UltraLoc Safety Cover for Rectangular Inground Pool

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C

CoralReef

0
Jun 27, 2008
11
Atlanta, GA
I have a question for those who may have a UltraLoc Looploc safety cover for a inground rectangular pool. I have a 16 x 36 inground pool and am currently in the process of purchasing a new solid safety cover. I have had a Anchor solid safety cover for the last 11 years but it is showing it's age. Concrete anchors are already installed in decking and I really don't want to have anymore anchors drilled into concrete. My question for those who have a LoopLoc cover for a standard rectangular pool is; "how far apart are your straps that run along both the width and length?". I'm trying to see if the anchors that are installed in my concrete decking will match up with the straps on a stock LoopLoc rectangular cover. Thanks so much for any info.

Kate
 
The easiest way to do it is to ship your old cover to looploc for them to make a copy. Otherwise you'd need to plot every anchor point. It's not just the spacing of the straps, but the positioning that makes it difficult. Some companies have a center strap, some don't. Some do corners differently than others. So if you just send in the old cover you can be sure it will work.

Contact them directly to make sure they'll take it on. If they won't, another company will (Performance, for instance).
 
Thanks spishex, I'll check with both those companies. Another idea I had was to see if I could just knock those anchors deeper into the concrete and cover them with mortar to be flush with existing concrete decking and just install all new anchors and a stock UltraLoc cover. I'm trying to save money by not having to order a custom cover. That word "custom" just seems to make manufacturers see more $$$$, if you know what I mean! Has anyone out there ever tried to remove those anchors or pound them a little deeper and cover them with mortar?

Kate
 
You can drill them out and fill the hole, but sometimes it requires a hammer drill and a lot of time and patience. Depends on the anchor but they're usually set in a 1/2"-1" hole, so if you have a bit that's about 1/8" narrower than the original hole you can use it to take the old socket out. You might also be able to use something like a bearing puller using the anchor to lift, but I've never done it that way.

In the end, little patches of concrete don't look much better than old anchors. Unless you're going to put some type of finish over the whole patio when you're done I'd consider just leaving the old ones.
 
CoralReef said:
I have a question for those who may have a UltraLoc Looploc safety cover for a inground rectangular pool. I have a 16 x 36 inground pool and am currently in the process of purchasing a new solid safety cover. I have had a Anchor solid safety cover for the last 11 years but it is showing it's age. Concrete anchors are already installed in decking and I really don't want to have anymore anchors drilled into concrete. My question for those who have a LoopLoc cover for a standard rectangular pool is; "how far apart are your straps that run along both the width and length?". I'm trying to see if the anchors that are installed in my concrete decking will match up with the straps on a stock LoopLoc rectangular cover. Thanks so much for any info.

Kate
Click to expand...

Let me get something clear, do you have an Anchor Industrys' solid cover? The kind that use the rubber straps? If so I would just order a stock loop-loc. Anchor industries covers anchors are 3' away from the pool edge which is about the same as loop-locs. Also anchor industries covers use A LOT of anchors so you should have more than enough anchors in your ground to match up to the new looploc stock cover. I don't think you'll have to worry about redrilling, regardless it is expensive to ship covers (around $400) and if you A-B your pool and the current anchors they usually just tell you a certain amount of anchors will need to be re-drilled.
 
Kevin and Spishex

Thank you so much for your help. The idea about removing those anchors sounds good and it may be something I could try
in the future especially since some of them aren't totally flush with concrete and I stub my toes sometimes (ouch) - original pool installer put this in so I won't take credit for that mistake.

Yes, Kevin, you're right; it is an Anchor Industries solid cover with the rubber type straps and yes there are about 66 anchors for my 16x36 inground pool. And, again, you are absolutely correct the distance from edge of pool to anchors is approx. 3' (I measured around 38" from inside pool edge). I believe the Anchor cover is actually longer and wider than an actual stock cover for this size pool as cover overlaps about 2' on all sides and the normal UltraLoc stock cover (as shown on poolcenter.com) overlaps about 1' (but that can be solved by just ordering a little bigger stock cover) I think I might just go ahead and order a stock UltraLoc and I suppose the worst scenario is I would just have to add anchors where they didn't match up correctly. My whole deck is just going to be anchors - what you have to do to try to save money! Thanks again for all your ideas.
 
Just order the stock cove size for your pool size. The straps on the loop-locs are adjustable enough to where you can make them very long by sliding the provided buckle. I'm sure the current anchors in your pool will line up with the new cover since there are just so many of them. If you don't like the current anchors you have you can always extract them with the wingmaster tool.
 
