Pool Builders in Shreveport and Bossier City

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That silence is the problem this page solves. Most local builders won't quote a range until you're sitting across from them. Below is what a pool actually costs here, what the permit runs in Caddo and Bossier parishes, the one licensing rule that should decide who you let bid, and what local ground conditions do to a build.

When you want a real number for your yard, the form at the bottom connects you with a builder serving the area.

What a pool costs in Shreveport-Bossier

One caveat on those figures: Elston and A-1 are north Louisiana, and Bourgeois is a south Louisiana builder near Lafayette. Prices between the two ends of the state are close but not identical, so treat the Bourgeois numbers as Louisiana-wide rather than Shreveport-specific.

Louisiana sits below the national average, and labor is why. Pool crews in the Southeast bill around $65 an hour against roughly $115 in the Northeast. Materials cost about the same everywhere — what changes by region is labor, permitting, and how booked the local builders are.

What a pool really costs here, line by line → Itemized pricing, the add-ons quotes leave out, and a full all-in worked example.

What the permit costs

Shreveport and Bossier City price permits differently, and both are cheap relative to the build.

City of Shreveport. A permit is required before any pool work starts, under the city's own swimming pool ordinance. Pools are billed as miscellaneous construction at $4.25 per $1,000 of contract value, with a $31.50 minimum and $68.25 per inspection. On a $70,000 pool that's about $298 in permit fees. Simple residential applications with complete plans are often reviewed in a day or two. Permits & Inspections is at Government Plaza, 505 Travis Street, and applications run through MyGovernmentOnline.

Unincorporated Caddo Parish. Since 2021, construction anywhere in Caddo Parish is permitted under the same criteria as inside Shreveport city limits, except in the towns of Greenwood and Oil City. If you're outside the city, you're almost certainly still following Shreveport's rules.

Bossier City. A permit is required, plus separate zoning approval for height and setback before the permit issues. The fee is $5.00 per $1,000 of construction cost with a $50 minimum — about $350 on a $70,000 pool. Residential plan review averages about a week, and the city requires eight inspections on a pool build.

Unincorporated Bossier Parish. The parish contracts its building official function to Code Inspections Plus at 700 Benton Road. Applications go through MyGovernmentOnline. One trap worth knowing: if your property sits outside city limits but uses Bossier City utilities, you need both a parish permit and a city permit, with the approved parish permit uploaded to the city's system.

Permit fees and processes verified August 2026 against city and parish sources. Confirm current figures with the permit office before budgeting.

The licensing rule that should decide who you hire

This is the single most useful thing a Louisiana homeowner can know before taking bids.

The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors issues two relevant classifications: Residential Swimming Pools (9.1) and the commercial Swimming Pools classification (1.13). Both require passing a trade exam.

Verify any bidder's license through the LSLBC's public lookup at lslbc.louisiana.gov before you sign anything. It takes two minutes and it's the cheapest due diligence available to you.

Fence and barrier rules

Louisiana state law leaves pool enclosure rules to local governments rather than mandating one statewide standard, so the answer depends on which side of the Red River you're on.

Bossier City sets a clear minimum: a barrier no less than four feet, in place at all times once the pool holds water. The city has adopted the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which also governs gate hardware — gates must open away from the pool, self-close, and self-latch — along with rules on gaps beneath the barrier, spacing between rails, and keeping climbable equipment like pumps and heaters well clear of the fence.

Shreveport's own pool ordinance requires that every pool be completely enclosed by a fence "of substantial construction" with gates designed to keep children out, but the city ordinance itself names no specific height or latch specification. Height and hardware requirements come through the state-adopted building code rather than the city ordinance. Ask the Permits and Inspections office what standard they're inspecting to before you buy fencing — the answer determines your material and your budget.

Shreveport also sets a setback: no pool or accessory building closer than five feet to a property line or an existing structure. Measure your yard against that before falling for a design.

What Shreveport ground does to a build

Northwest Louisiana has real clay, and it varies sharply lot to lot.

