For Pittsburgh-area homeowners planning a new pool, the project often extends well beyond deciding where the water will go. Patios, retaining walls, landscaping, outdoor kitchens, fire features, lighting, drainage, and other elements can all affect how the finished backyard looks and functions.
Coraopolis-based Paladina Pools approaches pool construction as part of that larger outdoor living picture. Working alongside Paladina Landscape Design Build, the company provides custom pool construction, outdoor living design, landscaping, hardscaping, and related services for homeowners throughout the Pittsburgh region.
This combined approach lets the team plan the pool and surrounding property together, rather than treating each improvement as a separate project.
How Paladina Expanded From Lawn Care to Custom Pools
Paladina’s story began well before the company started installing pools.
Founder Matt Paladina started Paladina Landscaping and Lawn Care in 2006, initially providing lawn care while taking on smaller landscape projects as the business grew.
Over time, the company’s focus shifted toward larger landscape and outdoor living projects. By 2018, Paladina had moved fully into custom design-build work, including patios, retaining walls, landscape design, and other improvements intended to help homeowners make better use of their outdoor spaces.
Pool construction became the next step in that evolution. Paladina began working with local pool companies on installation and outdoor living projects in 2019. In 2021, Matt Paladina launched Paladina Pools as the company’s dedicated custom pool division.
Today, Paladina Pools and Paladina Landscape Design Build let the company plan pools, hardscaping, landscaping, and outdoor structures as part of one connected backyard environment.
Why Paladina Plans the Pool and Backyard Together
A custom pool can influence nearly every part of a property’s outdoor design.
Its location affects available patio space, drainage, walkways, retaining walls, landscaping, privacy, entertaining areas, and even views from inside the home. Features such as outdoor kitchens, pavilions, fire pits, spas, and landscape beds may also need consideration before finalizing the pool layout.
That makes early coordination especially important when the pool is only one part of a larger backyard renovation.
Paladina says its in-house team manages multiple phases of custom pool and outdoor living projects, including permitting, pool construction, patios, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, and landscaping. The model is designed to reduce the need for homeowners to coordinate separate contractors for each major project component.
Instead, homeowners can consider decisions about the pool and surrounding features as part of the same design process.
What Services Does Paladina Pools Provide?
Custom pool design and installation are central to Paladina Pools, but the company’s services continue after a pool is built.
Paladina also provides seasonal pool opening and closing, weekly cleaning and maintenance, pool restoration and renovation, equipment and system upgrades, resurfacing, structural repairs, and other services for existing pools.
Through Paladina Landscape Design Build, homeowners can also incorporate outdoor living elements such as patios, retaining walls, pergolas, outdoor kitchens, landscaping, fire features, and water features.
Considering those features together can help homeowners answer practical questions before construction begins. Where will guests gather? How will people move between the house, patio, and pool? Does the property require retaining walls? Would a pavilion or outdoor kitchen work near the pool? How can landscaping provide privacy without interfering with views or circulation?
Addressing those questions during design can help the pool, hardscaping, structures, and landscaping function as one outdoor space rather than a series of disconnected additions.
How One Pittsburgh-Area Backyard Project Came Together
For Paladina customer Sean, the project involved much more than installing a pool. His backyard renovation included a pool and spa, plus a pergola, fire pit area, paver work, landscaping, and lighting.
The design process began with ideas and reference photos that were developed into detailed 3D renderings. Designer Dave Giles created both daytime and nighttime views, giving Sean and his family a clearer picture of how the different parts of the backyard would work together before construction began.
When revisions were needed, Sean said the team responded quickly and adjusted the design. Matt Paladina also remained involved throughout the project, helping coordinate the work and answer questions as construction progressed.
Once work began, Sean described the crew as clean, organized, and respectful of the property. He also noted consistent communication throughout the renovation, saying the family did not have to wonder what was happening or repeatedly seek updates.
For a project involving a pool, spa, pergola, hardscaping, landscaping, lighting, and a fire feature, that coordination helped keep the different components connected from design through construction.
Sean’s experience with the company continued after the backyard was completed. Heading into the family’s second season with the pool, they signed up for Paladina’s maintenance service and began working with the service department on the pool opening and ongoing care.
The project shows how Paladina’s combined pool and landscape services work in practice: multiple outdoor features planned together, built as part of the same larger vision, and supported after construction.
How Paladina Manages Custom Pool Projects
Paladina’s broader process begins with a discovery call focused on the homeowner’s goals, timing, and style preferences.
From there, the project moves into consultation and design development before scheduling and construction begin. A project manager oversees construction, and the process concludes with a final walkthrough that includes care information and details about ongoing support.
For homeowners, that structure can be especially important when a project involves more than the pool itself. Decisions about grading, hardscaping, structures, utilities, lighting, and landscaping may all need to be coordinated as the project moves forward.
The design stage also allows homeowners to see how those elements relate before construction begins. As Sean’s project illustrates, tools such as 3D renderings can help homeowners visualize not only the pool, but also the surrounding features and how the full backyard will look together.
Designing Outdoor Living Spaces for Pittsburgh Properties
Pool design involves more than choosing a shape, finish, or set of features. The surrounding property can be just as important to how the finished space works.
Paladina’s projects and educational resources address features such as integrated spas, pool houses, pavilions, patios, landscaping, outdoor kitchens, and fire features as parts of a complete outdoor living environment. Considering these elements early can affect layout, circulation, utility planning, and the relationship between the pool and the rest of the property.
Pittsburgh-area properties can add another layer to that planning.
Slopes, existing structures, mature trees, drainage patterns, and unusual lot configurations may influence where a pool, spa, patio, retaining wall, or other outdoor feature can reasonably be placed. Those site conditions can make a coordinated design especially useful when you plan several improvements at once.
Building a Pittsburgh-Area Business Around Outdoor Living
Paladina’s development from a small lawn care business into Paladina Landscape Design Build and Paladina Pools reflects a gradual expansion into more comprehensive outdoor construction.
Rather than treating pools, patios, landscaping, and outdoor structures as separate improvements, the company builds its services around planning these elements together.
For Pittsburgh-area homeowners considering a custom pool, pool renovation, or larger backyard project, that approach creates an opportunity to look beyond the pool itself and consider how the full property should look, function, and connect.
Homeowners interested in exploring their options can contact Paladina Pools to discuss their property, project goals, and plans for a custom pool or broader outdoor living project.
