Craft Over Scale: Why Working With The Owner Matters

A maintenance license wasn’t supposed to lead to a custom pool legacy—until it did. We sit down with builder Don Gentili of Gentili Custom Pools to trace the arc from servicing lines and underground repairs to crafting award-winning backyard centers of gravity. Don explains how hands-on experience shaped his approach to design, how he navigated the leap from maintenance to construction, and why an owner-led model delivers better outcomes for detailed, custom work.

We dive into the knife-edge trend—sometimes called a zero knife edge or infinity knife edge—where water meets the coping as a perfect mirror and vanishes into a hidden trough. Don walks through the engineering behind that serene effect, the precision required to keep the water level exact, and the cost considerations homeowners should weigh before committing. If you’ve dreamed of a resort look at home, his guidance clarifies when the investment pays off and how to avoid common pitfalls that can undermine the clean visual line.

Sustainability gets a clear-eyed look as Don tackles one of the biggest myths in residential design: that pools consume more water than lawns. Citing studies and field experience, he explains how, after the initial fill, a properly managed pool can use less water than turf irrigation over a season. We talk practical strategies—covers, wind control, efficient filtration—to keep evaporation and top-offs down without sacrificing clarity or comfort. For homeowners balancing beauty, function, and resource use, the insights are refreshing and actionable.

Beyond design, Don shares how decades of referrals have shaped his business, why he scaled back from a larger team to personally lead each project, and how that choice speeds decisions, tightens quality control, and aligns expectations. We also get a glimpse of the person behind the builds—surf sessions that clear the mind, the patience required for custom work, and the satisfaction of seeing a mirror-flat surface come to life in a client’s yard.

If you’re considering a custom pool, curious about knife-edge designs, or weighing water use against lawn care, this conversation delivers practical advice, hard-won lessons, and a blueprint for working with a builder who shows up from the first call to the final walkthrough.

 Visit: https://www.gentilicustompools.com/

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Rachel Five.

SPEAKER_02 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Now, are you looking for aunique custom designed pool?
Well, this resource is closerthan you think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Don Gentili, with GentilliCustom Pools.
Don, how is it going?

SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Very good, Rachel.
Thank you for inviting me onyour uh podcast.

SPEAKER_02 (00:37):
Well, we are excited to learn about your custom pool
business.
So tell us about your company.

SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
Well, we've been in business for 50 years.
I started in 1975.
I was only five years old.
No.
Um, so here's what happened whenuh I wanted to actually just
clean pools.
I started doing that for thefirst few years.
And then I realized I needed toget a license to do whatever
thing I was doing.
And so I applied for my licensewhere I was was a C61 for

(01:08):
cleaning and maintaining pools.
But the contractors board kickedit back and said, No, you're
overqualified for this, you needto get a C53 for building pools.
I told them, Well, I didn't wantto build pools, I just wanted to
clean them.
They said, Well, you can stilldo that.
I said, Oh, okay.
But I didn't have any plans atall to start building.
But as soon as I got thelicense, I started building
pools.
I just started doing it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:30):
Wonderful.
So you kind of touched uponthat.
How did how did you get intothis type of business?

SPEAKER_00 (01:35):
Yeah, well, so I mean, I owe I knew everything
about pools to begin withbecause of all the maintenance
that I did.
And I did a lot of undergroundwork, and so I had pretty much
good knowledge of uh how poolswere built.
And uh the only thing I didn'thave good knowledge of is how do
you finance it?
Because I used I was thinking,well, I gotta come up with the
money myself to in order to youknow pay for all the work.

(01:57):
And then I would later Irealized you know it's not my
money I'm using, I'm using theclient's money.
So then I made it a little biteasier to figure that out.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04):
Wonderful.
So, what is really the hottestnew uh pool design these days
that you find your um reallypopular?

SPEAKER_00 (02:12):
For the last eight to ten years, one of the latest,
hottest designs is what's calledsome people call it a uh
infinity knife edge or sometimesa zero knife edge, where it
looks like the water's just likea sheet of glass all the way to
the top of the pool and justdisappears over an edge, which
you can't really see.

