Original subtitles

-Let's rock! -Yeah.

LUCAS: I'm Lucas Congdon.

All right, you guys, we did it, yeah!

[ Laughs ]

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

-Oh, my God. -Yeah, baby!

LUCAS: ...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.

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 driving over to meet Craig and Cat Scherer

in Cortez, Florida.

They're some previous clients of mine.

They've upgraded to a bigger home,

so I guess it's time to upgrade their pool.

-Hey, buddy, how you doing? -Hey, Craig.

-Good to see you. -You, too, man.

So this is the backyard, huh, guys? Yeah!

I can see why you brought me out here.

It's like everything is just over the top awesome

and then what is this, like, a hot tub?

It's a hot tub/pool that doesn't really heat up

and there's no place to sit.

On the last pool we did the Tennessee rock grotto,

did a rock spa,

totally remodeled the backyard pool.

But what are you kind of thinking for this pool?

I really wanted to go

the opposite direction with this.

A much lighter rock,

maybe kind of under the sea since we're under the house -- Right.

...and we're so close to the water.

This is something we're trying to remodel or we want

to rip it out and start over or what are you thinking?

I was kind of hoping we blow out that way

and maybe go past these columns -- Right.

...and maybe have part of the pool in the sun. Right.

Then also, I got issues with my back.

So maybe if we can incorporate some place

to lay with some jets in the pool?

Looking at these chairs, you have and they're

kind of a really cool contour.

If we could mimic that shape, like almost two custom loungers

in this new pool with jets all in it.

You guys could lay there by each other and have -- That would be awesome.

...like, all that therapy.

Okay, then we want something for privacy,

maybe like a wall of some sort.

Anyone coming down the street is looking straight in at you so. Pretty much.

Having done a pool for the Scherers before,

I know they love entertaining

and they're definitely gonna need a big outdoor kitchen

and entertaining area.

Now you've got this killer view,

so maybe it's something you can sit and look out.

You know, by the time we're done,

it's gonna be gorgeous. -That's what you do.

I'm really excited about this project.

This is gonna be a real challenge,

but I think I'm getting a game plan together.

I just hope that Craig and Catherine see my vision

and like my ideas.

So it was great to kind of walk

around down there and take it all in.

You know, I know you want to make it really natural

and feel like the ocean's

kind of almost coming up underneath the house so... Right.

...we'll extend the pool,

past the columns like you suggested,

and to further get that ocean feel

and to give you guys some privacy,

I want to make a huge water wall

using rocks that look like coral.

Awesome. We kind of have to own the fact

that we have these columns coming down to the pool.

I think we turn them into a feature,

make like a table so that you have more places -- That would be nice.

...to set a drink down or something like that. Sure.

And then not in the sun,

put some stools in a swimming bar

where you could sit facing the water.

That under the sea type of feel that I have up here,

I want to have it down there as well. Right.

What if we were kind of rocked around the whole thing?

So when you looked down into it,

it's gonna look like a coral reef.

And to make it feel even more like an ocean,

we'll add sand to the bottom of the pool.

-That would be beautiful. -Yeah, yeah.

Well, if you like this concept,

we'll get started as soon as you're ready.

-Sounds great. -All right. Cool, guys.

-Let's do it. -Awesome.

Now that I have my plan of attack,

I'm ready to grab my team and show them how we can turn

this small little pool area

into an under the sea-themed lagoon oasis.

What is this thing?

This is what they call a pool, I guess, around here. Yeah.

That's like a bathtub to me.

This is gonna be the most complicated demo

we've ever done.

Now you take out a column, the whole thing is coming down.

-I'll be gentle. -Yeah.

[ Laughter ]

¶¶

Pull it in. Keep it kind of low.

Crash and I carefully begin the tedious task

of demoing this pool and I'm keeping a close eye

because we're liable for any damage to the house.

And, of course, already Crash is living up to his name.

Come on, Crash, are you kidding me?

Did you just hit that?

It's really not that bad of a thing.

I mean, it's better than hitting the column. Dude.

Now, we've got to fix all that. This is ridiculous.

Despite Crash's little accident,

we were able to finish demo and dig out the pool.

We built the forums and put in the rebar.

Now it's time for shotcrete.

With all the added bar tops and feature walls,

this pool is going to require over 70 yards of shotcrete.

