INTERVIEW: Dive in to second season of ‘Insane Pools’ on Animal Planet

Insane Pools: Off the Deep End follows Lucas Congdon, a professional pool designer and builder of dreams, as he travels to Florida and Alabama to help clients enhance their backyards with exquisitely detailed creations that are customized to individual tastes and result in well-earned oohs and aahs.

Congdon’s show airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet. On the second season of the reality series, fans can expect to see the Lucas Lagoons team working not only in their native Florida but also Huntsville, Ala.

Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Congdon about his paradisiacal skills. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.

How did you first get interested in pool design?

Growing up, my parents always encouraged me to play outside, and I always had an affinity for creating things and building things. Growing up in Vermont, I would play around water and streams and always loved the sound of water rushing over rocks. I always hated the idea of working at a desk job, and when I started working for my mom’s landscaping business when I was 14, I realized I could turn that into a career. I got started creating ponds, and the ponds just got bigger and bigger. When a client saw what I could do with a pond, they asked me to do a pool, and it just grew from there.

Has business picked up since the premiere of Insane Pools?

Absolutely. What surprised me most is that people are reaching out from all over, not just in the U.S., but internationally as well. I’ve had people reach out from Jamaica, Australia, Brazil … you name it. I’ve been doing pools in the same small area of Florida for so long, and it’s kind of become my comfort zone. So it can be a little daunting to do projects in other places, but I’m very excited to be expanding our business all over the globe.

What’s more difficult, keeping the projects on time or on budget?

Both can definitely be equally hard for me. Whenever I present a design to my clients, I like to tell them that it’s more like the foundation for the design, rather than the finalized design. Whenever I get started working on a project, it’s impossible for me to not get inspired to add something to the design — whether that’s more rocks or a miniature pond, all that stuff adds more time and money. The clients come to me to build the pool of their dreams, and I don’t want to let them down. So I can’t help but to go bigger with my ideas. At the same time, if the budget doesn’t allow for my added ideas, then I will stick with something that’s close to our original design. In that case, I don’t have trouble being on time or on budget.

What can fans expect this season on Insane Pools?

I’m really excited about this season. There’s going to be a lot of stuff people have never seen before — a lot of design firsts for me! Plus, this season, we did an amazing build in Huntsville, Alabama. That’ll be another first — a project outside of Florida! I’ve done a couple in the past before the series started, but it will be a first for Insane Pools.

My goal as a designer is to continuously grow and challenge myself. We’re known for our rockwork and grottos, but I don’t want to keep repeating myself and do the same thing over and over. I like to do things that make our company unique. You’re going to see some really crazy designs that pushed me and my team creatively, and I’m really proud of what we were able to create. And you can definitely expect some crazy surprises that happened on the job. When you build projects on scales as massive as what we do, every day is full of challenges and surprises. And this season, there are some doozies!

What do you look for when hiring employees?

The main things I look for are work ethic and a commitment to excellence. Even if they don’t have experience in the exact thing I need them to do, I’m always open to give anyone a chance as long as they have a willingness to learn and put in their best effort every single day.

Sunshine is a great example of this. He’d never been a mud man before. The guy used to own a pet shop in New York, but he had some construction experience from his personal real estate ventures, so he learned fast and adapted just as quickly. Plus, I really like people that I can learn from, too. What I like about my team is that we all augment each other’s weak points. When I got started out in the business, I was working primarily with ponds, and Crash was the one who had experience with traditional pools. So I have learned a ton from him. From my mom, I learned everything about landscaping, plus I got hands-on experience when I worked for her growing up. Old Man comes from a family of stone masons, so he brings a wealth of experience to the table.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Insane Pools: Off the Deep End airs new episodes Fridays at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet. Click here for more information. Read Hollywood Soapbox’s previous interview with Lucas Congdon.