Original subtitles

-Let's rock! -Yeah!

LUCAS: I'm Lucas Congdon...

Alright, you guys! We did it! Yeah!

[ Laughs ]

I'm here to show you some of the biggest...

Oh, my God! Yeah, baby!

...craziest...

Wow! This is awesome!

LUCAS: ...and most beautiful pools in the country.

WOMAN: This is the best pool I think I've ever seen.

Tuck it in. Tuck it.

LUCAS: These talented crews...

Oh, my God! That is crazy!

...take jaw-dropping pool designs to the next level.

Anyone can build a pool,

but these pools are a little slice of paradise.

-Whoo! -Yeah!

¶¶

I'm in Parrish, Florida,

to visit Lynne and Arno Loeffler,

Lynn and Arno have an existing pool,

but obviously, it's no Lucas Lagoon.

So I'm on my way over there to fix it.

Hi. Hi. Good morning. I'm Lucas.

Hi. I'm Arno.

I'm Arno Loeffler, and I'm from Parrish, Florida.

I'm a physician in urgent-care medicine.

ARNO: Well, here's the pool, Lucas.

LUCAS: Oh, wow, look at this.

I'm Lynn Loeffler.

I'm retired from the construction industry,

where, in Chicago, I built custom homes.

I love the 180-degree panoramic view

of all the trees and the nature.

This is like true Florida.

Is that still your property,

or is that, like, a nature preserve?

About 60 more feet into the woods

and the trees is our property.

But further back as a nature preserve.

We have every conceivable creature

that you can find in Florida back there.

And I think that's why they named this River Wilderness.

My designs really are a reflection of my client.

So the more I learn about you guys,

the more I can kind of take your unique

tastes in your personality

and turn it into a reality for you.

Unfortunately, my mother was recently diagnosed

with metastatic renal cancer.

Oh.

She's going to have a very major surgery

and a lot of recovery time.

We'd like to give her her own private space

where she can heal herself in a tranquil setting.

Well, that sounds like a unique challenge.

You know, this is a huge deal for Lynn,

for her mom to be able to recover from her surgery.

It can't be overwhelming. It needs to be calming.

So I got to get it right.

What are the other features that you're thinking about?

One of the big things that we both enjoy doing

is actually swimming in a pool, which we cannot do here.

It's certainly not deep enough.

Right.

I think a spa would still be something we'd like to have.

Maybe something a little more unique than this rectangle.

Right. Yeah.

It seems like they're more inspired

by the natural, lagoon-style pool,

and to kind of really make that happen back here,

I'm thinking just scratch the pool and start fresh.

¶¶

Wow, guys, the backyard is much bigger

than it looked like from the front.

What if we brought the cage all the way out to here

and then maybe out another 10, 11 feet?

That would be cool. LYNN: That'd be very nice.

Well, this gives me a ton of ideas.

I just need to spend some time back here alone

gathering my thoughts.

LUCAS: I'm feeling very excited about the challenges

in building something beautiful and tranquil

for the whole family.

Had a great time back there in the backyard.

I even went and checked out the reserve area.

I'm thinking to start with kind of a similar layout,

but almost doing a big free-form "T" shape, just much larger.

ARNO: That gives us a lot more room.

I think that's an awesome idea.

And then, you know, kind of over here, right in the middle,

I was thinking about putting a grotto

as a beautiful focal point, and then this would be like

a whole 'nother type waterfall area.

And then maybe letting it taper down a little bit smaller.

Now, what I was thinking for the spa is tucking it

all the way back up in the corner

and creating a waterfall kind of around it.

What if we pulled the spa out a little bit

and made it on its own, more like an island.

You'd have the water around it with the waterfall behind it.

Right.

I got you, so maybe doing, like, a slab of stone

that comes from the edge of the pool to the spa

so it's like a natural rock bridge

that you cross to get up into the spa

That'd be really nice.

If we're gonna expand the cage,

we have, like, this huge bonus area.

So what if we did something

like a healing garden for your mom there?

That would be great.

LYNN: I think mom is really going to love the healing garden.

We want to give her a place that she really can call her own.

I really like this design. Yeah.

I think it looks really great.

Okay. When can you start?

¶¶

LUCAS: We jump right into this build

by demo'ing the Loefflers' old pool

and tearing down the cage.

CHRIS: The theme for this pool is tranquility and relaxing.

This is how I relax.

Yeah!