Meanwhile, I put Sunshine to work on a special project.

Since Greg has problems with his lower back,

they want contoured seats with therapy jets built in.

To make these, first we have to make a form

out of wood that mimics the contours of the body.

Next, I'll run the plumbing through the form

to give me my therapy jets.

Once I got everything the way I like it,

I just put in the concrete

the way I would the rest of the pool.

LUCAS: It's my favorite day. Time to start the rock work.

For the Scherers' pool,

we're creating a coral reef look.

And to create that look, we're using native Florida fieldstone.

They sure are dirty.

We're going to cover the entire interior of the pool

with all this rock.

When we're finished, you'll really feel like

you're stepping into a coral reef.

¶¶

The unpredictable Florida weather has really been

working against us.

We had a really good start on the rock work,

but this rain came in overnight with a vengeance.

Ooh.

Oh, man.

We're not gonna be able to work in that.

¶¶

LUCAS: I'm here in Cortez, Florida, at the Scherer job,

starting my morning out with horrible weather.

Wow, we got a little lagoon action.

Should we pump it or what?

Yeah, plug the pump in. Let's get it pumping out.

Hopefully we'll have a little break in the rain.

Maybe we can get something done.

I can't let this rain slow me down too much.

I want to see if I can at least

start working on the big rocks for the waterfall.

I brought two special rocks today.

These two slabs are Florida cap rock.

I actually got them about 10 years ago

when I built my own waterfall

into my pond in the backyard of my house.

But I realized they would look at the Scherer project.

They're really beautiful rocks, but they're also very big.

There's two walls that the rock has to go over.

¶¶

LUCAS: Oh, man, I don't think

I'm gonna make it over the second wall.

¶¶

Am I clear of the house?

Yeah, you only have, like, a half an inch to work with.

I hope it goes in.

Straight down, come my way now.

That's good. Down now. There it is.

Look at all the character there. I mean, that's such a feature.

We got one of Lucas's special rocks in place.

Now it's time for the next one and it's bigger.

-Whoa. -Whoa, buddy.

LUCAS: The rock's coming over.

I'm not gonna let it beat me.

[ Groans ]

¶¶

There you go, down.

Whoo! Man, that's 10 years in the making.

Just waiting for the right spot.

[ Birds calling ]

The weather has finally improved and now

we can start working on the Scherers' family

outdoor entertaining space.

We're removing that bulky old staircase

to open up the area to that ocean view.

We lay travertine tile to give them more usable patio space.

Now it's time for the kitchen.

My crew frames the cabinets and tiles the outdoor bar.

Finally, we can install these gorgeous countertops.

Today, we're tying up all the loose ends,

we're installing the spiral staircase.

And Woman is working her magic on the landscape.

There we go.

Why'd you have to get such a big specimen?

LUCAS: This driftwood piece

is going to bring this space to life.

Crash and Old Man are finishing off the under the sea

look with the sandy pool bottom.

We're using five yards of sand,

which means over a hundred trips with the wheelbarrow.

¶¶

CRASH: This thing's ready to get some water in it.

I'm so glad this is done.

LUCAS: It's going to take about eight hours

to fill this under the sea pool.

Then it'll be ready for the Scherers.

Today's the big deal.

I finally get to show the Scherers their new backyard.

I just hope that it's everything that they wanted.

All right, on the count of three,

you guys can open your eyes, okay?

One, two, three.

Check it out. This is it.

-Wow! -Wow.

Oh, my God.

-You're under the sea. -Oh, my God.

You are under the sea! This is gorgeous.

-Oh, my God. -We got waterfalls.

Look at the orchids.

This is amazing.

It was a tiny little pool

and now we can swim out to the edge of our yard

and be in the sun.

It looks great.

Remember, Cat, you said you wanted a coral reef look

so we got the rock all down. -Absolutely.

Look at the sand.

That is so cool. It's just amazing.

Remember before, you were standing here

and anyone driving down the street

is just staring in at you? Yeah, you can't see the street anymore.

You got your own private little world back here. Beautiful.

And then also,

I want to point out that these two main feature rocks,

these are rocks that I had for the last 10 years.

They were my special rocks.

And I just never had the right spot for them.

But when I was doing your job,

I realized that they were the perfect rocks for here.

