Suggestions for an automatic pool cover vs pool enclosure, costs/choices

[tsar]

Hi folks, I've recently bought a home with an inground pool. We live in westchester new york, and the pool/patio area is surrounded by a lot of foliage. That said, I'm now looking at a large amount of leaves falling into the pool on a daily basis, which is going to make it difficult to keep it clean. I was looking for suggestions from the community regarding the following:

Regarding pool covers:

1. I wanted to understand what are the options that exist in terms of automatic pool covers
2. How well do these work given new york winters (snow etc.)?
3. Do I still need my mesh cover in winter?
4. I have a stone deck/patio around the pool, will that cause problems with installation of tracks?

Regarding pool enclosures:

1. I guess costs can vary but what do folks go for, are there any simple solutions I'm unaware of?
2. What else to consider when looking into pool enclosures.

 

[PoolGate]

If I had no HOA restrictions and money wasn't a concern I'd opt for the full screen enclosure like Florida pool owners do. I think they run $15k which is a little more than the powered pool covers.

 

[tsar]

@PoolGate lol money is always a concern, but do these screen enclosure do well during winter/snow etc. ? I doubt that would be a concern in florida .
Powered Pool cover might be what I will go for, but looking into pool enclosures as well just to understand cost differences and advantages (most significantly probably longer pool usage than just 4 months)

 

[tsar]

@Lake Placid, @PoolStored - tagging you here too incase you know a bit about pool covers or can tag someone who does?

 

[Lake Placid]

I’m no help here, but @Newdude lives in your area and may be able to offer more assistance or tag others that have more knowledge.

 

[Wolfepack88]

I have multiple friends that live in Westchester and all have auto covers and then use loop loc safety cover in the winter. You can use the autocover for a winter cover, but as you know we can get the occasional large snowfall and that's a lot of weight on the cover that you will use daily in the summer time. The water supports the weight of the snow, but if you have a gunite pool you tend to lower the water level below skimmer that then maybe too low for an autocover in the winter. I would go autocover (safety and cleanliness are great) with the loop loc safety cover or equivalent brand for the winter. With the autocover you also get the benefit of keeping the heat in the pool and minimal evaporation during the swim season. Your decision then becomes mesh, hybrid or solid winter cover if you go that route.

I use a hybrid loop loc, water still goes in but virtually all light blocked (now mine is brand new and went through one winter) and I opened to an extremely clean pool in late March early April, no green pool. Then ran the robot and the worms that did get in were all cleaned and up and the pool was chemically set within a few days. Key is open early and close late (Mid november when water was close to 50 at tops).

 

[tsar]

@Wolfepack88 Thanks for your response. Do you know which installation company your friends in westchester used? Also which autocover would you recommend?.
I have a mesh cover for winters (relatively new), I assume I can continue to use that after getting the autocover installed?

 

[Wolfepack88]

@Wolfepack88 Thanks for your response. Which autocover are you using, and do you know which installation company your friends in westchester used?. Also I have a mesh cover for winters (relatively new), I assume I can continue to use that after getting the autocover installed?

We have Cover Pools with steel cables and so far so good. One of my friends has CoverStar and uses the closest dealer which is in CT. Will have to ask my other buddy, but he's a slow responder sometimes. Will circle back.

 

[Newdude]

I think it's 50/50. I've seen people report they open the autocover and looplock the pool, and some just use the autocover, figuring the pool will be frozen if a big snow hits and help support the autocover.

 

[tsar]

@Wolfepack88 @Newdude - can you guys give me an idea of how much these autocovers typically cost including the installation? Also which model etc. would you recommend?

 

[Newdude]

I've usually seen $12k to $15k reported here.

 

[tsar]

thanks @Newdude , and any recommendations on which model to buy?

 

[Newdude]

The 4 listed in post #2 come up alot. Especially coverstar.

List of Integrated Pool Cover Vendors

Wonder if anyone has a good list of integrated cover vendors. We are getting a Latham Corinthian 14 and want to get an Automatic Cover, over course looking at Latham's but would like to read about other vendors to compare. I see Automatic Pool Covers out of Indiana, but aren't see anyone else...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[dblko]

I also have an automatic pool cover, I think it’s a coverstar too. The upside is it’s really cool to operate and look at, also it adds safety in case one has a family with young kids.