This is how we do it.

Whoo-hoo!

My meditation's sitting on a tractor, breaking stuff up.

¶¶

[ Laughs ]

Well, after we get the pool shell out,

it's time to start digging for our new pool.

JANE: Now that the pool area is dug out,

it's time to bring in the steel...

[ Saw whirring ]

...and start forming up the new pool shell.

¶¶

CHRIS: Today is gunite day.

This thing is a huge pool. We got 100 yards of spray.

Gunite is very good with tight corners and everything else,

because you can shape it, it's really easy, shapeable,

and it functions perfect.

¶¶

We can build, finally! Our rocks are here!

JANE: Rocks!

This is our favorite part of any build.

The pool shell is like our canvas,

and the rock is our paint.

Might have to back up a little.

Okay, down.

So, Crash, you got the bridge rocks strapped up?

Got it all strapped up, clean, and ready to set it.

All right, let's bring it back.

Keep coming down.

All right, down!

All right, well, it's looking good.

Can I leave you here to piece it in,

and I'll go get another boulder?

Sure thing. Cool.

¶¶

LUCAS: The next stage of the rock work

is setting the lid for the main grotto waterfall.

LUCAS: Is it good and centered?

Could go this way a little.

All right, set it down!

¶¶

All right, you guys, that looks great.

With the rock work wrapped up,

we're ready to lay the travertine decking.

We're going to set the travertine with tile mud.

Now, when you mud-set the travertine, it's more permanent.

You definitely have a lot less maintenance.

You know, no weeds can go through it.

And for the Loefflers,

they think it's worth the added expense.

Of course, we're gonna accommodate.

Once the decking is in, we can start building the new cage.

We've extended it in both directions to allow

for the large pool and healing garden

and open up the views to the beautiful nature preserve

behind their house.

¶¶

Today, we have a bunch of palms

to install that really soften and complete the look.

¶¶

They really kind of reflect the natural native look

of the forest behind their house.

¶¶

We're gonna add gravel between the rock waterfall

and the pool cage, and to get the gravel in

quickly and efficiently, I have an idea.

A bucket brigade.

¶¶

Now we got it going.

See? Teamwork.

Nice work, guys. We made quick work out of that.

What was that, like, five minutes?

"Many hands make light work." I like that.

¶¶

Wow, sunshine, this interior finish looks great.

It does, doesn't it?

Well, it's time to fill the pool with water.

It looks like the rain gods

are kind of helping us out right now.

Yeah. Well, we are pressed for time.

So I figure this only helps us.

Although it's kind of slowing us down doing other things,

it will help us with the pool.

All right.

¶¶

The pool is filled, and now it's time to do

all the finishing touches before we show it to the Loefflers.

¶¶

I can't believe it -- the day's finally here.

I get this show Lynn and Arno their new backyard.

I really hope I hit a home run,

but you never know until you get the client's reaction.

All right, here we are, guys.

I'm sure you can hear how beautiful it is.

If you would just let us see it.

[ Laughs ]

1...

2...

3!

Check out your new pool!

ARNO: Holy cow.

LYNN: It's beautiful.

It's amazing.

Oh, my gosh.

This is so much more than we even discussed.

Holy cow.

Seeing the pool for the first time was absolutely incredible.

It's just so cool.

You did an awesome job, Lucas.

LUCAS: Thank you.

There's a lot. I mean, we had a lot of fun.

We got two grottos, a huge water wall.

It's perfect.

Well, you love everything so far.

Absolutely love it. Incredible.

This is absolutely unbelievable.

Well, I got a lot to show you,

so let's walk over there.

LUCAS: You really wanted to make the spa,

like, a really unique thing, so look at it,

I mean, the spa is an island.

And what island is complete without palm trees?

So you got your own little palm island.

LYNN: Perfect.

Oh, I like the way the water comes

from the two different directions.

That turbulence -- it looks totally natural.

It's more than what I even envisioned.

This is the coolest spa we have ever built, for sure.

It's amazing.

This area back here,

the healing garden, was really a special project

that my mom, Woman, did for your mom, Arlene.

And I was kind of thinking it'd be a lot of fun

if I grab my mom, you grab your mom,

and we show it to you guys all together for the first time.

That's a great idea. Cool.

All right, well, let's go get our moms.

All right.

As we were building Arlene's space,

we started calling it the healing garden.