(02:32):
It just has a very unique look.
It's there's a lot ofengineering involved, and it
adds quite a bit to the cost,but uh the the total effect is
great.
I mean, let me I have a pictureof one that we went on award on
here.
You can see the negative edgehere comes right up to the edge,
and it looks like it's going tooverflow, but it doesn't quite

(02:54):
do that at all.
It just disappears behind ahidden a hidden trough.
And uh that's one of the latestdesigns that's been real popular
in a lot of areas, although itdoes add a lot of expanse,
though.
That's the one drawback is kindof expensive doing that one
design.

SPEAKER_02 (03:10):
Wonderful.
Well, what are some miss ormisconceptions in your industry?
Do you think?

SPEAKER_00 (03:15):
Well, I I think the biggest misconception is if we
have a pool, we're just going tobe using a lot of water.
And the studies that have beendone have shown that when you
have a pool, you're actuallyusing less water than if you had
grass and watering it every day.
And that those are scientificstudies that have been done.
So this doesn't count theinitial fill-up.
So there's an initial fill-upthat when you fill the pool

(03:37):
initially, but once it's filledup, you're actually using less
water in a pool than if you hada lawn there and you're watering
it every day.

SPEAKER_02 (03:46):
Wow.
Now we know marketing is reallythe heart of every business,
Don.
So how are you finding yourcustomers?

SPEAKER_00 (03:53):
Well, most of them, because we've been in business
for so long, most of them arereferrals.
We do a little bit ofadvertising in some of the like
the local magazines and we dosome home and garden shows maybe
one or two a year.
Uh, but uh we don't do a wholelot because most of it's from
referral.

SPEAKER_02 (04:11):
Okay.
Have you ever thought of doingyour own podcast?

SPEAKER_00 (04:16):
I I have, and I have a lot of ideas, but I just
haven't had enough of theknowledge to know how to really
do that.

SPEAKER_02 (04:25):
Okay.
Well, now outside of work, Don,what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Okay, that's interesting because I I enjoy
surfing and I actually wentsurfing just a couple hours ago.
So that's one of my ways of uhrelaxing and and uh
decompressing, and uh it'sbetter than lifting weights at a
gym.
So I I enjoyed.
I've been doing that since I'vebeen 15 years old.

unknown (04:50):
Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_02 (04:52):
So, Don, please tell our listeners one thing they
should remember about GentiliCustom Pools.

SPEAKER_00 (04:59):
Well, we're unique in a way because you're actually
going to be working with theowner.
I mean, we we've had our companybe larger at different times,
and I've had a lot ofsalespeople, repair people,
supervisors, and that was alwaysa lot to manage.
And then I just scaled it backto where basically I'm the go-to
guy.
When the phone rings, I'm theone that's answering it, I'm the

(05:20):
one that's on the job site.
So you get to deal with thehomeowner who I'm that the owner
of the business you get to dealwith, and so that way you I can
make decisions that are don'thave to wait for someone else to
get okay.
Um, it's a lot better um gettingyou know getting back to the
clients as far as you know,falling through on the

(05:42):
construction, making sureeverything's being done right.
And it just has a whole lotbetter um final product with
that when we when I'm able tomanage it myself.
Now, the only issue with that isI can only handle so many
projects in in a at a certaintime, and so other people
project maybe have to wait or orwe just can't do them.

(06:06):
But so we just keep uh I keep uhjust uh enough to keep me busy,
but enough to where I can alsomanage it properly.

unknown (06:14):
Wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 (06:14):
Well, how can our listeners learn more about
gentili custom pools?

SPEAKER_00 (06:19):
Well, you can go to our website
gentillicustompools.com.
That's uh g-e-n-t-i l icustompools.com, or our phone
number is also listed on theretoo.
That's the best way.
When you call, you can callmyself and I ask will answer
myself.

SPEAKER_02 (06:38):
Wonderful.
Well, Don, I really appreciateyou being on the show, and we
wish you and your businessreally the very best moving
forward.

SPEAKER_00 (06:46):
Oh, thank you very much.

unknown (06:48):
Wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnporangecounty.com.
That's gnpoorangecounty.com orcall 714 941 8862.