-This is spectacular, man. -I love it.

And, you know, instead of those columns

just almost being a hindrance,

we've turned those into planters.

You got your custom concrete bar top.

Craig had one request. Check this out.

That is so cool.

The therapy chairs and jets are just amazing.

He did a wonderful job.

-This is cool. -So cool.

So, Cat, I know you love turquoise and sea green color.

We did it in the bar and we got this awesome sea green,

hand-carved ice chest. -Gorgeous. I love it.

CRAIG: The kitchen area turned out gorgeous.

I think our backyard's complete.

We have the house.

The pool area is absolutely amazing

and it totally suits the theme under the sea.

Can't really think of anything else we would need.

I think we're done.

LUCAS: I think my team did an excellent job.

We did everything that they wanted on their list.

I could tell they were blown away.

I think we far exceeded their expectations.

-Wow. -Nice.

-He created paradise, for sure. -Fantastic.

WOMAN: I love it.

¶¶

LUCAS: The Jager family may live in Las Vegas,

but they're beach bums at heart

and they want a backyard that feels like a tropical paradise.

We moved here about 15 years ago from Southern California.

We're a beachy family.

We love going to the beach and surfing.

And so, we're trying to give that tropical feel

of California here in Las Vegas.

LUCAS: This design will create a tropical desert oasis

for the Jagers.

Right outside their back door

will be a huge sunken fire pit area

surrounded by water on three sides.

It will feature an awesome day bed for lounging by the fire.

And right next to it are three big bubblers.

The champagne spa has raised above the pools waterline

and will be the perfect place

to take in that beautiful view of the Vegas Strip.

Next to that will be a giant baja shelf with room

for four loungers.

But the true wow factor of this pool

is the island in the center, complete with beach sand,

palm trees, and a hammock to bring those SoCal vibes.

A fully functional outdoor kitchen and bar area

will mean they never have to go inside.

And the fire features light and rain curtain

will engage all the senses.

¶¶

MAN: Clear! Let's roll!

LUCAS: This crew wastes no time laying out the perimeter

and digging out this monster pool.

Rebar completes the form and shotcrete as brought in.

This pool is over 90 feet long

and requires some very skilled installers

to cut the concrete for all the different features.

The beachy island is formed in the middle of the pool

and the shell is dug.

¶¶

The crew installs over 800 square feet of glass tile

to match the sparkle of the Vegas Strip.

Today, the crew has the nerve-racking task

of craning these two, 1 1/2-ton palm trees

over the Jagers' house and into the island.

Not only could these trees damage the house

as they lift them over,

but each one costs $10,000

so the crew has to be extremely careful.

MAN: The wind doesn't help at all now.

Left, left, left. Watch the roof line.

¶¶

We're good. Bring it down.

LUCAS: The trees need to be perfectly oriented

for the ultimate hammock spot.

This island is bringing the beach vibes to the desert.

This jackpot pool is almost ready for its big reveal.

Landscaping is planted,

the fire features are installed,

and the island is filled with sand.

Three, two, one. Open your eyes.

-Wow! -Whoa.

We're so excited and a little bit nervous

to see this design plan come to reality.

Three, two, one. Open your eyes.

-Whoa. -Wow.

Mom, get the camera.

¶¶

I love this day bed

with the fire and the bubblers, the infinity edge.

The first thing you see is that fire pit

with the fire going behind it.

It's just very glamorous.

You guys gave me my showstopper I was looking for.

-Awesome. -This is insane.

WILLOW: It was better than I could ever have imagined.

It's soothing, like, I'm at a world class spa.

My eyes went straight to the island with the sand

and the hammock and palm trees.

I'm gonna have to go give that a try right now. Go for it.

It's calling my name.

-Oh, yeah. -Yep.

Now when I can't find him, this is where he'll be.

That's right. He'll never leave that place.

LUCAS: The 360-degree infinity edge spa

is a perfect match to this pool.

It provides gorgeous views of the desert and the Vegas Strip.

They really nailed the spa.

With the view and this jacuzzi,

I can see myself coming in

and hanging out with Shane in it.

I can't tell where I'm gonna spend most of my time

in the pool, in the hammock or chillin' in the spa.

Here's your outdoor kitchen.

-Whoa. -Wow.

You got your fridge over here.

You got your beverage center, storage, sink.