It's something that we felt very passionate about,

and we're hoping it does, in fact, help her heal.

All right.

1, 2, 3.

Check it out!

¶¶

LYNN: Oh, wow! [ Laughs ]

¶¶

It's a beautiful spot, huh?

It's beautiful.

You know, we didn't tell mom too much

about what we were doing back there for her.

And I could tell that she just absolutely loved it.

She was definitely touched by it all.

This chair was made just for you.

Oh, my God.

It's little bit higher than a normal chair.

And it's got the arms so she can

push up easier to get out of the chair.

LYNN: Oh, my gosh.

This is your space, so come and enjoy whenever you want.

It's beautiful.

I'm so happy I was able to be here for this moment.

This was truly an emotional, joyful moment.

You don't have to get up. Thanks again.

Aww!

LYNN: Lucas captured everything that we were looking for

with the tranquility and the nature,

and what he accomplished in the space

that we had available is unbelievable.

¶¶

ARNO: It ties together with our preserve behind our property,

and it's exactly what I wanted.

I didn't know how he was gonna do it, but he did it.

Whoo!

ARLENE: Lucas and Woman are more than terrific,

and everything that they've done

has been very much appreciated.

I know there was a lot of love put in it.

¶¶

LUCAS: In Temecula, California, Melissa and Barry

are ready to give their kids something to splash about.

MELISSA: We have five kids from ages 17 to 8 years old.

We bought this house because it's a really big backyard,

and we always had dreams of having a pool in it.

BARRY: My wife wanted a simple, basic rectangle pool.

I might have told the guys I wanted a little bit more here,

a little bit more there.

A little more flash.

All I really want is a simple pool.

¶¶

The Pauls' backyard is going to be a bit more

than just a simple pool,

highlighted by this massive jumping cliff

that will be built into the existing hill in their backyard.

The kids will be able to climb up the mountain

and jump into this 10-foot-deep pool.

These steps lead up to their hillside spa.

From there, you can cross the waterfall bridge

to get to the mountain from the spa.

There are water features and fire bowls

surrounding the entire area

Closer to the house will be plenty of seating

outside the pool, plus a Baja shelf

and an in-pool fire table with seating all around.

¶¶

The machines are ready to go,

and they start by tackling the demo on the retaining wall.

[ Saw whirring ]

It's coming right down.

The dig process takes a bit longer than usual

because they have to remove part of a mountain

before they can dig their 10-foot hole.

Buried beneath this pool are 400 feet of PVC

and 200 feet of gas line.

Once the plumbing is complete,

the support foundation is installed

and 11 truckloads of shotcrete are brought in.

For the rock wall, they're hand-sculpting 2 tons of cement

into realistic rocks that will blow the homeowners away.

This mountain-resort pool is starting to take form.

The team carefully crafts this rock-climbing, jump-cliff area

with real rocks and something extra.

This is amazing. I did not envision this.

We're gonna be incorporating some dinosaur bones.

Wow! My kids are gonna love this.

This is not real, right?

It is not real. Okay, just checking.

I'm so excited about that.

Seating for seven is being carved into the pool.

The gas lines are being set in the raised fire table.

And now they can pump in the 80,000 pounds of concrete

it's going to take to smooth out this mountain retreat.

¶¶

The Pauls family mountaintop masterpiece

is ready for its reveal.

Paul family, here's your mountain-lake resort.

What do you think?!

LUCAS: It's time to show off the new backyard to the Pauls.

Paul family, here's your mountain-lake resort.

What do you think?!

-Whoo-hoo! -Wow!

-Whoa! -That's cool.

BARRY: Wow!

MELISSA: Look at that.

BOY: I call jumping in first.

Absolutely amazing.

LUCAS: This pool is 850 square feet,

50 feet long by 24 feet wide.

It's huge.

BARRY: You guys knocked it out of the park.

I don't think we need the vacation anymore.

You guys made us a vacation spot right here at the house.

Come on up here, guys.

¶¶

LUCAS: The spa is tucked away

in the hillside, and it's super secluded.

That's my spot. This is perfect.

Right in front of the spa is the bridge,

which is another great jump point.

You know, two or three, you can jump at one time.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

[ Laughter ]

We've got our very own kind of hidden-step path,

and it's gonna lead to our 10-foot jumping platform.

Wow!

Ooh, scary.

And then down here, these are your handholds,

to kind of a cliff-hang

and crawl all the way up from the water.

