When Erik Eikevik first started out in the pool industry, the pool construction market was already changing from the one he knew as a child. By the time Eikevik joined the family business, building a swimming pool in South Florida had suddenly become an entirely different proposition from the projects his grandfather built when he first started Ike’s Carter Pools back in 1949.
“I always wanted to work for my dad and build pools. My mom showed me a drawing that I did in crayon when I was a kid. It was me drawing a swimming pool and it said, ‘Daddy, I’m going to build this one day,’” said Eikevik.
By the time he was in fifth grade, he had already been functioning as a gopher on the job sites. “That summer I did my first pool prep,” said Eikevik, “I used to leave school early and go work on pools while my friends were still taking classes. Basically, I’ve worked in every phase of pool construction my entire life.”
South Florida Luxury Pool by Ikes Carter Pools – Photo Credit: Jimi Smith Photography
A Change From The Cookie-Cutter Mentality
“My dad designed pools, he built them and was considered one of the better designers in South Florida,” said Eikevik, “back then pools were very basic so there was only so much you could do design-wise. Back in the day pools were very templated. You had a box of templates you would use to draw swimming pools in by hand. A lot of the pools were very similar, especially in Florida. The cookie-cutter production pools that were built out here were just constantly the same thing, and that drove me crazy.”
“If I’m drawing a pool, even if it’s a small pool, we have to have something on it that’s different and cool. I won’t have that special feeling inside unless it’s got something unique going on that’s a little different for me. What kind of really keeps me going and makes me love what I do, is that I want to try to do things that are different. That’s the crazy side of me that wants to do the custom stuff which is not easy and can have all the headaches,” said Eikevik.
The days of cutter-cutter swimming pools are a thing of the past in South Florida claims Eikevik. The perception of what the outdoor living area should look like has changed as well. “I’m in these neighborhoods and building these pools. These days what I hear is ‘I got to do our pool better than our neighbor. ‘ It’s become a big statement, especially with younger people with families. Their kids are going over to the neighbor’s house, and they’re hanging out there because the swimming pool in their backyard is so cool.”
Luxury Pool Builder – Ikes Carter Pools – Photo Credit: Jimi Smith Photography
Baby Boomers Set a New Bar For Swimming Pools
“That was the first huge shift we saw in South Florida. We saw things like that coming out of World War II. If I showed you some of the first awards that we won in the 1960s in one of the original pool magazines from that era, it won awards simply because the pool had a curve in it which was unheard of back then,” explained Eikevik.
“When we first started out, the pools down here were built out where they’d pour a floor, and build it out of concrete blocks. The pool was very small and rectangular. In the late fifties and early sixties, he started doing gunite and shotcrete, when it first came to Florida. He started doing radius pools and things like kidney-shaped pools. They would win awards and it would have like an elevation where it would go down to a seawater canal, which is really big in South Florida,” said Eikevik.
Although much has changed about how swimming pools are built since the era when Eikevik’s grandfather built them, some things are still very much the same. “Back then it was a status symbol to own a pool,” explained Eikevik, “I think it’s even bigger now. While you don’t have to be one of the elite to own a pool, it’s still definitely a big symbol particularly down in South Florida and I think in many other places of the country.”
Eikevik said he feels that a goal of keeping up with the Joneses is one that has permeated throughout the years in South Florida. “Every customer these days is like, ‘Well, they had that on their pool, we’ve got to do that’, I literally have people who have gone to another customers house on a pool tour and say, ‘I want ours to be better than theirs’, so there’s definitely that sense that everyone’s trying to one-up each other in the backyard,” said Eikevik.
“The pandemic just blew that up and put it on steroids. Like, we already had a fire that was burning for years, and Covid came and poured gasoline on it that caused some type of explosion. Suddenly everyone had to have the best pool and the best backyard,” said Eikevik.
“In the northeast, most people are going to have a vinyl liner pool and you have to be doing pretty well to even have one in your backyard. It’s a massive luxury in those areas like New York, Boston, or Philadelphia,” said Eikevik, “they all have this yearning to move to Florida and a big reason is that everyone’s got a pool. It’s like as soon as you move down here, you get a swimming pool and you’re doing better than everyone else already. It’s one of the reasons so many people move here because they want to have a big beautiful yard with a swimming pool.”
“We always used to think that people only come down to retire in Florida, that has all changed. You can live down here now and work remotely from your computer. That’s probably why we’re seeing more younger families in South Florida than we ever have before. They want that whole entire experience,” said Eikevik.
Luxury Pool With Rain Fall – Pool Builder: Ike’s Carter Pools – Photo Credit: Jimi Smith Photography
Luxury Pool With Rain Fall – Pool Builder: Ike’s Carter Pools – Photo Credit: Jimi Smith PhotographyAlthough building an inground pool may be cheaper in Florida, the process may not be as unencumbered as one may think. “If you’ve ever taken a Brian Van Bower GENESIS Class, you’d know one of the things we joke about are the Florida building codes,” explained Eikevik, “we have some of the strictest building codes in the country. People get down here and they realize we go off the Florida Building Code, not the International Building Code. There are very strict things you have to do to build a pool down in Florida. I tell people what’s involved and they’re like ‘are you serious’, with all the barrier codes and main drains and things like that. That’s why when you get to the luxury pools it becomes harder to do everything.”
The features and amenities that South Florida homeowners are requesting have certainly changed as well over the years. These days Eikevik says a major feature that homeowners are looking for is an oversized tanning ledge which has become near ubiquitous in Florida.
“Every pool, big or small is going to have that Baja Shelf, as they call it on the west coast, or Sun Shelf as we call it out here. I tell people you are literally losing value on your home if you opt not to build one. Anyone that buys your home will be expecting to see one in the pool because they’re that common now, they’re everywhere,” explained Eikevik.
“I knew from a business perspective, but I didn’t realize how important they were until I started seeing my own kids who are five and two in the pool. I was just like, wow, this is such a big, pivotal thing,” said Eikevik.
“The biggest thing is just making sure you have the right size. When you’re talking about big pool states like Florida, California, and Texas,” explained Eikevik, “there are these companies that will build a shelf that’s 9×9 or something like that. You need to have something that’s like 12×6 or 12×9 so you can have a section for your ledge loungers or your pool chairs and a section for the kids to get in and out of the pool.”
The needs and wants of South Florida homeowners may have changed over time, but one thing is for certain; given that Florida has the highest percentage of pool owners by population, owning a swimming pool will forever remain a goal for most, regardless of what type they ultimately wind up building.
Listen to our entire conversation with Erik “IKE” Eikevik of Ike’s Carter Pools on the Pool Magazine Podcast.
Featured Photo Credit: Jimi Smith Photography