WILLOW: We can throw a party that will use that whole grill.

-Oh, yeah. -I like it.

We won't need to go inside.

Yes!

And I don't have to cook. [ Laughs ]

We have one more surprise for you guys.

You're ready? -Yeah.

Okay, here we go.

-Whoa. -Wow.

-My gosh. -Crazy.

-Unbelievable. -Thank you, I love it.

WILLOW: I love how they incorporated

both the family pool

and then the glamorous, entertaining pool.

I foresee many nights of hosting parties.

This is pretty cool.

LUCAS: This pool is the ultimate

combination of Vegas glitz and tropical beach chill.

You brought us Southern California

at the beach.

ALL: Cheers!

¶¶

[ Bell rings ]

I'm Emily Wick and this is my husband, Bo,

and we live just north of San Antonio in the hill country.

LUCAS: Along with their son, Brody,

Emily and Bo are some real jetsetters

and are always looking forward to the next trip.

This spring, we took a trip to Roatán,

an island off the coast of Honduras,

and absolutely fell in love with it. Mm.

So after visiting Roatán, we really considered buying

a house there for a vacation home

and we decided, you know,

what instead about bringing it to us?

We want a little slice of paradise in our backyard.

LUCAS: Don't worry, Emily.

This design will bring Roatán right to your backyard.

Every Caribbean dream needs a beach entrance.

The whole pool is framed with tropical palms and for a resort

feel there's not only a swim up bar,

but a margarita table to sit back and enjoy.

Plus, a faux vanishing edge

will frame the view of the Texas hills perfectly.

¶¶

Over 20 tons of dirt will need to be removed

to create this 10,000-gallon pool.

Being in the Texas hill country,

these guys are bound to hit rock.

The question isn't if, but when they're only 15 inches

away from the desired depth, when they hit solid stone.

But they have a 5,000-pound jackhammer on site

to make quick work of it.

¶¶

The frames are up and the trenches are dug

for the quarter mile of plumbing needed for this pool.

¶¶

Now, the steel.

They lay a gravel base

then prop up the steel with block

so it will sit perfectly in the middle of the pool form.

¶¶

Here's our first loaded gunite.

LUCAS: Then they'll use a wet mix of gunite,

meaning the concrete and water are premixed

and pretested for strength before arriving onsite.

The 50 yards of concrete will be shot into this pool,

giving it a strong foundation.

To give it a true Roatán feel,

they start by shooting the deepest area

of the beach entry at 12 inches,

then flow to evenly back to a zero inch entry.

It will really give the Wicks their private beach paradise.

¶¶

Waterline, tile, and travertine

coping will give this pool a sleek tropical look.

¶¶

Flagstone was chosen for the exterior of the pool

to match the Wicks' existing patio to the new pool

will flow seamlessly with their home.

¶¶

No tropical paradise is complete without palm trees,

and these palms are so big,

we need a crane to lift

all 7,000 pounds of them into place.

Let's go ahead and drop it in.

¶¶

LUCAS: This pool will be finished off

with two different colors of plaster.

White is used for the beach entry

to mimic the sand of the Caribbean

and the blue for the rest of the pool

to give it that bright blue ocean feel.

It's already feeling like the tropics.

The pool will be filled overnight

and then it's time for the big reveal.

I can feel the ocean breeze already.

Oh, here we go.

All right, what do y'all think?

-Wow. -Oh, wow.

-Oh, wow. -I love it!

LUCAS: This backyard has been completely transformed

into a private Caribbean paradise.

I hope the Wicks love their little slice of Roatán.

Oh, here we go.

All right, what do y'all think?

-Wow. -Oh, wow.

-That's cool. -Oh, wow.

-Oh, wow. -I love this. Are you kidding?

-You guys nailed it. -That's awesome.

Wow, hello, Roatán.

Yeah, definitely, but right here in your yard.

LUCAS: That beach entry makes me feel like I'm there.

BO: Oh, how many hours are we gonna spend there? EMILY: Lots.

-It looks like white sand. -No, it really does.

It looks like a white sand beach. It really does.

LUCAS: The bar area is a perfect place to relax with a cocktail.

EMILY: Oh, I see lots of dinners outside, right?

Did you see the margarita table? Yeah.

-That's cool. -Totally sit there and chill.