The dominant soils in Caddo Parish are Eastwood, Guyton, Keithville, and Moreland; in Bossier Parish, Wrightsville, Sacul, Gore, and Moreland. Several of these carry very high shrink-swell potential in USDA's classification — Moreland is a true Vertisol running as high as 60 to 90 percent clay in its subsoil, with very slow permeability. The USDA soil survey for Caddo Parish states plainly that high shrink-swell potential is a limitation for foundations, that clayey subsoil is a limitation for shallow excavations, and that a high water table, flooding, and shrink-swell potential can cause movement of footings and affect the ease of excavation.

Worth keeping in perspective: a 2021 peer-reviewed study of expansive-soil risk across Louisiana ranked Bossier and Caddo among the least vulnerable parishes in the state. Local clay is real and can be severe on a given lot, but this isn't the worst ground in Louisiana.

The water table is the other factor, and it's more consequential here than the clay. USDA data shows the shallowest annual water table sits within 18 inches of the surface across roughly 43 percent of Bossier Parish and 22 percent of Caddo. A long-running USGS monitoring well in Bossier Parish recorded a median depth of about 10 feet across 269 measurements taken between 1978 and 2026, with readings as shallow as 3.85 feet, and the shallowest readings cluster in spring. Bossier City's own flood information page notes that the land is flat, runoff is slow, and saturated ground plus heavy rain produces flooding in parts of the city.

For a pool, groundwater matters in two ways: dewatering during excavation, and hydrostatic pressure against the shell afterward. The standard engineering answer to the second is a hydrostatic relief valve or an underdrain system, which the CDC's aquatic health code requires for public pools wherever the water table can exert uplift on an empty pool. That standard governs public facilities rather than backyard pools, but the physics is identical.

Pool types built in this area

Gunite and concrete

Sprayed concrete over rebar, built in place, so shape, depth, and features are yours to specify. It's the most expensive to buy and to own — resurfacing runs $8,000 to $10,000 every 10 to 15 years — and the slowest to build, since gunite cures about 30 days before tile and plaster start. This is what most Shreveport-Bossier builders do.

Fiberglass

A finished shell delivered in one piece and set in the excavated hole, usually within a day or two. Total build time runs about three to five weeks after permits. The gelcoat surface resists algae, giving fiberglass the lowest ten-year ownership cost of the three at roughly $5,000 to $15,000. The tradeoff is choosing from the manufacturer's shapes and sizes. More on fiberglass pools here.

Vinyl liner

Lowest entry price of the three. A supported frame holds a fitted liner, and that liner is the catch — replacement every seven to ten years at $4,000 to $8,000 a swap. Over a decade, vinyl's price advantage over fiberglass mostly disappears.

Choosing between them is a ten-year question, not a purchase-price question. The national cost guide runs the full comparison.

Other pool work available locally

• Renovation & resurfacing

  Rough plaster, dated tile, failing coping. Concrete pools need resurfacing every 10 to 15 years regardless of maintenance.

• Liner replacement

  The standard vinyl maintenance event, due every seven to ten years, sooner if water chemistry has been neglected.

• Decking & patio

  Basic concrete runs about $5–$10 per square foot in Louisiana; stamped concrete and pavers $15–$30. Most often missing from a low bid.

• Heaters

  Gas runs ~$1,850–$6,000 installed and $250–$400 a month. A heat pump costs $2,500–$5,000 up front but $100–$150 a month.

• Safety fencing

  Required by code. Louisiana builders quote roughly $1,500 to $3,500 depending on material and perimeter.

• Bossier City builds

  Different permit fees, eight required inspections, and a hard four-foot fence rule. See the Bossier City page.

When to build

Shreveport's climate does most of the work for you. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for Shreveport Airport show normal daily highs at or above 80°F from May through September, and the station averages 183 days a year at or above 80°F, 98 days at or above 90°F, and 11 days at or above 100°F. The median freeze-free season runs 255 days, from a last spring freeze around March 9 to a first fall freeze around November 18.

For reference on the other end, the CDC puts the most comfortable temperature for recreational swimming at 83 to 86°F, with competitive pools kept cooler at 78 to 82°F.

The scheduling advice follows from the build calendar, not the weather. Builders fill spring schedules early, and a gunite pool needs two to three months from consultation to completion. Signing in fall or winter buys both a better price and a real start date. Signing in April buys a place in line.

Areas served

Shreveport, Bossier City, Haughton, Benton, Stonewall, Greenwood, Blanchard, Keithville, Elm Grove, and Princeton.

Frequently asked questions