:

🔌 Electricity

Hard to estimate precisely because we have solar panels. The pump runs 6 hours daily, but our bills haven’t increased.

How much do we really save with solar panels? Check our photovoltaic results.

Without panels, the cost would be around 10-25 euros per month.

🧴 Chemicals and service

We employ a pool guy who handles:

  • cleaning
  • filter
  • chemicals
  • chlorinator adjustment

Cost: 90 euros per month.

🌡️ Water heating

We don’t currently have this, but we’re considering installing a heat pump next year.

🏡 Is it worth building a pool in Cyprus?

For us, definitely yes.

The main advantages:

  • enormous convenience and privacy
  • the kids love the pool
  • in summer, it’s the main form of entertainment
  • health benefits - lots of swimming
  • saving time and fuel (instead of driving to beaches)
  • the ability to use it for at least half the year, and with heating, even longer

This was one of the best investments we made in our home - right alongside the house build itself.

If I had to make this decision again, I’d do exactly the same thing. The pool changed our daily life in Cyprus - the kids jump into the water right after school, and we don’t have to pack up the car and drive to the beach. For more than half the year, it’s simply the best spot in the house.