-What a great area. -Yeah.

-How about the landscaping? -The landscaping's awesome.

I mean, it feels like we're in the tropics. Yeah.

I absolutely love the palm trees, guys, like, wow.

They just need parrots and stuff

sitting in them now. -Yeah.

LUCAS: And that beautiful negative edge makes it look like

the water just keeps going.

EMILY: The view is amazing. All the hills fall in behind it. Wow.

It's just perfect.

So did we bring you Roatán?

I think this is definitely Roatán.

LUCAS: This tropical wonderland is so peaceful,

I almost forgot it's nestled in the hills of Texas.

It's the best of both worlds.

BO: One of the big reasons we decided to put in a pool

is because we wanted to place for Brody to hang out

and bring all his friends over.

And that's the way it's worked out.

I don't think there's a place they want

to go other than --

-The pool. -Yeah, the pool.

[ Screams ]

We love sitting outside, being able to just sit and chill

with our friends and talk, relax,

and then, just watching the kids.

I mean, they put an island paradise in our backyard.

Absolutely. Roatán in our backyard.

We couldn't ask for anything more.

¶¶

I'm going to visit Kim and Manny Martinez.

They live in older, historic part of Sarasota

right by the airport.

Hey, Lucas, thanks for braving the weather.

Yeah, yeah.

So with any design and build, I get my inspiration

from the clients, of course, but also their yard.

MANNY: This was kind of left the way it is on purpose -- Right.

...we figured at some point we're gonna put a pool in.

We're really big on the natural look. Natural environment.

So when you're thinking about rocks,

you think about the native indigenous Florida limestone. Yeah.

We travel a lot to the Caribbean, Hawaii,

and so we'd like to have the saltwater pool. Awesome.

I've always wanted a beach entry.

-Maybe sand bottom, possibly -- -Wow.

...just to give you that real, natural,

like you're diving down into. That would be cool, yeah.

I want to feel the sand between my toes.

I don't want to feel just the regular pool bottom.

I'm starting to get a vision here. I like that.

The focal point here really seems to be

kind of where the shed is,

so if we do a nice water feature,

give it some height so it blocks out the shed.

That'd be really, really great. That sounds good, yeah.

We're putting a lot of our savings into this project,

so it's very important this lagoon be just right.

LUCAS: Basically, you got your house in an L shape.

You can kind of come out away from this corner.

This would be a great place

to have the big board of limestone stacked up in here.

And like a big waterfall to block out that shed.

More rock work, some kind of lower waterfall

building up to the main feature, which is the grotto.

We'll do a beach area and the shallow end

will have a sand bottom retained

with some beautiful boulders, almost like a coral reef.

We'll build a beautiful stone fire feature

for chilly Florida nights.

And you can't get more Caribbean

than a hammock and coconut palms.

-We like that. -Good.

-So I'm ready to go for it. -Yes.

-That's a yes. -Yes.

Oh, you guys are awesome.

I'm excited that give Kim and Manny

want to move forward with the project.

Let's get moving on this Caribbean masterpiece.

¶¶

We paint the lines,

give the outline of the pool shelf.

Five, six radius points.

¶¶

This is the grotto,

and you're gonna be close to 9-foot.

Oh, look at that pretty line now.

All right, I get to dig now!

Yeah, man, let's go get that machine! Yeah.

There's nothing better than moving some dirt.

My favorite thing to do.

LUCAS: Good, Crash, because you'll be moving literally

tons of dirt to make this pool.

Freeform designs require a little more work,

but always come out amazing.

CRASH: We finally got the hole dug.

Now it's time for a rebar.

Rebar is long sticks of steel.

All these rocks are like thousands of pounds,

so we need to make sure everything's safe.

Now that the skeleton of the whole pool, the rebar's in,

you can really start seeing it take shape.

For this project, we're using shotcrete

because that's the strongest material that you can use.

It's gonna last forever.

Today, we're bringing in 48 tons of stone.

Kim and Manny wanted their Caribbean oasis

to be indigenous to Florida.

So I'm using all native Florida stone

to start making this Caribbean oasis come alive.

But before we can even get moving on rock work,

Kim and Manny have a surprise for me.

Manny and I wanted to interject

a little bit more of that Caribbean feel.

So I have a special surprise for Lucas

that might do just the track.

