BREVARD COUNTY, FL — For swimming pool builders along Florida’s Space Coast, Monday, November 2, was anything but business as usual. An extraordinary rainfall event inundated portions of Brevard County, flooding neighborhoods, closing roads and turning active swimming pool construction sites into muddy reservoirs.

According to The Washington Post, portions of Florida’s Space Coast received as much as 28 inches of rain in approximately 36 hours, equivalent to nearly half the region’s typical annual rainfall. The relentless downpours overwhelmed drainage systems, flooded residential neighborhoods and brought construction activity to a standstill.

In some of the hardest-hit communities, nearly two feet of rain fell as a slow-moving weather system repeatedly delivered heavy downpours across the region. The National Weather Service characterized rainfall in portions of southern Brevard County as a 1-in-1,000-year event, a statistical designation indicating a 0.1% probability of rainfall of that magnitude occurring in any given year.

By Tuesday, November 3, the storm had claimed at least two lives. Joshua Bennett, 34, was found dead in his truck in a flooded area of southeastern Palm Bay, while Archie Richards, 78, was discovered inside his Toyota Tacoma in a canal near his home in Malabar. Emergency crews rescued hundreds of people as rising water inundated residential neighborhoods and left vehicles stranded.

Preliminary rainfall reports showed 23.69 inches in Grant-Valkaria, 23.44 inches in Malabar and 19.75 inches in Palm Bay. The extraordinary rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems, flooded homes and brought construction activity to a standstill in affected neighborhoods.

For Jeff Jones, owner and builder at Spacefront Pool & Spa, the storm struck directly at the communities he serves. Several of his active construction projects were caught in the flooding.

From Active Construction Sites to Underwater Excavations

Before the storm, Jones’s crews had been progressing through the normal stages of swimming pool construction. Excavations had been completed, plumbing installed and, at some locations, steel reinforcement and forming were already underway.

“Today was one of those days that reminds you just how unpredictable the construction industry can be, especially here on Florida’s Space Coast,” Jones said. “Today we had multiple swimming pool construction sites flood, freshly excavated pools filling with water and surrounding soil washing back into the pools.”

For a pool builder, an open excavation represents considerably more than a hole in the ground. By the time plumbing, rebar, and forms are installed, crews have already invested substantial labor and materials into preparing the site for the next phase of construction.

Flooding at this stage can undo days of work and leave contractors facing costly repairs. But before Jones could begin assessing the damage, there were more immediate concerns.

A Builder’s First Priority: Safety

“Even with roads closed due to flooding, I made it out to our job sites to assess the situation and address immediate hazards,” Jones said. “One of my biggest concerns was the electrical equipment associated with our pumps.”

With floodwaters rising, he worked to disconnect electrical power safely and remove pumps where conditions allowed.

“Some of my pumps were a foot below water.”

The danger wasn’t limited to electrical equipment. Submerged excavations concealed steel reinforcement, unstable soil and other hazards that could pose serious risks to anyone attempting to recover materials or equipment.

Jones understood there was a point where the effort to protect a construction site just had to stop.

“You can rebuild a swimming pool. You can’t replace someone’s life.”

But the damage to his construction sites wasn’t the only thing weighing on Jones.

“What made this situation even more devastating was that some of our customers’ homes were flooding as well,” Jones said.

“As a business owner, your first instinct is to protect your work and your investment. But you quickly realize there’s a much bigger picture.”

The flooding had turned what began as a construction emergency into something far more personal, with Jones balancing the responsibility of protecting his business against the immediate needs of the families he serves.

Weeks of Recovery Ahead

With the immediate danger beginning to subside, Jones faces the difficult task of assessing what can be salvaged from his flooded construction sites.

The damage to an unfinished swimming pool can extend well beyond the water visible in an excavation. Heavy runoff carries soil, sand, and debris into the work area, potentially compromising excavation walls, displacing forms, and undermining surrounding ground. Plumbing and steel may also require inspection or repair before construction can resume.

Some projects may need little more than pumping and cleanup. Others could require extensive excavation repairs, re-forming and additional inspections. Saturated soil and elevated groundwater levels can further complicate recovery, making it necessary to evaluate site conditions before removing accumulated water.

“This is going to set us back weeks,” Jones said.

The setbacks come with additional labor costs, equipment expenses and the challenge of coordinating crews and subcontractors around work that must now be repeated. For a pool builder managing several projects at different stages of construction, those disruptions can ripple through the entire schedule.

Florida contractors are accustomed to dealing with unpredictable weather, but the magnitude of this event illustrates how even experienced builders can find themselves facing circumstances beyond their control.

Jones has spent years working in an industry where weather is an unavoidable part of the business. His experience has taught him the importance of job-site drainage, protecting equipment and preparing crews to respond when conditions improve. Yet even those precautions have their limits.

