What material and how do you properly build up a cove to relieve the stress of liner in the corners. And how high and how far out from pool to angle.
Coving
- Thread starter Hayseed
- Start date
I've seen foam coving that builds up the edge..... I Googled it for you: Installation and Benefits of Foam Pool Cove | The Pool Factory
Thanks, I have seen these styrofoam coves. They are expensive. I saw a pool install video where they were creating the cove with a flat shovel. The material looked like sand but the color was dirty looking. I thought someone here may have used this method.
You can build the cove with sand. The color of the sand will vary on the area you are from.
I bought some of the el cheapo foam coving from Amazon but my pool installer asked me if they could please NOT use it. He said they truly preferred to build a sand cove and thought it would serve me much better. I agreed when I took a good look at that foam. It was only about 3 inches high and 2.5 inches deep. Luckily, Amazon allowed me to return it the following week. 
CJadamec
TFP Expert
When building a cove with sand often the sand is wetted down with a hose so the same will stay in place after they tamp it down. The sand being wet may have made it look dirty.
Thanks for the input, so when they made yours of sand, about how many inches high was it, and is their a preferred depth?
I did not ask them specifically nor did I get in there and measure it myself, but it came up around the top of their shoes so I'd say about 4-5" high and about 4" deep. They definitely wet it down before they shoveled it in piles next to the pool wall and then spread it evenly across the entire inside circumference.
Has it maintained its form to your liking? Would you change now to foam if choice given? I don't want to spend a hundred if a little sand will do the trick. Thanks
CJadamec
TFP Expert
The only advantage to foam in my mind is you don't have to haul sand.
If you have the means to haul and move the sand go with sand.
If you have the means to haul and move the sand go with sand.
I just found the old paperwork for a Sears pool we put up in the early 90's, and it said 8 inches for the cove.
Thanks guys, Mr B how deep was the sand base? And did the tamp it down with machine or what? Did you put pad down to stop grass?
Be careful when ordering foam cove. When I was sourcing out cove for our pool there were different sizes, 2"x2" and then 4"x3". I went with the larger where the 4" is going up the wall and the 3" out into the pool as per the instructions on installing it. The tape on the back also indicates what goes where with the tape meant to adhere to the wall. I still opted to go over the seams and around the edges with gorilla tape, it secured it to the wall and the foam floor better.
I had a sand cove and it was a disaster. Be sure you have a solid foundation and don't have any erosion issues. My yard is like jello at times and floods easily. I live near water and not far from the Great Dismal Swamp. I love my foam cove. I will never recommend anyone to use a sand cove based on my experience. Good luck.
Since reading about the horrors of the sand washing away ( something I never even thought of ) I have opted to buy the styrofoam coves too. One less thing to worry about the better
As mentioned, it's best to tape the butt joints of the foam cove with gorilla tape. Also, when placing the cove, push against the previous piece so that there is pressure to ensure that there is no slack at the butt joint. This will prevent the water pressure from creating a slight dip at the butt joint.
If using only a sand base, try to tape the cove to the wall to ensure no movement when installing the liner. If using a foam bottom, tape the cove to this also.
Measure for proper height from bead receiver before installing the cove if using a beaded liner.
Sand was only 2-3 inches at the floor of the pool. And yes, they tamped it down with one of those tamping machines that "hops" everywhere. But no, we didn't use any kind of pad. Just flattened out the dirt, put sand on top and then walls around the edges and liner across it all. Grass won't stand much of a chance in all that darkness.
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