So you've got your very own rock climbing along this pool.

Nice. That's cool.

And down below in the rocks, we've got dinosaur bones.

I like these little claws sticking out.

LUCAS: And on this side of the pool is their fire table.

MELISSA: I love it!

I got to admit, when you first told me

there was gonna be a fire table in the pool,

I don't believe you, but that is absolutely incredible.

You can eat in there. You can relax in there.

Well, you know what? We have one more surprise for you.

But I'm gonna need you to close your eyes.

¶¶

And you can open your eyes, guys!

-Oh, wow! -Whoa!

That's cool.

We've got your own pro-style basketball net

that's completely removable.

So if we don't want to play basketball,

we've got that option.

Are you ready to party?

-Whoo! Yes! -Let's do it!

Let's go!

MELISSA: Go, go, go, go!

Whoo!

MELISSA: It exceeds all my expectations.

I'm really excited.

I knew it was gonna look good, but then to actually see it,

it took my breath away.

¶¶

What I had planned originally,

there's no way that would have made me as happy as this.

-Cheers! -Cheers!

[ Indistinct chatter ]

And I'm actually really excited about just our summer,

and we're just gonna stay home and hang out,

and hang out as a family.

LUCAS: Why travel when this is your backyard?

What kind of fish you want to catch, Jackie?

Bluegills.

LUCAS: Matt and Jennifer Patlovany from San Antonio, Texas,

are prepared to build their family's dream pool.

There he is. Oh, hi.

Whoo!

MATT: We think of our house as sort of hill-country contemporary.

When we built the house,

we built it with a large deck in the back

so we can really enjoy the outside and the view.

We've recently torn that deck out

with the help of our friends and family.

JENNIFER: The pool will be just

an extension of our living space.

So I like the idea of having the pool close-up near the house

so that I can keep an eye on the boys

while they're in it, playing.

¶¶

Matt and Jennifer are getting a modern pool

to match their modern house.

They love their old deck

but don't want actual wood this time around.

The pool will be surrounded by a tile

that looks like wood decking.

The coping around the pool will be a custom-cut light tile

that will look sleek against their home.

The new spa will be right outside the master-bedroom door,

and an infinity edge at the far end of the pool.

A step ledge will allow for great views at the edge,

and water will fall down into a catch basin

to be recirculated into the pool.

The crew wastes no time in digging the hole for the pool.

There was over 2 feet of fill material

where the deck once was,

and all that has to be removed before building the form.

[ Saw whirs ]

¶¶

With the gravel and rebar installed,

they plumb the pool with a network of PVC pipes.

Then comes the gunite.

The standing ledge takes shape.

It will take full advantage of that gorgeous view.

With the shotcrete set,

it's on to placing the custom coping,

porcelain deck tiles,

and building up the concrete pillars at the end of the pool.

Finally, it's time to surface the pool.

The plaster the family chose is a dark-blue pebble plaster,

which will feel serene right next to their modern house.

¶¶

The end is in sight.

¶¶

With the water spilling over the vanishing edge,

it's time to get the Patlovanys out here

to see their new pool.

Oh, my gosh!

¶¶

LUCAS: This modern family-fun pool is ready for its reveal.

Oh, my gosh!

JACK: Awesome!

MATT: This is perfect. This is perfect!

¶¶

MATT: It's just amazing that we started

with this plain wood deck,

and now we have this incredible living space.

It's so different from what we started with.

We just couldn't be happier.

You know, one of the things that we really wanted to do

was maintain the wood look

that we had out there with our previous deck.

And the tile is absolutely perfect for that.

It turned out better than I ever imagined.

First thing you see is the spa flowing into the pool

and then flowing over the negative edge.

It's breathtaking.

¶¶

A hot tub up close to the master bedroom.

JENNIFER: Go and enjoy it in the evenings.

LUCAS: These fire bowls are massive and a great touch

to the vanishing edge.

Jack, how do you like that fire?

JACK: Marshmallows.

Marshmallows in there? Now you're thinking.

Nothing like sitting in the pool roasting a marshmallow.

Not many people can do that.

Watching their reactions to the fire bowls was priceless.

They really got a kick out of

some of the technology in the pool.

PAUL: Who's ready to go swimming?

Who's getting in first?

[ Laughter ]

All right, let's go.

¶¶

MATT: The pool turned out incredible.

We absolutely love it.