“Preparation is everything, but even the best preparation can’t prevent Florida from being Florida on a random Monday in November.”

For now, the work ahead involves assessing the damage, restoring affected construction sites, and getting projects moving again. The financial consequences have yet to be fully determined, but the delays are already a certainty.

As Jones put it, “Mother Nature doesn’t care about your construction schedule.”

Photographs courtesy of Jeff Jones, Spacefront Pool & Spa.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (August 31, 2026) – Dansons Capital Group, in partnership with Accrual Equity Partners (AEP) and Hydro Construction (HydroCon), completed the acquisition of Shasta Pools, Phoenix Metro’s most recognized pool builder, and announced an immediate expansion into the broader home services market with plans to grow the brand into a national powerhouse. Founded in 1966 by brothers Bob and Skip Ast, the third-generation, family-owned pool business has built or renovated more than 150,000 pools across Maricopa County and is among the country’s top premier pool builders. The acquisition, finalized August 6, positions the company with a competitive edge as it enters a new phase of accelerated growth

Building on Shasta’s track record of success, the ownership group will grow the company’s core business divisions, including residential and commercial pool construction and renovation, Shasta Signature Series luxury pool designs, backyard hardscaping solutions, extended warranties, and e-commerce supplies. The deal also directs new capital into Shasta’s high-volume, recurring pool maintenance business, establishing a scalable foundation for an expanded home services portfolio. 

Expanding the Home Services Model

Shasta Pools will also debut Shasta Home Services, the first step in the company’s expansion into a comprehensive home services platform. Shasta enters the space with more than 200,000 customer relationships, route density in Central Arizona, and a 60-year brand homeowners have entrusted with their homes. The company plans to aggressively expand the platform organically and through partnership across the essential services every home depends on.

In addition, work has begun on a new, state-of-the-art design center and headquarters in Scottsdale that will centralize operations and give customers a welcoming, creative atmosphere to reimagine their yards. The campus will also anchor a technology-driven contact center staffed by a world-class team that creates a single point of contact for every Shasta customer, from pool service to the company’s expanding home services platform.

A Partnership Rooted in Shared Values

Dansons Capital Group, a family business led by CEO Dan Thiessen, President Jeff Thiessen, and COO Jordan Thiessen, built and grew a portfolio of backyard-focused businesses including Pit Boss Grills, which they scaled into a worldwide brand before selling in June 2023. 

Jeff Thiessen sparked a relationship with the Ast family during the construction of his own backyard pool, a personal experience that gave him firsthand insight into the industry’s potential. Recognizing the Ast family’s shared values and significant opportunity with strategic investment, he partnered with AEP and HydroCon to pursue that growth together.

“Shasta Pools has national industry brand recognition and has been an Arizona legacy for the last 60 years and we’re excited to reinvest in the company and catapult its growth into the next 60 years,” said Jeff Thiessen, President, Dansons Capital Group. “We’ve already met with more than 200 employees to learn what they love about Shasta Pools and hear their ideas of how we can grow the company and continue providing our customers with amazing customer service.”

Dan Thiessen will serve as Chairman and lead the new ownership team to identify and hire top industry talent and grow Shasta’s home services platform to develop it into a national brand.  

Legacy Preserved, Future Secured

“This was the right time to bring in a new ownership team to take Shasta Pools to the next level and the next generation of growth,” said Skip Ast Jr., who served as president at Shasta Pools. “My father and my family built this company on a commitment to quality to every homeowner who trusted us with their backyard, their budget, and their own family. We’re confident that the new leadership team’s commitment to uphold that will never change. Knowing this team shares our values and will invest in our team gives Shasta Pools the foundation to grow stronger than ever.”

Ast helped build Shasta Pools to a dominant force in the industry, with multiple divisions topping $100 million in combined revenue. The company holds membership in the prestigious Master Pools Guild, one of only 110 members globally.

A Different Approach to Private Equity

“Partnering with Shasta Pools represents the future of home services. A trusted, generational brand, Shasta brings 200,000 loyal customer relationships with a genuine commitment to the people who serve them every day,” said Jacob Tilzer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Accrual Equity Partners. “Together with our partners at Dansons Capital Group and Hydro Construction, we all share a belief that enduring businesses are built on trust, earned one customer at a time. We’re proud to build alongside this team as Shasta grows into a nationwide home services brand.”

The new ownership group brings more than 150 years of combined expertise in building, scaling, and optimizing service industry brands. Each company shares a faith-based approach to business grounded in stewardship, integrity, and care for the communities they serve. Shasta Pools’ brand will continue its community programs, including swim lessons, support for foster care, and initiatives serving first responders. 

