A pool remodel in Sherman Oaks costs $18,000 to $55,000. Replaster alone is $8,000-$15,000. Add new waterline tile and coping and you are at $20,000-$30,000. Replace the equipment pad and re-pipe the suction and return lines as well and the number reaches $35,000-$55,000. Sherman Oaks has one of the densest concentrations of 1960s and 70s gunite pools in the Valley, which means most remodels here are not cosmetic. They are the first real overhaul the pool has had in decades, and the plumbing underneath usually needs attention.
Line-Item Pricing for a Sherman Oaks Pool Remodel
Assume an average pool: roughly 90 linear feet of perimeter and 450 sq ft of interior surface.
- Drain, prep and site protection: $800-$2,000 - Chip out old plaster to bond coat: $3,500-$6,500 - Waterline tile, 6x6 ceramic to glass mosaic: $45-$95 per linear foot, so $4,000-$8,500 - Coping: precast concrete $45-$70 per linear foot, cut natural stone $75-$130, so $4,000-$11,700 - Interior finish: standard white plaster $8,000-$12,000, quartz aggregate $11,000-$16,000, pebble $14,000-$22,000 - Variable-speed pump installed: $1,800-$3,200 - Cartridge filter: $1,200-$2,200 - 400,000 BTU gas heater: $4,000-$6,500 - Automation and app control: $2,500-$5,500 - Re-pipe suction and return lines: $4,000-$9,000 - LED light retrofit: $900-$1,800 each
A new equipment set together typically lands at $6,000-$14,000.
What 1960s Sherman Oaks Pools Hide
Chip-out is where budgets move. Pools of this era were often plastered over three or four times, so what looks like a half-inch finish is two inches of layered material. Full chip-out on a heavily replastered shell adds $2,000-$4,000 over the base allowance.
Expect to find single main drains. California pool safety law requires the suction outlet to be brought up to an approved anti-entrapment configuration when you remodel, which usually means a new compliant cover or a second drain plumbed as a pair. Budget $1,500-$4,500.
Abandoned skimmer throats, corroded copper returns and steel-jacketed lights are common. Old galvanised or copper plumbing that fails a pressure test is a re-pipe, not a repair. A remodel bid without a pressure test line item is an incomplete bid.
Pro Tip
Insist on a hydrostatic and line pressure test before demolition starts. Finding a failed return line after new plaster is cured is the single most expensive surprise in this work.
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Hillside Pools Versus the Flats
South of Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks climbs into the hills off Woodcliff, Valley Vista and Kester. Access changes the price of identical work.
Gunite and plaster are pumped from a truck on the street. When the hose run exceeds roughly 150-200 feet, or the crew has to climb, add $1,500-$4,000 for extra hose, pump time and labour. Debris removal from a hillside yard with no side access is done by wheelbarrow or conveyor, adding $2,000-$5,000 to a chip-out that would cost nothing extra on a flat lot in the Chandler Estates area.
Hillside pools also tend to sit on raised decks and bond beams built over slopes. Cracked or settled deck edges mean structural repair to the bond beam, $3,000-$12,000, before tile and coping can be set correctly.
Permits and California Pool Safety Requirements
Sherman Oaks is in the City of Los Angeles, so a pool remodel that touches structure, gas or electrical is permitted through LADBS. Private single-family pools go on a combined Building-Mechanical permit. Plumbing plan check applies to commercial and apartment pools, not a house.
When a permit is pulled to remodel a residential pool, California's Swimming Pool Safety Act requires drowning-prevention safety features to be in place. Real costs: mesh removable fencing $18-$28 per linear foot, self-closing self-latching gate hardware $400-$1,200, exit alarms on doors leading to the pool $300-$900, and a powered safety cover $12,000-$22,000 if you want the highest-end option.
Budget $1,200-$3,500 in permit and plan-check costs on a typical remodel, more if the deck, gas line or panel is being rebuilt at the same time.
Decking, Timeline and Getting Value
Decking is usually the second-largest number after the interior finish. Overlaying failed concrete decking with pavers runs $18-$32 per sq ft installed. A 700 sq ft deck is $12,600-$22,400. Tearing out and repouring concrete with a broom or sandwash finish is $12-$20 per sq ft.
Construction duration for a straightforward Sherman Oaks remodel is 3-5 weeks: one week to drain, chip and demo, one to two for tile, coping and structural repairs, then plumbing and equipment, then plaster and a start-up and brush cycle of about four weeks after fill.
The best value combination in this market is quartz interior finish, porcelain or ceramic waterline tile, precast coping and a variable-speed pump. That package typically lands at $26,000-$36,000 and materially reduces energy cost afterwards.
Pro Tip
A variable-speed pump usually cuts pool pumping energy substantially against an old single-speed unit, which is why it is a code-driven and economically sound replacement at the same time.
Final Thoughts
Sherman Oaks pools are old enough that a remodel should be treated as a rebuild of everything except the shell. Budget $18,000-$30,000 for a surface and tile refresh, $35,000-$55,000 when plumbing, equipment and decking come with it, and add $3,000-$9,000 if the pool sits on a hillside with restricted access. Test the lines before you demolish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Standard white plaster on an average 450 sq ft interior runs $8,000-$12,000. Quartz aggregate is $11,000-$16,000 and pebble is $14,000-$22,000. Those figures assume a normal chip-out. A shell that has been replastered three or four times over the decades adds $2,000-$4,000 in extra demolition.
Yes if the work touches structure, gas or electrical, which nearly every real remodel does. Sherman Oaks falls under LADBS, and private single-family pools are permitted on a combined Building-Mechanical permit. Plumbing plan check applies to commercial and apartment pools rather than houses. Budget $1,200-$3,500 for permits and plan check.
California's Swimming Pool Safety Act requires drowning-prevention safety features when a permit is issued for a residential pool remodel, and the suction outlet must be brought to an approved anti-entrapment configuration. Options include mesh fencing at $18-$28 per linear foot, self-closing gate hardware, door alarms, or a powered safety cover at $12,000-$22,000.
Three to five weeks of construction for a standard scope: drain and chip-out, tile and coping, plumbing and equipment, then plaster. After the pool is refilled, allow roughly four weeks of start-up brushing and water balancing before normal use. Hillside access or structural bond beam repair can extend that by one to two weeks.
Almost always. The equipment pad is already exposed and the pool is empty, so labour is shared with work you are paying for anyway. A variable-speed pump at $1,800-$3,200 installed, a cartridge filter at $1,200-$2,200 and automation at $2,500-$5,500 cost far less bundled into a remodel than as separate later service calls.