So, we love the concept of the infinity edge,

but we also wanted a deep pool, and Paul and Tony

were able to meld the two by giving us a foot ledge

so we could still enjoy the view.

Swimming, goofing around with the boys,

or just relaxing in the spa, this is an incredible time.

We love our house, and it finally,

with the addition of this pool, feels finished.

It feels like we always wanted it to be.

LUCAS: A wonderful pool for the whole family.

¶¶

I'm headed out to Snead Island to meet Cynthia and Terry.

They want me to change out the deck and add a spa,

but I have a feeling that it's gonna be more than that.

It always is.

I'm Terry Pankiw. I'm from Canada.

So, we bought this house about four, four and a half years ago.

Lucas, this is Cynthia.

Hi, Lucas. Nice to meet you.

Yeah, you too.

Looks like you've got a 180-degree view.

This is insane.

I can tell you guys want to do some remodeling back here.

Doesn't seem to match the inside of the house.

We need to finish making Pankiw's Paradise.

This is our paradise.

In the mornings, we get up and we have coffee here,

and there's dolphins jumping in the bay.

We do everything outside.

LUCAS: So Terry shows me just how much he loves to be outdoors.

Walk it right into the wall.

And then this is my own invention.

We sit outside here, right? Yeah.

And we watch TV.

If he's willing to go through all that effort,

I might as well do something amazing outdoors

where he doesn't have to move anything.

He can just sit out there, feel like he's got everything

in one cohesive design and unique space.

Well, I think I'm picking up what you're throwing down.

I mean, I'm loving the view. I'm loving, you know,

bringing the outside in and the inside out.

You know, I see you got

Terry's Dock & Bar, but where's the bar, Terry?

We really wanted a new deck and a hot tub.

That's all we were thinking at the time.

Trying to put a concrete hot tub

onto an existing fiberglass shell

is just not gonna work.

The concrete doesn't want to stick to the fiberglass,

so you're always gonna have

this issue of it cracking right around here.

Within 10 seconds, Lucas expanded on it

This screen from every angle is just kind of killing your view.

And then he kept expanding on it.

You know, it's not gonna be worth putting the money

into redoing this whole area, and then a year or two from now,

this whole thing's just breaking down

And we're like, "Okay, slow down."

I can tell that the Pankiw's think

I'm just trying to be like a used-car salesman

and try to get them for more money.

If I can save the pool, I would, but this is not gonna work.

So I'm jumping in so I can show them.

Look, I think I even see a leak down there.

Oh, my God!

Dude, come down here. [ Laughs ]

So I get in the pool, and I'm glad Terry's in there with me

because he can touch and feel and see what I see.

The first thing I notice

is there's a leak in the bottom of the pool.

And then I start pushing on one part of the wall.

You can feel that fiberglass deteriorating.

This is a gorgeous setting,

but this pool in this cage is not doing it any justice.

I think I've convinced them now that we've got to rip it out,

so now we can start with a clean slate.

And I really want to create something that allows you

to live outdoors comfortably, maybe over in the corner here.

It'd be cool to do, like, a rock grotto

or something where you swim underneath it.

No, we don't want to go with any rock, any kind of rock work.

I mean, what am I doing here? I'm the rock guy.

We don't want boulders blocking the view.

We want to keep a solid, clear view.

Gotcha. You're not looking to build a feature.

The feature is the nature around here.

And you want something that just kind of blends in seamlessly.

We want to go more for the beachy Floridian feel down here.

as they're explaining to me what they want,

I mean, I'm getting it.

They want just something really understated, clean, sleek.

I just don't want it to be boring.

I mean, it's got to have that Lucas factor.

We can do, like, a big sun shelf across the back there.

Make the pool bigger.

You know, doing, like, a shallow beach area

where you can have your chairs in the water

and kind of sunbathe.

Then we do the travertine.

Do a nice elevated spa so that it goes water-to-water.

So it gives you that infinity edge

and look like it's spilling into the bay.

Oh, that sounds good.

And Terry's Dock & Bar will come to life

in the corner of the patio.

We should have a two-tier bar. So split-level.

So that's an opportunity right there

to do some kind of really exotic bar top,

maybe light it from underneath.

I can't wait to build it for you guys.

TERRY: I want to walk into that backyard

and I want my hair to stand up on my arms.

¶¶

The first thing we got to demo is that ugly cage.

¶¶

Oh, yeah!

That's how we destroy stuff.

