Noobie Pool Owners closing our pool

[wvumountee21]

We got our pool back in April/May of this year, and we closed it this weekend. 21 foot above ground Doughboy, 52 inches deep. Followed all the directions for the getting the chemistry right, which was easy. We did that on Saturday, let the pump run overnight. Sunday we disassemble the pump hoses and let the water drain a couple inches under the skimmeer, which was also easy.

Then came time for installing the pool cover. Let me say first that it was a cloudy day with on and off wind. Regardless of wind we felt we HAD to get the cover on because we went through the entire process of getting the water ready (chemicals) for winter. We wrestled, and wrestled with this cover finally getting it down with MOST of the air out from underneath. We also tossed our air pillow that was going to go in the middle off to the side, mostly out of frustration. We ended up going to our local pool store to get some water bags to help hold the edge of the pool cover down. I also believe we put a tiny hole in the cover due to a nail head sticking slightly up out of one of our deck boards. I didn't see it, but my wife said it was very tiny and nothing to worry about. But it's a hole!?!? haha, you can probably imagine the frusteration that has been building, did I mention that at this point it was going on hour 5 of installing the cover?

To make a long story even longer it comes down to one main question I have. I've seen some places on the internet say water on the cover isn't bad, and others say (including the guy at the pool store) that there should be absolutely no water on the cover. The guide in the box the cover came in also said, "it's designed to accumulate rain water, do not pump off water in the fall".

Should there be water on the cover? And if so, how much is too much? Also any other comments about how to make installing a cover easier are more than welcome. THANKS!!!!

 

[dmanb2b]

It take us (myself and 11 year old son) all of 15 mins to get the cover on :>). There is no way you will never have water on top of the cover unless it does not rain or snow where you are located I do use a cover pump, but after it freezes and we get 12+ inches of that white stuff, it does not do much good...we just pump the excess off come spring time. I also stopped using a pillow 2 years ago.

 

[MikeInNH]

Here's my 2 cents on pool covers.
-buy one that is larger than you need
-tie the pillow in the center of the pool, a round pool should let you get away with 3 ropes pulling it outward. I have to use 4.
-have the cover folded nicely to a 2 foot or so width by the full length so you can pull it over the pillow with one person on each side.
-use cover clips or partially filled bleach bottles to hold the cover taught on opposite sides of the pool. marking the opposite center grommet on each side before folding would help.
-unfold the cover each way until cover is all the way open and clip it in place, a cable/winch system works well.
-loosen the pillow ropes some so as not to be pulling so much on the pillow, the cover will push down when water gets on there
-drop the water level and plug everything. I find the cover easier to put on if the level is still high. Leaving one section of it loose to lower the water and plug the return.
-if in a windy area put pool cover wrap around the edge or you'll have more than a small hole. guess how I know.....

As for the water, I like to siphon it off when it gets to be a couple inches deep unless of course it freezes before I get there.