ABOUT DANSONS CAPITAL GROUP:

Dansons Capital Group, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a family-owned and family-managed investment firm built on shared values, integrity and long-term vision. The firm was established by the founders of Dansons, Inc., the company that launched and sold Pit Boss Grills. The company takes a hands-on approach, actively seeking opportunities across global markets and multiple asset classes. Its growing portfolio includes strategic real estate development holdings across multiple countries, oil drilling technologies, and limited partnership investments. Guided by a deep commitment to quality and the communities they serve, the Thiessen family leads with gratefulness for the blessings God has given them and in turn supports those less fortunate. Dansons Capital Group continues to identify and cultivate opportunities that reflect their family’s values and generational vision.

ABOUT ACCRUAL EQUITY PARTNERS:

Accrual Equity Partners (AEP) is a founder-led, privately funded private equity group built on the belief that every person, every percentage, and every product matters. This commitment, known as the “Power of One,” drives AEP’s mission to empower businesses and secure legacies across fragmented, service-based industries. AEP partners with founder-led and family-owned businesses to overcome barriers and unlock their full potential through strategic investment, operational performance enhancement, and advisory services. For more information, visit accrualequitypartners.com/

ABOUT SHASTA POOLS:

Shasta Pools is Arizona’s trusted name in custom pool building, proudly serving the Valley since 1966. For 60 years, Shasta has transformed backyards into beautiful, functional spaces where families relax, entertain and enjoy life. The company specializes in new pool construction, remodeling, pool service and landscape design with plans for expansion into the home services market to provide customers with complete home care solutions. Learn more at ShastaPools.com.

ABOUT HYDRO CONSTRUCTION:

Hydro Construction, LLC (HydroCon) was founded in 1986 to serve Arizona’s commercial pool construction and renovation market. Under the leadership of Curt Lonsdale, the company’s commercial pool construction division now manages some of the largest and most complex projects in the country.

There are luxury pools. And then there are the kinds of projects where the pool itself becomes architecture.

The kind that cantilevers off the side of a high-rise. The kind where swimmers float above a dining room through a massive transparent floor panel. The kind where acrylic walls, windows, vessels, and water features aren’t simply decorative accents — they become the centerpiece of the entire design.

That’s the world Jason Jovaag operates in every day.

As President and CEO of HammerHead Aquatics, Jovaag has quietly become one of the most sought-after specialists in the global luxury aquatic design space. When elite builders, architects, and designers need complex acrylic engineering for some of the world’s most ambitious pool projects, his name comes up repeatedly.

Ask enough people in the upper echelon of the pool industry who they trust with acrylic windows and structural aquatic features, and eventually the same answer keeps surfacing:

“Jason’s the guy.”

That reputation didn’t happen overnight. Over the years, HammerHead Aquatics has built a portfolio spanning luxury residential pools, high-rise rooftop installations, zoos, aquariums, wellness facilities, and some of the most recognizable aquatic environments in the world. What separates the company from many others operating in the acrylic space is its vertically integrated approach.

“We actually do design, engineering, fabrication, and installation,” explained Jovaag. “So it’s a one-stop shop where we can actually follow the process all the way from concept through construction.”

That turnkey approach has positioned HammerHead as a critical partner on projects where there is very little margin for error. These aren’t standard backyard pools. These are engineering exercises wrapped inside luxury architecture.

Pushing the Envelope on High-Rise Pool Design

One of the biggest trends driving HammerHead’s growth has been the explosion of vertically integrated luxury living — particularly in markets like Miami, the Bahamas, Dubai, and Beverly Hills.

Developers and ultra-high-net-worth homeowners increasingly want private aquatic experiences incorporated directly into elevated living spaces. That means plunge pools hanging off balconies. Cantilevered rooftop pools. Acrylic edge details suspended dozens of stories above the ground.

Jovaag was one of the early specialists helping bring those ideas into reality. Today, those projects are becoming increasingly extreme.

“We like to push the envelope as far as what we can design and build,” Jovaag explained. “And we’re surely still doing that to market today.”

That mentality has made HammerHead a frequent collaborator with some of the most recognizable names in luxury pool and architectural design.

Jovaag has worked alongside elite builders and designers including Ryan Hughes, Paolo Benedetti, Danny Wang, and acclaimed modern architect Paul McClean of McClean Architecture, amongst many others.

The McClean collaborations, in particular, have produced several standout residential projects in Beverly Hills and abroad.

One recently completed project incorporated a massive two-story acrylic water wall that cascades down beside floating stairs into a lower sanctuary area featuring landscaping and a reflecting pond.

“You start out at grade level as you walk up to the home over some floating stairs, and then the water cascades down two stories,” Jovaag said.

