Can I raise pool cover enough that water could run directly off it

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bkollar

0
May 27, 2014
6
Trucksville, PA
I wish I could just tear down my pool already. We open it every TWO years. The one year that its open maybe the family swims a whole 5 times. Not worth it.... but.... my question is this.

I was hoping there was a way that when I close the pool I would be able to put something under the cover where it would raise it enough so that water could run directly off it if it rains during the winter instead of sagging in.

I know about pool pillows. They don't work for me. They still sag in. Why didn't someone invent a DOME or something that goes under the cover so there wont be any sagging-in covers? What a pain! How hard would it be? Imagine, rain and snow just sliding off it.

Is there anything I can do about sagging-in covers? Please help.

Maybe I should drive my jeep through the darn thing by "accident" :D
 
Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure there's any way to avoid the cover getting full of water. The only thing you can do is make sure the water is clean and cler and closed properly, so that the only thing you're dealing with is a winter's worth of sediment/and dirt. I open my pool to clear water, but there's a ton of junk on the bottom. A couple hours of vacuuming and a few days of filtering, and my invisible water is back.
 
Smykowski said:
Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure there's any way to avoid the cover getting full of water. The only thing you can do is make sure the water is clean and cler and closed properly, so that the only thing you're dealing with is a winter's worth of sediment/and dirt. I open my pool to clear water, but there's a ton of junk on the bottom. A couple hours of vacuuming and a few days of filtering, and my invisible water is back.
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Wow, that was a very quick answer!! I love this forum!

I was thinking something like this:

http://hurricanpools.townsquareinteractive.com/files/2012/12/I2.png

Worth it?
 
Thank you Milton! :)

My posts aren't showing up so forgive me if I am posting in duplicates. I am putting an HTTP link so maybe that's why its not working.

I was thinking of something along the lines of this, if you go to hurricaneabovegroundpoolcovers (dot com) slash installation, I was eyeing that up....

Would that work? And I hope you get your red stapler back :)
 
here is the cover support I made last year for my intex.

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here is where I posted on how I made it;

http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/66578-Intex-Ultra-Frame-Owners/page2

here is the pictures of it upon opening and removing the winter cover. I had 2 bows fail (bent downward allowing some droop) but otherwise it was a success. We did not get a heavy winter though. one of Oklahomas good ol' winter ice storms would have surely caved it in.

2014-03-27_19-00-16_882.jpg


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will I make it again this year for our new 16 x 32 doughboy? well, I have the plans drawn out on paper, with modifications to retrofit the intex cover support onto our new pool with additional modifications to the support system eliminating the center support and reinforcing the bows to be more resistant to failure under light to moderate snow load since two bows failed last year. cost for additional pvc to modify the intex cover support for new pool, about $20 bucks for a few more 8 ft 3/4 pieces and some T fittings.

will I do it? I donno. winter is a ways away, trying to get this new one built, and I do have a pump that I can toss on top of winter cover and keep water pumped off during the closed months.

i might do it. if I do, ill post about it with pics.... :D
 
glad you like it. it cost me about 50 bucks in PVC. And I did have to get in the pool at closing to put it up. At opening, I was able to get it all out without entering pool though. working with an oval pool this year will actually be easier I think, and along with less of a span, will allow for design changes that I believe will allow deletion of the center support. In fact, now that I am only dealing with 16' of width, I have even toyed with the idea of making 5 or 6 wooden trusses that I can just sit on top of my rails (with some sort of bumper material between wood and rails of course to prevent damage). I would then put the cover on over the trusses. This would hold up to a much stronger snow load, but the trusses would have to be stored behind my shed during open pool season, which is not totally out of the question. They might be heavy though as I would have to most certainly run a 2x6 on its side across the span for bottom support, tops would be 2 x4.

