Another water bag alternative

[markmiotke]

Split by moderator from HERE. Please do not revive old threads and start your own for your discussion. Thanks, jblizzle

This thread inspired me to use 1" conduit filled with cement and connected with 90 and 45 degree elbows. It cost about 50 dollars for the conduit and an 80lb bag of cement at Home Depot. The pipes are not very heavy individually so they are easy to install, and since they are all connected together they do a good job holding down the cover. I closed my pool yesterday and it was fairly windy when the cover was installed, but the pipes did a great job holding the cover down. To get the cement in the pipes I plugged the small end of the pipe with a couple inches of news paper held in with duct tape. Then I mixed the cement with water so that it was fairly moist but short of being soupy. Then I got on a ladder and filled each tube with cement. I left the tubes against the ladder to dry so the cement would not pour out. I poured the cement into the wide side of the conduit, and made sure the ends were really clean so that the pipes could slide into each other without any interference from dried cement when it came time to install them. Note the elbows do not contain any cement.

 

[pooladdict]

Ingenious idea, be curious to see how it holds up.

 

[Leebo]

I'd like to start off by welcoming to the site! Glad you were able to pickup a neat little tip from here!

I've debated for the last few years about doing this. Why I still stock up on empty bleach bottles I don't know. Maybe next year.

 

[markmiotke]

Followup post - I have used this solution for two winters now and have been very happy with it with one exception. It did not pass the 50 mph wind test. The pipes do not move but the wind can cause the cover to unwrap from the pipes and peal away. To remedy this, I put weight on the corners such as a flat patio block or a sand bag. This provide a wind block for the heavy wind days. Another, possible solution is to use pipe greater than 1 inch to provide more weight. However, the 1 inch pipes are a nice size to work with when assembling and disassembling. When everything is assembled the pipes are covered by the edges of the cover rolled over them and it looks really nice. Overall, I have been very happy with this solution.

 

[samt]

That's a smart idea!

 

[samt]

That's a smart idea! Maybe make the corners heavier by filling with lead bird shot. But on second thought I guess you can't get the concrete out.Never mind.