LUCAS: Now that Crash has gotten rid of this ugly cage,

it's time to bring in the crew...

All right, now get the power tools out and make noise!

[ Revs, whirring ]

LUCAS: ...and get to demo'ing the tile and brick.

So dusty.

We want to finish that up

and then yank the fiberglass pool out.

There you go! See, look at that!

JANE: Hey!

Look at that!

[ Loud thud ]

[ Laughs ]

Now that that ugly fiberglass pool shell's out of there,

nothing's gonna stop us from creating Pankiw's Paradise.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Well, there might be one thing -- rain.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Well, our luck's held up and the rain's held off.

But before I can get back to work,

Cynthia and Terry stopped by.

Well, we're on our way back to Canada tomorrow morning.

So when I come back,

right, I want to see Pankiw's Paradise here.

You got it.

Now that we've been working with Lucas for a little bit,

he keeps politely suggesting his rock work.

And we're a little bit more open-minded now.

If I let you do some rock work here,

how are you gonna do this?

Well, I got to tell you, the whole time

I've been working here, gears have been turning my in head.

We could do a beautiful, monolithic rock fountain off

to the side in a simple and understated weeping water wall.

We'll do it all in this area, so that way, you still maintain

that gorgeous view across the bay.

Perfect. Yeah.

The rock gods are smiling upon me today.

Thanks, buddy. All right. See you later.

¶¶

The hole is dry enough to get the excavator back in there.

Keep digging the pool and staking the perimeter.

This is the most important part of the build.

You got to get it laid out just right.

I hate this column. I think we need to just rip it out of here.

With that column out of the way,

We now have the layout for Pankiw's Paradise.

Once we get the rebar in place,

you can really see the skeletal structure of the pool.

I mean, that's really the backbone of the whole design.

When we're shooting a new pool shell,

we always use shotcrete.

It's a very strong material.

Shooting, today, probably 50 to 60 yards of shotcrete.

This is basically the foundation of the job.

LUCAS: I want to get started with my team on the other rock feature

that Terry and Cynthia agreed on -- the water wall.

I'm so excited to finally add

some Tennessee fieldstone to this pool.

Put that one, yeah, like that.

Ah, you know what, Woman? I love that rock.

It's beautiful. I'm just not feeling it here at this job.

I mean, I could tell he just hit the wall.

"This is not gonna work."

Guys, guys, just put those rocks back.

Get them all out of here.

He realized that that stone was wrong

for that particular situation.

He'll come up with something.

While I rack my brain with what to do for the water wall,

we get to installing the monolithic rock feature.

It's made of one large slab of Florida native oolite.

We got it strapped up.

And all of a sudden, I mean, it's like a monsoon.

The wind's blowing. The rain's coming in sideways.

But since there's no lightning, we can get to work.

Whoa!

It was tricky. I mean, this thing's like 3,000 pounds.

Swing it over here! Whoa!

So I'm extended as far out as this excavator will reach.

LUCAS: Are the pipes entered in the notch?

JANE: Come this way.

JOHN: The excavator reached in, and we set it down.

It was a little scary.

Perfect!

Let me see how it looks from the house.

I like the way it's kind of angled.

Still leaving the view really open.

Originally, this oolite boulder

was gonna be a monolithic water feature.

But it gave me the idea to have fire coming out at the top.

All right, you guys, I think I finally figured it out.

It's been staring me in the face all this time.

The beach pebble is the perfect thing for the water wall.

All right.

Imagine as the water rolls out of here,

it's gonna basically create a rippling-tide effect

coming down... Trickling down.

It's gonna look just like the bay right here.

You know, instead of trying to make a waterfall,

let's replicate the nature that's all around us.

JANE: I like that.

I think it'll look great on everything.

LUCAS: We'll cover the pool in over 700 square feet of beach pebbles

from the water wall to the waterline tile,

wrapping the spa and the infinity edge

as well as the outdoor kitchen.

Wow, guys, this looks awesome. Good job.

I love it. I think it's gonna be so cool.

¶¶

[ Saw whirring ]

Travertine time, huh? Yes, it is.

Isn't that exciting?

Actually getting some finished work done here.

Man, this deck is huge now.

I wasn't expecting it to be this big.

¶¶

[ Saw whirring ]

We want to travertine everything,

all the coping, the top of the spa,

the whole upper-deck area.