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bkollar said:
Tried. Dont work. Jugs are not strong enough to prevent pool from coming down in the center. :( Thanks, though.
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bkollar, I have also thought about 55 gallon barrels. Specifically the blue ones at Lowes or Home Depot that many people use for making a floating dock (because I have a pond, and I have been looking at building a dock) 3 or 4 of them would hold it up 18 inches to 2 feet and each barrel supports around 350-400 lbs buoyancy (according to the dock building plans I have been looking at)

storing them, like the trusses, may present an issue for some though, as well as securing them in a static location in the pool. You would have to cross tie them or something. I would do that over pillows or jugs though.

they are not cheap though at 50 - 70 bucks each but would last a lifetime.
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danpik said:
Here is a picture of mine from last winter with that same blue barrel.



Local hardware store here sells them for $20.00
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yeah, snow and ice load is the issue with any type of cover support. had I gotten snow like that my pvc bows would have surely failed. snow and ice stick so you will loose the ability for runoff. danpik, how did that do with rain runoff though? a barrel may still work fine if you broom that snow off the cover before it melts, as snow like that wont make the cover nasty. its rain runoff that you want to achieve. id love to see a pic of that pool with the barrel without the snow on it. as well as my support bows did, I had a few times that small pockets of water developed that I would go out and pull the cover tight to empty the pockets and get that cone shape back.
 
This is my solution :) I buy water by the 10 litre box! Inside the box is a triple layered food grade bladder! I use all the water then strip it from its box! I have about 20 of these on my pool when the cover goes on!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
gtnos said:
post pics lacey.... we need pics of this..... :p

water by the box... must be an Australia thing.... never have I saw box water here in the US.
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This is the only company in Australia that sells it by the box, Its Sydney water, but put through three different stages of reverse osmosis.....But it really is the best tasting water ever.... :) My dream is to one day be rich enough to fill an entire pool with this stuff... :)

I will post pics when I set the pool up... I am setting it up in winter and closing it immediately, so I can be ready when my solar heater gets here, I can open in early Spring... :)
 
^ there is a company that makes a cover with a center drain with a hose that runs under the cover out of either the skimmer hole or return for AG pools. I have wondered how well it works. my thoughts were, a good heavy down pour might give that drain and hose more than it bargained for. I would like to see it in action though.
 
gtnos said:
danpik, how did that do with rain runoff though? a barrel may still work fine if you broom that snow off the cover before it melts, as snow like that wont make the cover nasty. its rain runoff that you want to achieve. id love to see a pic of that pool with the barrel without the snow on it.
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The cover looks the same with snow on it or off it. I don't worry about the rain and water buildup on the cover accept that I do syphon the water off in the fall during the leaf season. In the spring, after the snow melts. I syphon the water off, get out the wet/dry vac and suck up the remaining debris from the cover. When I take it off, I lay it out in the driveway, hose it off, let it dry and fold it up.

I do have one shot without the snow on it, but I don't think it is what you have in mind.






 
Hey guys opening up an old thread here. I have an idea that may help others or some of you may find a flaw.

Here goes. Take one of those "blue barrels" (which I got free from a local car wash) fill the bottom of it with concrete 1 or 2 bags worth to may it stay upright, like a bouey. Cut out a 4"x4" hole in the top and slide a ~5' 4x4 in there. Silicone the heck out of that. Then, screw, attach, somehow, an old "saucer" type (upside down dome) snow sled to the top of the 4x4. Add some carpet or something for padding on top of that so the screws don't tear liner. Then put your new bouey in the center tied off to the top rail through drilled holes in the top "lip" of the barrel. Then put your used bleach bottles around the edge to keep it all down. Finish by using "pool wrap" which is saran wrap basically for the outside edge of the cover to keep the wind from finding it's way up there.

Now here's a slight mod which I was leary about, to keep the true dome shape if the above still sags. When tying off the barrel to keep it centered, add 9 or maybe even 12 total sections of rope to support the mid sections of the cover.

Let me know what y'all think I plan on making this contraption next weekend or whenever the water temp gets below 60.

Drew

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