Lazy L solar cover... One piece or two????

[sgarofalo]

Hi everyone, getting some ideas sorted out for our first summer in the pool we just bought that came with the house.


Living in Wisconsin its not the longest summer weather and remember growing up with a 21' round pool that we had a solar cover on. That was simple enough to handle.

I attached a drawing of what the pool is (found a TON of documentation when we bought the house)

my initial thought was to buy one cover that could be trimmed to match the current Lazy L shape. But after looking around at some of the covers that are offered it dosen't seem to be much of an option at least without trimming a TON of extra material off.

longest to longest point of the pool is 41'l by 16'w

Looking at the diagram I'm now thinking maybe getting a 16x24 cover to go over the deep end, and then another 16x24 cover that can be trimmed to "fit" the Lazy L portion.

Just curious what others with this style of pool have done for solar covers?

Sorry the pic is a little blurry...

 

[jblizzle]

I would go with the 2 pieces.
Are you considering a roller too? Might be possible to connect the 1 pieces and roll the entire thing up in the deep end.

 

[sgarofalo]

I was thinking of the roller option too. At first that was my theory by using a single piece along the whole pool I could roll up under the deep end. Saw some on a few sites that looked like they worked but claimed not to be sturdy enough to handle a 16mil Clear cover.

Saw one post on the site here that described using a foam core pvc pipe that would attach in the middle and would be rolled up that way. I do like the idea of the external roller system and have it coil up under the diving board though, that way the wife and kids could manage the cover if I wasn't home.

 

[jblizzle]

FYI, I also recommend buying the cheapest cover you can find. There is no reason to pay for extra thickness as they all seem to only last a few seasons.

If you have a diving board, I do not think an external roller will work on that end ... the roll will be way too big to fit under the diving board.

 

[sgarofalo]

Thanks Jason! I'll not worry about the thickness any more!

Any thoughts on the Clear versus the Blue colored covers? Reading a bit (good or bad I suppose )

They "claim" the clear lets more of the natural light through and potentially could heat the water more or quicker...

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

You place the roller at the end of the diving board and when you use the board you need to move the roller back. I can manage to do mine alone.

I bought a big one piece and cut it down. I flip the "lazy" part over onto the main part of it and roll it up. I bought a 16 mm to better retain heat but I wouldn't do it again. Much more material to try and roll up so it's much more difficult to roll up alone and is noticeably more bulky on the reel. I also can no longer lift the whole thing alone to put it away for the winter and bring it back out of the shed in the spring.

I went with clear to let more light in and it seems to heat a little better. There are so many variables it's hard to qualify, that's just our opinion.

 

[sgarofalo]

You place the roller at the end of the diving board and when you use the board you need to move the roller back. I can manage to do mine alone.

I bought a big one piece and cut it down. I flip the "lazy" part over onto the main part of it and roll it up. I bought a 16 mm to better retain heat but I wouldn't do it again. Much more material to try and roll up so it's much more difficult to roll up alone and is noticeably more bulky on the reel. I also can no longer lift the whole thing alone to put it away for the winter and bring it back out of the shed in the spring.

I went with clear to let more light in and it seems to heat a little better. There are so many variables it's hard to qualify, that's just our opinion.

Thanks!

If you were to draw a straight line from the middle of the deep end to the furthest part of the shallow end how long would that be on your pool? It's a pretty similar design to our pool.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

I don't know exactly, but I remember I had to have 42' for it to fit the stairs too. The pool in my signature isn't my exact pool but it's really close. I wish the guy who bought this thing originally would have just put in a rectangle. It's so much easier for so many reasons. Covers would be cheaper and easier and liners I'd be willing to tackle too.

I brought out the cover yesterday using a wagon on the back end and it wasn't as bad as I thought but it's still easier to just carry it and so much easier than putting my end down and re-aiming the wagon over and over. Was really worried on the narrow sidewalk between the pool and the supports for the deck the wagon was going to end up in the pool :rambo:

Now I'm fighting green !! Still looks better this year than it ever has in the past. Using up the last of the bottled pool store chemical and then I'll be pool store free Can't seem to find a way to keep the pine tree needles from finding there way in there.