¶¶

Now that we have the stacked beach pebble

complete on the bar,

it's time to put in the two-tiered granite

and quartz countertop.

1, 2, 3.

The bottom piece of granite went in pretty easy.

LUCAS: There we go. Now it's starting to look like something.

JOHN: Underneath the top tier of the granite countertop

is a panel of LED lighting.

And it's gonna look great at night.

All the holes lined up perfectly.

Gonna look beautiful.

I mean, this has really come together, huh?

Sexy. Sexy.

Now that the oolite boulder's in,

it's time to take it to the next level.

1, 2, 3.

We've got this cool soapstone that looks like fire.

It's got oranges and yellows in it, and some blacks.

That's gonna slide in that slot right there,

so that whole crevice is this cool soapstone.

Looks like fire.

And then it shoots flames out of the top.

I mean, that's gonna look so cool.

Oh, man. Man, that's amazing.

That's bad-[bleep]. I love it.

This is a Lucas Lagoon's original.

Nobody but Terry and Cynthia have one of these.

¶¶

We're finished with all the major rock work,

and we're trying to get it all finished up

before Terry and Cynthia get back into town.

Laying in sod and doing the landscaping.

We're installing the appliances in the kitchen.

Nice.

And the audio-visual system is going in.

We're nearing the homestretch.

LUCAS: It's all coming together.

I can't wait to see this space completed.

I think I've created Pankiw's Paradise.

I hope my version of paradise matches up to theirs.

All right, Terry and Cynthia,

this is the moment we've all been waiting for.

All right. 1, 2, 3.

Welcome to Pankiw's Paradise. Whoa!

¶¶

I can't wait to show Terry and Cynthia

their new Pankiw's Paradise.

This is the moment we've all been waiting for.

How are you guys feeling? I'm nervous.

Oh, yeah, we're gonna get those blinds up.

Let's do it.

All right. [ Laughs ]

All right.

1, 2, 3. Turn around.

Welcome to Pankiw's Paradise.

Whoa!

Wow!

This is incredible.

When I first came here,

they wanted me to just add a hot tub to this ugly pool.

I hope they agree that this view with the transformation

is totally an upgrade from that ugly pool

they had before.

[ Lucas laughs ] Fantastic.

As the water washes over those pebbles,

it's gonna look just like the bay.

You know how you get that rippling effect?

CYNTHIA: I have no idea how he managed to create it,

but he's actually enhanced our view.

TERRY: Remember, I turned around, and I said to you,

I says, "When I walk outside, and if the hair was

standing up on my arm?" Yeah.

Well, feel it. Hey?

It's like a bear. [ Laughs ]

Fantastic.

So come over here.

There's so much more to show you.

We've got this great space.

And then you got the whole sun shelf area.

CYNTHIA: It's huge. Look at all the people we can fit in there.

And then in the middle, you got this, like, lap pool.

Basically, you could swim back and forth.

And then, of course, these cool lounger chairs

in the water, where you can lay in there

and look back out at the Bay View here.

Everything is just beautiful, and it's the Florida one.

LUCAS: So even though we didn't use big boulders

to create grottos and waterfalls,

I did sneak a couple of big pieces in here.

We got this native Florida oolite, and when you cut it,

it looks like coral.

There's actually a fire ring inside of it.

So it's propane, if you wanted to. TERRY: Really?

Yeah, and then we have this other cool oolite feature

over here -- monolithic boulder

protruding out of the dark water.

Beautiful. It looks like it just came out of nature.

Well, remember, before, all you had was this sign,

Terry's Dock & Bar.

Here you go -- you've got this great split-level bar,

got all the amenities.

Beautiful barbecue.

I mean, what more could you need out here?

CYNTHIA: This is great. Oh, this is great.

I got one more surprise for you. What's that?

Remember, before, you were turning the furniture around

and had to take that TV and kind of swivel it out?

Well, check this out.

No way. [ Laughs ]

No one would even know it's there.

Wow!

Now you can watch TV from outside.

You don't have to go through all that nonsense anymore.

That's awesome. Yeah, no kidding.

You guys think it looks good now.

Can't wait until you see

what Pankiw's Paradise looks like at night.

¶¶

Now that it's dark, it all starts with the bar.

Oh, wow! Wow!

Look how gorgeous this quartz-crystal top is.

It's blending in with the granite.

Let me show you how Pankiw's Paradise comes alive at night.

Oh, yeah. Whoa! Look at that!