Oh, what have you guys done?

Wait, more rocks?

Design away.

Wow. Okay. Those are definitely different.

I think these beautiful Caribbean green rocks

are gonna really make this look very special.

I mean, they're pretty rocks.

They're just not really going with what I had in my mind.

-You can do it. -Okay.

Time to get inspired.

All right. -Good luck.

Kim's really giving me a design challenge

with these green rocks.

Ah, these are heavy.

I don't know what to do with these green rocks.

I wish they'd just go away.

Whoo.

LUCAS: Kim has insisted that we have to

incorporate her green rock.

I really don't like them.

I don't think they're gonna look good in this project,

but hopefully in the end,

I'll be able to appreciate the green rocks

and not hate them like I do right now.

After some thinking, my crew and I have come up

with some creative ways to use these stones.

We'll use one as a lid for the smaller waterfall.

And Woman had a great idea of putting the green Caribbean

stone inside the grotto, almost like a geode.

All right, guys, let's get to work

and start building this thing.

-All right. -Finally.

Finally, time to set rocks.

So we have all hands on deck right now.

LUCAS: We're ready to roll with the new changes

and I hope these Caribbean rocks

enhance my design instead of ruining it.

¶¶

The overall picture is gonna turn out fine

because there's gonna be water on the green rock.

It's gonna look like it naturally eroded the white rock

away from the green

and it'll blend in together in the pool.

Kim and Manny really want this green rock in

so we're gonna do it.

We're gonna make it work.

LUCAS: Now that we're wrestling these green rocks into place,

it's really starting to come together.

No, that's perfect just like that,

because the water can sneak right under it. It looks good.

Not only do we incorporate the green rocks into the build,

but we actually created

another little waterfall with one of them.

The key to a Lucas' lagoon waterfall

is that you don't see how it works.

What I use is a series of Ts

to disperse the water evenly across the rock.

Oh, look at that. Right on the level.

And at the end, I cap it off

with a cap to build back pressure.

The water coming over this green rocks

really gonna bring the color out.

Well, just keep on continuing down

and get onto the grotto next.

Yeah, that looks good. A lot better. Nice.

Holy camoly.

We're setting the grotto lid

and this Florida limestone is huge.

I can't really see, man.

You gotta tell me where I need to go.

This one's probably one of the biggest,

heaviest ones I've ever set.

Go a little bit more!

My machine's ready to lift like 6,000 pounds.

And this feels like every bit of 6,000 pounds.

Dude, all I want us to do is shoot through those straps.

I don't think we've ever used eight straps for one rock, man.

That thing is so huge.

That's got to be 12 feet long.

It sounded like there was a lot of tension on the straps

and Lucas was concerned

that they were gonna possibly snap.

-All right, here we go. -Okay, down.

Pull 'em out a little.

Beautiful. Good.

Just keep it turning like that as you come down.

Keep twisting it.

Okay. Down.

It's level right there.

Now the lid is in place. There's a sigh of relief.

Crisis averted.

LUCAS: I've never in all my years seen a rock so gorgeous

with that big of a natural hole in it.

We dug the dirt out.

We were careful not to place the rock

on the plumbing and break that.

Oh, man, that's gonna look awesome with a palm tree

growing through there like magic.

The travertine's arrived now we're ready to start laying it.

The idea behind this ivory travertine

is replicating a beautiful white sand beach.

We've used Florida fieldstone as coping around the pool,

which is very jagged, in irregular shape.

It's gonna take a lot of time for these guys

to cut each piece to fit around the rock

so it looks organic.

The Martinezes chose a salt water pool filtration system.

That's a common misconception

when people think saltwater pool.

They actually think that it's heavily salted water.

It's not. What happens is there's a salt water cell

and through electrolysis separates the sodium

and the chlorine salt.

You can regulate how much chlorine goes into the system,

naturally.

You wouldn't taste any salt. It tastes like regular water.

But there's enough chlorine and stuff in there

that it should keep the pool clean.

LUCAS: It's time to bring

the Martinez's private beach to life.

MAN: Sunshine and I are spreading it out.

Took about five yards of sand to build this beach.

SUNSHINE: I see the Martinez's grandson,

building sand castles and everything.

I love it.

To the bottom she goes.

I think my coral reef retaining wall

is doing a good job holding back the sand.

