Custom Pools

Custom Pools and Hot Tubs

BonaVista has been a custom pool and hot tub builder for more than four decades. We are a family owned, second-generation custom pool, hot tub and water feature construction company that makes outdoor dreams come true. BonaVista’s pool sales and service division is managed by brother and sister team Peter and Melissa Brown, and is based in Markham, Ontario. With a comprehensive team of technical experts, it is long recognized for its award winning residential and commercial designs, pool service and maintenance as well as renovations. BonaVista’s custom artscapes are the result of Melissa and Peters passionate commitment to ensuring your project is managed thoughtfully while benefitting from advanced engineering.

Whether it’s a babbling brook in the middle of a sea of hydrangeas, a perfect swan dive into a pool that melts into the horizon, a deck that holds the entire family for a Sunday bbq or the sound of laughter filling your backyard pool, we listen to your vision and make your backyard oasis come to life. This is your private oasis. This is your backyard. This is your own BonaVista resort. Live life beautifully.

Life is busy. We all yearn for something that takes us away, leads us to peace and tranquility, allows us more time to relax. For each person that something is entirely different. We understand that at BonaVista. Our name quite literally means beautiful view. Just as beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, a BonaVista backyard begins with your own unique view. Customizable in every respect, our team of professionals creates your retreat and makes it your private oasis as singular as you are. Your vision is our passion. Find your bliss.

What sets BonaVista apart is your involvement in our work. We have been listening to our clients’ wish lists for nearly fine decades, spanning two generations of our own family. We take that vision and make it a reality, using the best-assembled team of professionals and the best materials in the business.

We only build custom shotcrete pools, spas, and water features. We are driven by uncompromising strength and quality and insist on using only the finest, time tested materials. Building pools is our passion.

At BonaVista, our focus and expertise doesn’t just end with swimming pools. When backyard real estate is at a premium, or a swimming pool isn’t on your “must have” list, a custom shotcrete whirlpool built just for you is the perfect answer. Our whirlpool spa design is without a doubt the finest on the local market. We take the same custom-to-you approach to whirlpools as we do with pools, making sure that your luxurious hot tub will meet your every need. Whether it is bench widths or jet configurations, or tile finishes or spa side controls, we will work with you to tailor fit your own little piece of paradise. The therapeutic qualities of water have long been recognized. Water soothes senses, removes stress, heals souls, and slows time. Let the hot, rolling water steam away your stress, and massage your muscles into a peaceful submission.

A BonaVista swimming pool and hot tub is like the endless vacation. With instant access to your very own backyard paradise just steps outside your door, a swimming pool immediately transforms your yard into a reason you and your family will want to stay home. To engage more. To laugh more. To be together. With a pool, your backyard becomes an attractive extension of your home. Afternoon poolside bbqs and outdoor entertaining by the pool create unforgettable impressions that will stay with your guests—and you—long after the party is over. Swimming pools are the essence of luxury and enjoyment. No matter how they are used – for fun, relaxation, or exercise – the experience is always rewarding.

Shotcrete

Custom concrete pool shells are created using either of two processes, both of which involve spraying—or “shooting”—concrete from a hose at high velocity:

“Wet shotcrete” (commonly referred to as shotcrete) is factory-mixed wet concrete delivered to an on-site concrete pump by a concrete truck.
“Dry shotcrete” (commonly referred to as gunite) is mixed dry on-site by workers, pumped dry through a hose, and then hydrated when a nozzle-man adds water to the mix as it exits the hose.

The merits of both processes have served as reason for marketing debates in pool-building circles for decades, and a clear winner has yet to be pronounced. We can say with complete comfort, though: After 25 years of using dry gunite, BonaVista made the educated switch to wet shotcrete for all of its pool shells. That was 24 years ago, and we have never looked back after the shift proved to serve us and our clients extremely well. Why?

The certainty and reliability of employing wet concrete mixed to our exacting specifications in a factory-controlled environment, and then trucked directly to the pool site, ensures that every last inch of a BonaVista shotcrete pool is built with the strength and integrity we promise our clients. We are proud to stand behind our chosen pool-building process. And we are comforted daily knowing that our clients will still be enjoying the pool shell we built for them 30 years from now, and beyond.

Pool Design

The custom pools and spas that BonaVista creates are practically limitless. We specialize and delight in helping clients translate their dreams and ideas into unique realities that work within their particular environments. A myriad of considerations are taken into account when recommending a design or option package, and each experience is different. To ensure satisfaction, we pay special attention to multiple elements, including:

Surrounding environment
Will the pool be situated amongst nature or manmade buildings, or adjacent vast expanse? Will it be lakeside, cliff-top, or part of an overall landscape aesthetic? Intended use—Is the pool for exercise and personal fitness? Will it be a hub of entertainment for children? Perhaps aesthetics are the driving force behind the design.

Yard orientation
How does sunlight travel across the yard? Can prevailing winds be harnessed to help skim debris from the pool surface?

Elevation challenges
Do existing grade changes need to be considered, and do they present opportunities for unique water features?

Themed features
Have you had a neat or unique resort or vacation swimming experience that you want to replicate in your own yard? Have you dreamed of owning a swim-up bar or a pool with a tanning shelf? Or a hidden grotto behind cascading waterfalls? The sky is the limit at BonaVista Pools!

Pool Finishes

The enduring strength of a BonaVista pool is a direct result of our refined engineered-construction practices. The timeless beauty and elegance of them, however, is captured with craftsmen-applied pool finishes. It is these finishes that separate quality builders from the rest and, when done properly, will help meld your pool seamlessly into your specific environment. Finishing materials, selected by you with guidance from us, frame the statement that your custom pool makes to the world. Once again the sky is the limit, but we will help refine your search for the highest quality waterline tile or slate, pool plaster interiors, and natural stone or quarry-tiled pool copings.

Waterline treatment
Choose from a full line of porcelain or glass tile selections created by Cactus Mosaic Tile, Daltile, Olympia Tile, Fujiwa Imported Tile, Ciot, Stone Tile and more.

Plaster interior finishes
Our interior finish of choice for all BonaVista pools is marbelite, a hand-troweled plaster finish that creates a supple-smooth non-slip surface. This finish can be infused with just about any shade or colour imaginable. Quartz aggregate can also be added for character.

Totally tiled interiors
As the ultimate in durability and aesthetic expression, there is nothing like the breathtaking appearance of a totally tiled hot tub or swimming pool. Such extensive tiling only comes from a highly specialized field of expertise in which quality workmanship means everything. Our tile installers are of the best in the industry, and their attention to detail is practically unrivalled.

Pool coping
Gone are the days of broom-finished concrete pool decks. Now, natural stone coping defines the strength and quality of the pool at your feet, and it ushers you away from life’s harsh realities into the soothing, natural escape that only water can provide. We will help you find the right coping texture, colour, and look you want to cap your new or refurbished swimming pool.

Only BonaVista offers innovative designs, complete integration and a family’s legacy to listen, respond and serve. Discover why BonaVista has created thousands of the most beautiful and sought-after custom artscapes in Ontario.

Custom Pools Gallery