Winter cover dilemma

[afreil]

We have a partial deck around our pool. There is no space between the deck and the pool rails for the cover to fit through. Last year, our first as above ground pool owners, our winter pool cover solution did not work very well. We hung gallon jugs of water from the cover grommets on the open side of the pool and attached bungee cords to the grommets on the deck side of the pool, stretching them to attach to the deck rail posts. Wind managed to get under the cover and blew it off several times, slung the gallon jugs into the pool, ripped the grommets, etc. Needless to say, we are looking for a better solution this year. Does anyone have ideas or had a similar situation?

 

[blondemarcello]

We are in a similar situation with deck design. This year I am going to try the jugs (first time) but tie the string long enough so they are hanging over the edge of the deck. It will get a little tricky as we have the same problem of a partial deck. I am hoping to get the cover to the undecked pool portion and then have the overlap on the deck portion. We will tackle it this weekend. Got some cheap carabiners to help connect the string to the jugs. When it's time to remove the jugs for projected snow I want it to go as quickly as possible. I think the main difference will be attaching to the wire rope running through the grommets instead the grommets themself.

 

[blewbyu]

We have a similiar set up and very high winds that come it and do alot of damage to the cover. We usually replace the cover annually. This year we secured the cover to the deck and used the standard wire around the rest of the pool. In addition to that we took 30 foot lengths of rope from one end of the pool to the other or opposite side and secured the ends with the half filled water bottles. What we have is a cover that is secured by what looks like a spider web of ropes secured on the ends with bottles. The bottles are not attached to the cover/grommets. This way we have been able to put the ropes over the ends that are most affected by the high winds. They are doing a fantastic job. Since closing we have had winds 45 -55 mph which is standard and no problems. We did use gorilla tape on the cover where the rope touched it at the rails just to make sure the rope didn't tear the cover. Another option would be to cut up a hose into 8-10" sections, split it down the middle and place the rope in the hose to avoid pressure on the cover. Easy set up and once the ropes were cut and tied to bottles all we will have to do in the spring is empty the bottles and store for the next closing.