LUCAS: With the last remaining green Caribbean rocks

we'll build their poolside fire pit.

We couldn't use a machine to set these rocks

because it was in the middle of the travertine deck.

Let's go a little bit closer to you. Closer.

[ Laughs ]

Hey!

And it's gonna be a more manly type fireplace.

Now that the fire pits spill out of these green rocks,

I'm kind of stepping back and looking at everything.

Finally, it all makes sense.

You know, it's not just like a couple random rocks.

It really ties the whole thing together.

-They're looking good. -Good job, guys.

Right there.

In the end, the green rocks, they did look good.

I kind of like them.

SUNSHINE: We know we're getting close to the end of the build

when we start doing landscaping.

I love this part because it's really brings the project

from 100% to 150

and it really comes to life.

LUCAS: All these final details will transport this insane pool

straight to the Caribbean.

-It looks about good. -Yeah.

I mean, everything

kind of complements each other, the decor,

the rocks, the color of the water.

Definitely feels like a little Caribbean island backyard.

Can't wait for the Martinez to see it.

I'm scared.

I'm scared to go see our backyard.

One, two, three.

-Oh, my God. -Oh, my God.

¶¶

Well, I'm here at the Martinez project

and about to show them their backyard.

Finally completed after eight weeks.

Think they're gonna to be blown away.

I am scared.

I'm scared to go see our backyard.

I just want you to picture what it looked like

when I first came over.

Just weeds and more weeds.

You ready? -We're ready.

All right, check it out.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

This is crazy.

Oh, this is awesome.

This is the Caribbean. It's right here.

-This is incredible. -This is beautiful.

Wow.

I love it.

Yes.

You got the rock below the waterline

giving you a really organic native feel.

As I was getting into the project,

you threw these green rocks at me, of course.

The first place we incorporated your green rock

was in the grotto,

so it's kind of like this cool feature,

almost like a geode back in there.

And the second feature we created

was this secondary waterfall, and that's a real gem.

I mean, really beautiful.

And then when I went to do Manny's fire pit

and incorporated the rock there,

it came together more beautiful than I even imagined.

It's very harmonious. I mean, it looks beautiful.

So, check out your fire feature.

I mean, this is Manny's fire pit.

Have a seat.

So, see, I have it kind of turned down right now,

but if it's cold, you can really turn this baby up

and get more heat. -Wow!

-Whoo! -Oh, yeah, that's big, baby.

That's big.

You know, another thing you were saying, Kim,

was that you wanted to have a place for your grandson

to play, so we created this awesome sand beach area.

We even got you some sand toys

for your grandson to play with.

And then, of course, the sand bottom area.

So whether you're in the water or out of the water,

you can have your toes in the sand and take it all in.

-This is incredible. Wow. -This is awesome.

It's just like you're in the Caribbean.

Old Man created this retaining wall in there

to hold the sand back in the shallower area.

I love it. My grandson Trevor is gonna love.

And of course, that beautiful rock

with the hole in it, that --

I've been doing this for 15 years.

I've never seen a rock with that big of a hole in it,

and it's just incredible.

You'll never see that rock again.

I mean, what screams more Caribbean

than a hammock and coconut trees?

Are those real coconuts?

These are real coconuts.

You can drink the milk out of them. Awesome.

You can eat them. -It's incredible.

We're in the Caribbean.

I was not expecting this at all.

You know what's so cool about it?

You can lay in the hammock,

and you got the perfect view of your waterfalls. Exactly, yes.

I love it.

This landscaping is absolutely beautiful, Lucas.

Well, it's just such a key element, you know,

to softening it, making it feel natural.

It looks tropical. It looks perfect.

And imagine how this looks at night.

As beautiful as my projects look during the day, at night,

that's when they come alive.

Manny and Kim look so happy.

They look like they were on their honeymoon or something.

They were just glowing.

All: Whoo!

[ Laughter ]

¶¶

LUCAS: On the other side of the country

in Palm Springs, California,

the Laceras are looking for the luxury pool

and resort lifestyle to land in their narrow backyard.

To make this happen, every inch of real estate

will need to make a high impact.

We spend a lot of time

in resorts and travel really far to get there.

And we thought, well, why not just live in one?