The downside is that it needs maintenance. Mine actually started to become less smooth in opening and closing until it got completely stuck. The coverstar company claimed it needs a new motor. Since then we just leave the pool open.

Turns out covering the pool actually does not help in terms of making cleaning the pool easier. With the open pool leafs just fall into the water and get sucked into the skimmer. However with a cover, the cover needs to be cleaned and swiped before opening it so that the dirt does not get rolled into the cover, which just adds more work to operate the pool. There might be some benefit with the cover in keeping the water warm though.
In winter we would actually open the automatic cover and use the separate winter cover to protect the pool against the load of snow and ice.

BTW, I am also in Westchester county, just wish the pool season would be longer over here.

 

[PoolStored]

@Lake Placid, @PoolStored - tagging you here too incase you know a bit about pool covers or can tag someone who does?

@tsar, welcome back. Hope the trip went well and pool was blue on return.

I can't help you with autocover or enclosure. No experience. I use a solar cover the majority of the time. Help with pH rise, UV using up my chlorine and keeping my pool warm. It stops *most* stuff from getting into the pool. When I reel it up, I can usually leave about 6' in the water and use a net to get the junk off the top to keep it from going in the pool. In the winter I have a mesh safety cover. Stuff still gets in in the winter (lots of trees). I just throw the dolphin in in late april with mesh cover on and let it clean the pool out. Works for me.

Good Luck!

 

[tsar]

Turns out covering the pool actually does not help in terms of making cleaning the pool easier. With the open pool leafs just fall into the water and get sucked into the skimmer. However with a cover, the cover needs to be cleaned and swiped before opening it so that the dirt does not get rolled into the cover, which just adds more work to operate the pool.

@dblko - Thanks for that insight, Uggh I was hoping all that money on the cover would allow me to easily remove stuff, with a leaf blower and that's about it. I'll probably need to keep a leafblower handy in the back patio anyways. But if it needs to be wiped clean everytime that would be kind of crazy. Do you think if I have a leafblower that would be enough, my skimmer is effective but only on the shallow end of the pool, the deep end alway has leaves floating around, that I have to manually skim. Especially now when the tree on the other side of the fence is shedding like crazy.

From my perspective, another aspect with the auto cover was that I was hoping to not find small animals in the pool. I just returned to find a dead mice floating in the skimmer. I also have a 4 year old so it should serve a safety purpose as well.

btw. how long have you had your cover? And how much does motor replacement/maintenance cost? Do they offer warranties?

BTW, I am also in Westchester county, just wish the pool season would be longer over here.

Same here.. when do you usually open and close? This is my first pool, still getting the hang of things .

 

[wireform]

So let me chime in. The coverstar brand cover on a new install is approximately, deep breath here, yes $18k and and somewhere in the $22-$23k for an after build install. There are cheaper after build covers that can be purchased as a kit but the tracks are naked to the eye on the pool deck going lengthwise down both sides of the pool and on the spool end there would be some kind of raised box to house it when the pool is open. Those aren't cheap either and have only seen pictures but never an actual one working in front of me. Have one pool just 2 weeks back needed the rope repair and the guy that came out recommended " well pool cover is already 6 years old so we recommend to change the cover too" to the sum of close to $5k when all is set and done. I said NO to it and just had the 2 new ropes installed along with the standard hardware for the job, $1650 to call it done and over with. So would you want to use this cover over the winter? no way so it shouldn't take extra beating. Loop loc is very common here and the mesh let's the precipitation through therefore come the January thaw I recommend to pump down once more to get to the end of the winter without the pool overflowing or taking out the tile line due to ice. You can also get a very large solid tarp to cover the top of the water and sit all the way from wall to wall then up and over the coping weighed down with water bags bought on Amazon for this very purpose. This option doesn't let precipitation mix with the pool water and needs to be pumped off come spring but some like the option very much. To make this option work better you can buy a large netted tarp which goes on top of the solid one so when the time comes to open you'd lift it up with the solids and then be left with mostly liquid on the solid cover underneath.

 

[dblko]

@dblko - Thanks for that insight, Uggh I was hoping all that money on the cover would allow me to easily remove stuff, with a leaf blower and that's about it. I'll probably need to keep a leafblower handy in the back patio anyways. But if it needs to be wiped clean everytime that would be kind of crazy. Do you think if I have a leafblower that would be enough, my skimmer is effective but only on the shallow end of the pool, the deep end alway has leaves floating around, that I have to manually skim. Especially now when the tree on the other side of the fence is shedding like crazy.

