Building Your Own Pool?
We'll Handle the Steel.
Acting as your own contractor means managing trades you've never hired before. Rebar doesn't have to be the hard one. Scholz has set pool steel in Arizona since 1984 — we'll walk you through exactly what happens, when it happens, and what it costs. No jargon, no guesswork.
What You Get With Scholz
The steel phase, handled start to finish:
- Steel set to your engineered plans — not eyeballed
- Work that's ready for pre-gunite inspection the first time
- Straight answers on scheduling around your dig and gunite crews
- A licensed Arizona contractor — ROC #213923
What Pool Steel Actually Is
Before your pool is concrete, it's a cage of steel. Here's why that phase matters more than almost any other — and why it's not a DIY job.
It's the Skeleton
Rebar is the steel framework tied inside your excavated pool shape before any concrete is sprayed. The shotcrete bonds to it, and together they form the structural shell.Without steel — or with steel placed wrong — the shell can crack under the pressure of soil and water.
It's Engineered, Not Guessed
Your pool plans specify bar sizes, spacing, and clearances calculated for your soil and your design. Setting steel means matching that plan exactly — walls, floor, steps, benches, and spa — so the shell performs the way the engineer intended.
It Gets Inspected
Before gunite, your city inspector checks the steel against the approved plans and engineering. If it doesn't match, you don't shoot — and your gunite crew's slot is gone. Getting steel right the first time is how owner-builds stay on schedule.
Where Rebar Fits in Your Build
A shotcrete pool follows a set sequence, and every trade depends on the one before it. Here's the build from layout to finishes — and where we come in.
Layout
Your pool is marked out on the site to match the approved plans — shape, dimensions, and elevations staked before anyone digs.
Excavation
The pool is dug to shape, including steps, benches, and spa. Once the hole matches the plan, the site is ready for the trades.
Plumbing Rough-In
Your plumber runs the lines while the hole is open — suction, returns, drains, and spa plumbing — so everything is in place before the steel cage goes in.
Steel / Rebar This Is Us
We tie the full steel cage — floor, walls, steps, benches, and spa — to your engineered plans, with the right bar spacing and clearances throughout. When we leave, your shell is inspection-ready.
Electrical Rough-In
Your electrician bonds to the steel cage and runs the rough electrical — the equipotential bonding that ties directly to our rebar is a big reason electric follows steel.
Pre-Gunite Inspection
The city inspects steel, plumbing, and bonding against your approved plans. Pass, and you're cleared to shoot concrete.
Shotcrete
Concrete is sprayed over the steel to form your structural shell. The steel phase is done — and done right.
Finishes
From here it's tile, decking, equipment set, and plaster — the finish work that turns a concrete shell into your pool.
Four Steps. Zero Mystery.
You don't need to know rebar to hire us. Here's the whole process from your side.
Send Your Plans
Email your engineered pool plans or give us a call. Don't have plans yet? Ask — we'll tell you what you need before anyone digs.
Get a Straight Bid
We scope the steel from your plans and give you a clear price and timeline. You'll know exactly what's included.
Lock In the Schedule
We coordinate with your excavation date and plumbers so steel starts on time — and help you sequence your gunite crew behind us.
We Set the Steel
Our crew ties the cage to plan and leaves it inspection-ready. You call the inspection, pass, and move on to gunite.
Asked All the Time. Answered Straight.
Can I set the rebar myself to save money?
Legally, an owner-builder can do their own work in Arizona — but pool steel is one of the phases we'd tell you not to. Bar spacing, clearances, and tie patterns have to match your engineered plans, and a failed pre-gunite inspection costs you your gunite slot and days or weeks of schedule. The steel phase is a small slice of your total pool budget, and it's the slice everything else literally hangs on.
When should I contact you in my build?
Earlier than you'd think — ideally once you have engineered plans and before you schedule excavation. That lets us reserve your spot, confirm the steel scope, and help you line up the trades that follow us. Calling after the hole is dug works too, but you may wait on crew availability.
What do you need from me to give a bid?
Your engineered pool plans — the drawings that show the pool's shape, dimensions, and structural details. From those we can price the steel accurately. If you're still in the design phase, call us anyway and we'll tell you what to ask your designer or engineer for.
Do you handle the inspection?
The inspection is called in under your permit, so scheduling it is your move as the owner-builder — but our steel is what gets inspected, and we set it to pass. We'll tell you exactly when the work is ready and what the inspector will be looking at.
How long does the steel phase take?
Most residential pools are steeled in a matter of days once excavation and plumbing are complete — the exact timeline depends on the size and complexity of your design (spas, raised walls, and water features add steel). We'll give you a specific window with your bid so you can book the trades behind us with confidence.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes — Scholz Rebar is a licensed Arizona contractor (ROC #213923) and fully insured. As an owner-builder, hiring licensed trades protects you and your permit. We'll provide documentation for your records before work begins.
Start Your Owner-Build Right
Send us your plans and we'll take the steel phase off your plate — scoped, scheduled, and set to pass inspection. Forty years of Arizona pools, on your side of the project.