Should my cover be resting on top of the water line or should it be suspended above the water line? Should it look like Picture A or Picture B? We also have a pillow but trying to figure out of the cover we bought is big enough or if we need to get a bigger one.
Should my cover be resting on top of the water line or should it be suspended above the water line? Should it look like Picture A or Picture B?
- Thread starter MAROBSON137
- Start date
You do not want to suspended over the water line ! As rainwater, snow and ice accumulate on the cover it will pull your sidewalls in. A proper cover size should be 4 feet larger than the pool size. This will give you 2 feet overhang to accommodate a pillow in the middle.
Thank you! We thought so but kept seeing photos of pools with the cover tight across, like photo A so we were second-guessing ourselves.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Just came across this thread-
To clarify:
the cover in picture b is designed to be installed as pictured since it has a mesh drain in the middle.
If that’s the one you have then its fine to do it that way - otherwise (if its just a tarp style) it should rest on the water with the water supporting it.
You never want to suspend the cover.
Snow or water will pull on the sides and cause damage.
With a mesh, water will drain through but snow will not.
Snow or water will pull on the sides and cause damage.
With a mesh, water will drain through but snow will not.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
This one specifically states to have it pulled taught in the instructions as it is “fitted” to the pool size/shape like one of those fitted tablecloths or bedspreads.
This design is similar to the Eliminatior Extreme cover. They are the only two above ground pool covers that I know of that are designed this way. If heavy ice & snow are a concern this style may not be the best choice.
walls buckling on my above ground pool
Hi, I've had my pool for 2 seasons. I live in MN where we get cold winters and harsh conditions. I have alot of wind in my backyard. I closed my pool in the fall with directions from this website. I switched this past year from a 27' winter cover to a 24' winter cover with wrap. It is...
www.troublefreepool.com
There have been multiple threads about the walls buckling due to the cover being weighed down and putting too much stress on the walls.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I agree- these cover types should not be used with low water conditions as was the case in the posts you linked. I believe the extreme version sends you a skimmer plug to keep your water level higher so there’s not terribly far to go for support. Although the tan one makes no mention of this.
I would certainly recommend a normal tarp style cover which fully rests on the water for those with regular snow & ice conditions.
That is why I never bought one of those covers. I did not like the idea of having it above the surface of the water, and then snow piling up on it.
My in-laws still tell this story. When my wife was a kid, her family had an oval ABG. My father in law got sick of water collecting on the cover. He had this idea - he built a big PVC frame to go inside the pool, that would support the cover like a tent, so that nothing would collect. It worked AWESOME in the fall - leaves and rain just ran right off the "roof". Then it snowed. They woke up to the whole contraption collapsed into the pool.
Luckily (maybe) at that time my father in law was really into SCUBA diving (all his kids used to dive in the pool when they were little). He was able to get out his dry suit and spend the day pulling the cover and mess of PVC pipe out of the pool and then recovering it the "normal" way.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
This reminds me what happened of my canopy- it collapsed without much snow/ice at all.
We had just been underneath it making snowballs on the table when it went.
These pics were taken 2 hours apart
The safest way to cover an AGP is to have the cover rest completely on the water all the way to where the water meets the wall. Then from there the cover goes up parallel to the wall basically separating the two bodies of water but never stressing the walls. You want to have water sitting on top of the cover as if it's the pool water. Come spring you pump it off and refill the pool.
JoeSelf
Gold Supporter
This is why I bought the next size up 34x18 for a 32x16, lots of slack. I had great cover clips (lots of them), ran the wire thru the holes. But I live in a development and not on the great plains.
Ouch.
Was it rusted at all. I used to have one like that (actually I have been through two like that) and the various parts started to rust and mine you buckle and then the canopy would begin to fill with rain, which buckled it more, collecting more rain, leading to more buckling, etc. I beefed it up a bit by welding in some random steel stock I had laying around, and then it buckled in a different spot. I was just chasing my tail with it.
I have one of these now - Sojag Sanibel II Gazebo 10 x 10 ft. 500-8162851 | Zoro
I really don't think I paid that much for it though. I have had it for almost 3 years now and it is going strong. It will probably outlast me.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Not rusty at all just cheap thin tubing with crappy welds. It was a Home Depot special.
I bought a different one to replace it with that spring that looked beefier but when I opened it & we were going to put it together my husband said the tiny tack welds were all going to pop in short order so I returned it & he built us our current patio cover out of black iron pipe & stuff we already had laying around. It covers our entire 20x10 patio
I swear, everything I own is made out of pipe lol
I swear, everything I own is made out of pipe lol
Not a thing wrong with that. I'm more of an angle iron / square tube kind of guy. My welding skills are admittedly very poor with straight edges, I don't need to go adding curved surfaces into the mix.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
There’s plenty of angle iron thrown in too!
It’s not going anywhere that’s for sure.
My mailbox is also lovingly crafted out of black iron pipe. My hubby is a problem solver lol
Recently the sheriff visited us about midnight and informed us that someone had hit it. We live on a state highway.
My first question was did they live! I was a bit concerned that it didn’t “breakaway” as defined in the rules for mailboxes even though we buried it at the proper depth.
He said yes,but it was a hard hit! it was a dui & they didn’t find the mailbox. I found it the next day a couple properties down. It was a bit bent & had some road rash but otherwise it was repairable. The concrete was still attached! He had to cut & weld a new piece on it & we were back in business again, still with the ugliest mailbox in town