The projects are dramatic, architectural, and increasingly cinematic in nature — exactly the type of luxury installations dominating the covers of design magazines and social media feeds.

Acrylic Is Becoming More Than Just a Window

While acrylic viewing panels remain a cornerstone of HammerHead’s business, Jovaag says the material is now being integrated into luxury pools in far more creative ways than many people realize.

“We’re doing some of these swim-up bars,” he explained. “What we’re actually doing now is chemically bonding a bar top on the very top of the window.”

The result creates an interactive social experience where guests inside the pool can engage directly with people seated outside the water.

HammerHead is also seeing increased demand for acrylic fire features, acrylic spheres incorporated into landscape design, and large-format acrylic water walls that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional glass.

“Glass does have its limitations when it comes to manufacturing size,” said Jovaag. “But the possibilities with acrylic are endless with the chemical bonding technology to be able to get to some of these larger format sheets.”

Another trend gaining traction in the ultra-luxury market is acrylic floor panels.

These installations allow homeowners to look upward through the bottom of a pool into living spaces below — transforming the swimming pool itself into a functional skylight.

HammerHead currently has one especially ambitious project underway involving what Jovaag described as one of the largest residential floor windows attempted to date.

“That window is massive,” he said. “It’ll be one of the largest floor windows done for a residential application at about 32,000 pounds.”

The floor window will reportedly span over an entire dining area beneath the pool.

The Deep Dive Dubai Project

Among Jovaag’s many career milestones, one project stands above the rest. Deep Dive Dubai.

Widely recognized as the deepest swimming pool in the world, the facility reaches roughly 60 meters deep and has become an internationally recognized attraction for divers and aquatic enthusiasts.

For Jovaag, the project represented one of the most technically demanding installations of his career.

“Working over in Dubai, working in the conditions that we were at, and then also just hovering scaffolding platform over a 150- or 180-foot deep hole in the ground is a little nerve-wracking by itself,” he recalled.

HammerHead worked alongside acrylic manufacturer Reynolds Polymer on the installation, handling the placement of massive acrylic viewing panels throughout the facility.

The project helped cement HammerHead’s reputation internationally and showcased the company’s ability to execute at the highest level under incredibly difficult conditions.

Educating the Industry

Despite the prestige attached to many of HammerHead’s projects, Jovaag remains heavily involved in industry education.

Because acrylic installations remain relatively specialized within the pool industry, many builders encounter a steep learning curve during their first project.

That’s where HammerHead often steps in long before installation begins.

“We want to give them the tools to make them successful,” Jovaag explained. “Giving them dos and don’ts of what not to do, what to expect from us, what we expect from them.”

That consulting mindset has made HammerHead a valuable collaborator for designers and contractors attempting increasingly sophisticated builds.

Jovaag has also become a familiar face through educational seminars and industry presentations with Watershape University, where he regularly shares knowledge on acrylic engineering, installation practices, and design limitations.

His approachable teaching style has earned him a loyal following among pool professionals eager to better understand the possibilities of acrylic integration.

Expanding Into Wellness and Hydrotherapy

Another major growth segment for HammerHead Aquatics has been wellness and hydrotherapy design. As luxury wellness spaces continue becoming more prominent in both residential and commercial development, acrylic is finding new applications beyond pure aesthetics.

“We’re seeing a big wave right now in the wellness centers,” Jovaag said.

One emerging concept involves combining hot therapy spas and cold plunges into a single body of water separated by acrylic partitions.

HammerHead is also exploring hydrotherapy applications tied to mobility rehabilitation and medical therapy, where transparent acrylic allows practitioners to study joint movement underwater in real time.

That crossover between luxury design and functional aquatic therapy reflects how broad the company’s reach has become.

While many know HammerHead primarily for high-end pools, Jovaag points out that zoo and aquarium work remains a major pillar of the business as well.

“We’re very busy with all facets of what we have going on,” he said. “The zoo and aquarium industry for us will always be one of the larger parts of our business model.”

Building the Future In-House

HammerHead Aquatics is now entering another major chapter. The company recently opened a new Las Vegas facility that will allow it to bring approximately 90 percent of manufacturing and fabrication operations in-house.

For Jovaag, the move is about greater control, better scheduling, and ensuring consistency from start to finish.

“The term I use — care, custody, and control,” he said. “We own every process from A to Z.”

That expanded capability positions HammerHead to continue growing alongside a luxury pool segment that seems increasingly willing to chase bigger ideas and more ambitious aquatic experiences.

And if current trends are any indication, those ideas are only getting bolder. Because in today’s luxury market, a pool is no longer just a vessel of water. For firms like HammerHead Aquatics, it has become structural art.

Ready to take a deeper dive?

Listen to our recent conversation with Jason Jovaag on the Pool Magazine Podcast.