Wow, thanks a lot, never heard of the wingmaster! Didn't know about how adjustable those straps were on the Ultra Looploc either. I called poolcenter.com and they said I could do a A-B measurement on the current anchors and get an exact fit - here we go "CUSTOM COVER". I said, "that will probably cost quite a bit more, right?". No commitment except he told me that using a stock cover and trying to utilize the current anchors would void the warranty - Oh brother - why do we humans have to make things so complicated? I'm really not going to have "Bubbles the Elephant" walking on the cover anyway (no children around, fenced yard and the dogs have learned never to walk on cover). Think I'll probably just go ahead and get a custom quote just for comparison - it'll probably make me feel better when I end up ordering a stock cover and voiding my warranty (I've never had occasion to use those anyway).

Thanks for all advice - it's been very helpful.
 

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CR, welcome to TFP!!

My brothers in pools have given you great advice, as they always do :)

Forget the nonsense about 'utilizing old anchors' :evil: If you had an expansion joint that would sit on center of where an anchor would go, you'd have to offset the anchor by ~ 1", just to be able to install the anchor. They also make things called "Y" straps that allow you to use 2 anchors instead of one to attach the strap (like if you have a permanently mounted obstruction), so if one of your stock straps falls between 2 of the old anchors, you can use that option :idea: :cool:

My best advice is to simply get the less expen$ive standard cover! If you run into any trouble on the install, lots of knowledgeable folks are here to help you :-D
 
Regardless of having anchors currently installed or not your pool itself is a stock dimension for loop-loc you'll save a bundle of money with a stock cover not to mention you can probably find a good deal online (below recommended retail cost)
 
Waste: BRILLIANT! Y Straps (who would have "thunk" it). Searched online and found exactly what you're talking about. That was what my fear was - I thought to myself: "with my luck each strap on that stock cover would probably land exactly in the middle of one of my 60 something anchors." What a nightmare surprise that would be because a stock cover is going to cost just over $1,000 anyway and you can't return it if you take it out of the box. I'm gonna search for other prices today. I wonder if they have extendable straps too just in case I'm short of my anchors. At least the "Y" straps would take care of any potential strap misalignment to my anchors. At this point I'm just trying to anticipate any potential problems that might arise before I shell out that money and then don't have a plan B, C, D, etc.

Also, Spishex, thanks for all your x-pert advice. The installation instructions for Looploc says the anchors need to be installed exactly 18" off of cover edge to get proper spring tension. The only stock covers I can order to cover my pool are either 18' or 20' wide (my pool is 16' wide).

1. If I order the 18' wide cover it will only overlap each side by 1' which leaves another 2' on each side to reach the currently installed anchors; so instead of the anchors being offset 18" from cover edge, the anchors would be offset 24" from cover edge and the springs and/or straps would have to adjust another 6" per LoopLoc's instructions (my anchors are 3' off pool edge). I have seen from installation videos that the straps themselves are adjustable on a buckle, I just don't know if there is an extra 6" on the strap or if the springs could extend another 6" (or a combination of both).

2. If I order the 20' wide cover it would overlap pool edge 2' onto decking on either side and then the anchors would be inset only 12" from cover edge (6" off Looploc's recommended 18"); don't know if there would be proper tension on springs or if you can take 6" more off of strap so the springs would have proper tension.

I really appreciate all your help and I understand if you may be tired of this thread but maybe someone else out there has had or will have a similar problem and will benefit from this discussion. Again, thank you all so much and thank you for the welcome. I have actually lurked on this board for a long time and learned BBB from poolsolutions (Ben). I just haven't posted a lot. You all are SUPER and have given me many ideas to pursue.

Kate
 
CoralReef said:
Also, Spishex, thanks for all your x-pert advice. The installation instructions for Looploc says the anchors need to be installed exactly 18" off of cover edge to get proper spring tension. The only stock covers I can order to cover my pool are either 18' or 20' wide (my pool is 16' wide).
Click to expand...

Kevin's the X-pert, and showed it on this one! :-D

Setting anchors 30" from the pool (18" overlap + 12" from the edge of the cover) usually leaves more than 6" of strap length, but I don't install LoopLoc covers so you may want to check with them on their strap length. Given the option you should go with the anchors further out. Too close and you risk not being able to put enough tension on the cover to stop it from sagging.
 
Kate, you'll be fine with the 18' cover :) The overlap should be 12 - 18" and the straps are long enough to accommodate your situation.

If you end up needing a couple "Y" straps, let me know, one comes with every cover we install and we only need to use them on ~ 1/5 of the covers we install :roll:

As I said, if you run into any trouble with this, Kevin, Tim and I will help you (as well as a large number of the pool owners here) :goodjob:
 
Thank you Ted. I read your last reply and felt very confident and ordered the 18' wide stock cover. I feel pretty good about it now and for the price of a stock cover versus custom cover, I really don't think I mind doing some "tweaking" if need be. I appreciate all your help and the confidence all of you gave me. Will let you know how it works out.

Keep up the good work - troublefreepool.com has some awesome people on this board.

Kate
 
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