From my perspective, another aspect with the auto cover was that I was hoping to not find small animals in the pool. I just returned to find a dead mice floating in the skimmer. I also have a 4 year old so it should serve a safety purpose as well.

btw. how long have you had your cover? And how much does motor replacement/maintenance cost? Do they offer warranties?


Same here.. when do you usually open and close? This is my first pool, still getting the hang of things .

In my case leafs falling onto the cover would tend to be moist so just using a blower did not work well and I tended to use a broom.
Having small kids is definitely a strong argument for getting the cover installed.

We also have a pool guard water alarm sensor that can be placed on the side of the pool to raise a loud alarm in case someone falls into the pool. Unfortunately the automatic cover can't be closed with the pool alarm in place, which is also a bit of an annoyance, there are probably better solutions.
Got lazy about opening and closing the pool, since the kids are grown. We do open and close late. Mostly just enjoy tending to the pool as a hobby, just like others do gardening. Skimming some leafs of the top and watching the water flow can be quite relaxing. Most usage gets the jacuzzi, especially if heated up and the jets in full force. (heater broke down though, need to fix next)

 

[gingrbredman]

We have a Coverstar automatic cover, I think it was about $15k when we did our pool back in 2020, so with everything else, I'm guessing @wireform isn't too far off on what a builder would charge now. Supply chain, blah blah, excuses why prices are so much higher, but the fact is, they are. Each area throughout the county could see different prices, but they are expensive, no doubt. Our builder only installs Coverstar, they have some deal as a Latham installer, but if I did have my choice, I would have picked American Pool Covers (APC), just for the finishing touches they do better than Coverstar and have seen a few of those installs up close.

The downside is that it needs maintenance

Yes, they do! My "torque limiter" began slipping, required some tightening, cleaning the inside of the box, cover, etc., they surely are not a "set it and forget it" kind of pool accessory.

However with a cover, the cover needs to be cleaned and swiped before opening it so that the dirt does not get rolled into the cover, which just adds more work to operate the pool

I have not found the need at all to clean or swipe the cover before opening. I usually keep my pump cover on top when I close the pool up, in case it rains and the water needs to be pumped off, but when I open the pool, just remove the pump, and open. In the fall, if there are a lot of leaves on the pool, a quick leaf blower works, and if the leaves are wet, a quick broom. The majority of the season, I just take the pump off, and uncover. In the dry time, I don't even keep the pump on, so its a quick keycode, and cover open deal for us.

Now, throughout the season, the cover does tend to get a little dirty, but the cover rolls up and keeps the dirt inside the box. Maybe twice a season I will give the cover a good wash, and spray it down, but for the most part, never have seen the need to clean or swipe if off before I open it.

There might be some benefit with the cover in keeping the water warm though.

That is for sure. I found I can raise my water temps just a few degrees an hour in the sun if the cover is closed. and does keep the water temps higher if closed. I have to maintain the balance between overeating the water in the hot summer if the cover is closed too long, to leaving it open overnight if the temps are too high, but I just see it as my normal routine.

I like my cover, would do one again if I build another pool, just like the safety aspect, as well as the water temp help, especially in the shoulder seasons in my neck of the woods. I would not do Coverstar unless I absolutely had to, but that's my opinion, others may like their Coverstar.

 

[Wolfepack88]

Ours was new last year and is a surface mount with tracks down the side and a coverbox. It is the Cover Pools brand which I think was the first company. $18k. It uses steel cables vs the ropes which wear out or can stretch with exposure to water etc. I spoke with the owner and the installers on site and they told me with the steel cables you just have to lithium grease two spots once a year. He said you look at aobut $5k to replace the cover in about 5-7 years depending how rough you are (i.e. do you clean the grit off of it, the UV exposure, do you throw your cover pump on it, do you brush it hard, etc). I sprayed it off twice this year (once during the pollen time and another just a week ago after I had some work done on my patio and some stone dust accumulated on it). I used my ego blower if I start to get some leaves on it.

Here is is a picture of it. I use the extra hose to provide a channel for water to follow to the cover pump. My pool is 40ft long. The tracks don't bother us and are very low profile in my opinion.