¶¶

Wow!

Let there be fire!

Yeah!

CYNTHIA: I thought this was beautiful during the day,

but this just blows it away.

This is our dream.

ALL: To Pankiw's Paradise!

-Yay! -Yeah!

LUCAS: Letica and Jorge Peña love their home in Austin, Texas,

and want it to be a central gathering spot

for their whole family.

Jorge and I have been educators for about 40 years.

We have three children and six grandkids.

So one of the reasons we're building the pool is because

we want to attract our kids

and our grandkids to come and enjoy the pool with us.

Our patio is currently 18 feet above the ground,

and the more we thought about it,

we really wanted to enjoy the view,

The hill-country views that we have.

Having a pool is going to just enhance our lifestyle.

Sitting outside, having a glass of wine at night,

it's gonna be awesome.

Awesome is right.

This massive pool will sit 18 feet up in the air

and will be level with their current patio

in order to preserve their beautiful view

and to still be safe for the grandkids.

Three sides of the pool will have an infinity edge

that empties into a basin below.

This way, they won't have a railing around the entire pool

that would be an eyesore.

It also creates a beautiful waterfall effect

on the back side of the pool.

A water spillway on the side will look great

and sound serene for anyone lounging in the Baja shelf

or in this unique circular hot tub

sitting in a square form.

A basketball hoop will finish off this amazing pool.

That should have the grandkids here all summer long.

The crew starts by measuring out the footprint of the pool...

and tearing out the old stairs.

¶¶

Whoo-hoo! Nice!

Yeah.

With the stairs out of the way, they can start digging.

Since they are building up,

they only have to dig 18 inches for the support footings.

The wood forms are going up.

Because this pool is being built 18 feet up,

truckloads of lumber are needed to build the walls

and to brace them

so they'll stand up to all the pressure of the concrete.

Nearly 15 tons of steel rebar is used to build the skeleton

and supply support for the gunite.

Now that the gunite is cured...

[ Whirring ]

...the masons can start adding the stone and tile,

starting with the coping around the edge of the pool

and the infinity edge basin.

[ Whirring ]

Once the coping is on, they add the tile to the pool's

waterline spa and infinity edge.

Connecting the pool to the home is a new expanded patio

that will take two truckloads of concrete to form its floor.

The floor tile and water spillway are in.

Now it's time for the plaster.

They spray it in and completely cover the gunite.

Then it gets smoothed down.

Finally, an acid wash is used to reveal its true color.

¶¶

After a lot of hard work,

it's time to show the Peñas their brand-new pool.

LETICA: Let's go see the pool!

Oh, my God!

LUCAS: Towering at over 18 feet tall,

invisible for nearly a 1/2 mile away,

The Peñas are excited to get a look at their new pool.

LETICA: Let's go see the pool!

Wow!

Oh, my God!

Wow!

This is amazing!

We love it!

Whoo!

This is incredible.

Look at that view!

Oh, my gosh LETICA: Oh, my Lord.

Look how the water just goes over the edge

all the way around. Isn't that crazy?

Oh, my gosh!

It looks like it's overflowing!

[ Laughter ]

LUCAS: Safety was a big issue with this pool.

But railings would block their amazing view.

So this huge infinity edge is the perfect solution

to keep the view without sacrificing any safety.

LETICA: It adds so much beauty to this whole project.

It's amazing.

I just love the hot tub. Talk about relaxing.

That's gonna be very relaxing. I love the uniqueness of it.

The square with a circle inside.

It's so unique.

Being a math teacher, this is just perfect!

[ Laughter ]

My favorite's the waterfall and the basketball goal.

You like the waterfall and the basketball goal?

¶¶

What do you think about those scuppers,

your water-feature wall?

I love it. JORGE: That was a must.

The sound of the water is soothing.

It's gonna be very relaxing

with a little glass of wine in the evenings.

It's gonna be wonderful.

Well, a lot of good memories

will come out of this pool, I'm sure.

Oh, definitely.

They're gonna say, "We learned how to swim

at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

There you go. Absolutely.

Anything to get them here. That's right.

Y'all happy with how it came out?

Yeah!

You guys ready to go swimming?

Yeah!

¶¶

LETICA: I just love our new pool.

It's even more beautiful than I ever imagined.

I didn't expect it to be this beautiful. I really didn't.

The best part of it all is watching them enjoy it.

That's the best part.

¶¶