LUCAS: This giant 70-foot long horseshoe

shaped swimming pool will wrap around three sides of the house

maximizing every inch of this yard.

Off the master bedroom

is a quiet retreat just Fonda equipped with a firepit

and tranquil water features.

Entertaining will be a breeze with this sunken barbecue

attached to a swim up bar.

And for that true resort feel a beach entry

along with Tom's very own putting green on the other side.

This long, linear lap style pool

will have tons of water features

including a spillway off a rock bridge,

as well as a large, relaxing free-form spa.

Looks like Lacera paradise.

¶¶

This build means utilizing every square inch of their yard

to truly create their ultimate dream resort.

Now that the pool is taking shape,

it's time to start all the rock work.

This is gonna be the grotto lid, correct?

Yeah, we're gonna go ahead and form this up,

add additional rebar, make it stronger

so they can get up here and have a little dance if they want.

LUCAS: These guys are forming this grotto out of natural

and man-made rocks, but when it's finished,

you won't even be able to tell the difference.

On the other side of the pool, the bridge is in place

and ready for some finishing touches.

You don't wanna get too much on,

but you want to get in these indentations, right?

LUCAS: Although they formed it out of concrete

instead of natural stone,

by using a combination of specialized paints

and a unique artistic touch,

they're able to turn a concrete slab

into a natural looking rock bridge.

Another custom detail is the handcut pieces of stone

that will be used around the perimeter of the pool

in place of the traditional waterline tile.

It's the fine tuned skill of these masons

that'll make this pool one of a kind.

LUCAS: A beautiful blue plaster is used

to really make this paradise resort pool pop.

Tom's backyard putting green is installed

and soon it will be time

for the Laceras to see their dream pool.

-Three... -Two...

-One. -Check it out.

Oh, my God.

¶¶

LUCAS: I hope this beautiful pool lives up to Tom

and Fonda's resort dream.

It's been so long, we are so excited to finally see our pool!

Yeah.

-Keep your eyes closed. -A little bit more.

-Three... -Two...

-One. -Check it out.

Oh, my God.

Oh, wow, yay!

Oh, honey. -Wow, that's beautiful.

Oh, wow.

LUCAS: Every last inch of this backyard is covered,

giving the Laceras everything they could ever want.

What do you guys think?

-That flagstone's gorgeous. -Yeah.

Wow, the jacuzzi's huge!

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

-Look at. -That is awesome.

That's just awesome. It's like, wow. Wonderful.

-I can't believe it. -It's so beautiful.

Water everywhere. The spa's absolutely huge.

-Thank you. -This is your zen area.

My sanctuary, they absolutely took what I told them,

what I wanted to see and just brought it to life.

Wow. It's beautiful.

The water that comes out, the sound.

I really think it's awesome.

LUCAS: The sunken barbecue has the perfect view of the grotto.

-Look at the granite. -Yeah, it's fantastic.

-This is huge. -[ Speaks indistinctly ]

I know it's fantastic.

We like the sunken area going down to the barbecue.

The granite countertop is just absolutely beautiful.

People could sit at the bar, have a cocktail.

There's a grotto right there with the waterfall.

You're looking straight at it.

I could put some steaks on the grill and we're all set.

The party doesn't just stop here.

That's a huge beach entry for everyone to sit there. FONDA: Wow.

I mean, you can visualize

40 people right around this area. Or nobody,

Or nobody.

Works for me.

LUCAS: The entertaining space is perfect.

Now, how about hitting some golf balls at the putting green?

¶¶

-There you go. My putting green. -This is your area.

-Yay, honey. -This is perfect.

The putting green's a lot larger than

I thought it was gonna be.

This is gorgeous.

And it's just absolutely perfect for practicing.

Here we go.

ALL: Yay!

Oh, yeah!

I would never have had that happen.

Awesome, honey.

The first time, I'm on the putting green

I'm one for one.

We'll see how long that lasts.

This pool is incredible. It is exactly what we wanted.

It's resort style living right at our house.

¶¶

The grotto's just beautiful, just listening to the waterfall.

You could swim underneath it.

It's just absolutely gorgeous.

Now, I'm going to be able

to step right up my patio, right into the water.

It's just gonna be awesome!

Oh.

Yeah, of all the places we've been,

I think I like this one the best.

Our dreams actually came to life.

¶¶