Battle of the leaves

[ivyleager]

Should have put the cover on yesterday. It was a balmy 78 degrees here in Raleigh-Durham. But alas, the post Turkey clean-up and sleepiness did us in. Kept telling myself this year that we'll put the cover on before the leaves start to fall, which coincides with hunting season down here.

Last night we had a cold front come in. Pool was FULL of leaves.....again. It's 40 degrees and windy. Chemicals are in and circulating. Just waiting a few hours before putting the mesh cover on. So, I've developed this routine.
* Skim the leaves off the surfaces
* Watch gusts of wind blow more into the pool
* Curse
* Repeat

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, then expecting a different outcome. Decided to actually use my powers of reasoning and intelligence. Put the leaf pole down, came inside to warm up, and put on a pot of tea. Now watching to leaves blow in. The skimmer will get its fair share of the surface leaves, and in a hour I'll get the rest. But, in the meantime, I'm warm.

Lessons learned??? Put the cover on BEFORE hunting season!

CaryB

 

[crabboy]

The leaves have been falling here for quite some time now, I'd say we are 80% down by now. I'd have thought you would have been fighting this for quite some time now.

My first fall as a pool owner and I'd have to say that the leaves are not as bad as I thought they would be. For the most part it's routine to empty out the skimmers in the morning and evening, but it's only on windy days that they will really fill up. I am amazed to see how the stuffed skimmer will completely block the water flow into the skimmer. Now I know why the liner folks with no main drain get worried, but lucky for me, I have a main drain. With the exception to the 3-4 windy days that I've had to empty the skimmers a few more times a day, it has not been that bad, considering the wall of trees I have 20' from the pool.

GaryB

 

[duraleigh]

Gary,

Your leaves in Suwanee are much better trained than ours' here in Raleigh. :lol:

There have been several times this fall when the idea of bulldozing the pool didn't seem so bad!! On a windy day for a week or so, I have a solid mass of leaves covering about 50% of my pool area. Additionally, I cannot reach out with the 10' hand skimmers to the middle of the pool so, after 30-45 minutes of skimming, I have to wait for those in the center to drift towards the sides and go attack them again. Last year, I tried a leaf net floating on top of the solar cover. It worked but taking it on and off is at least two hours for the cycle.....another PITA.

I'm not posting to *****, but rather to bring up what I hope will be a decent solution. I intend to purchase a fishing seine the width of my (rectangular) pool and 3-4' high. Attaching a stick (handle) on each end, I'm hoping two of us can use the seine to "skim" off the floating leaves in one pass. I'm hoping it will get 90% plus of the leaves and only take about2-3 minuts for one pass the length of the pool.

To work well, I'll have to do it while the leaves are floating (about 24 hours). If they sink, it will be a much bigger hassle but the seine may even help with that. That means I'll have to do it virtually everyday during the leaf season but it's the best plan I can think of.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[crabboy]

I'd have to say that what you describe is much worse than I have. I think what's helping me is the hill between the trees and the pool and the landscaping I have surrounding the pool. Quite a bit of leaves get caught up in the plants. I'd probably be ordering a cover if I had what you describe.

 

[ivyleager]

We got the mesh cover on. Each year we ALWAYS lay the cover out the wrong way and have to either turn it , flip it or both. Funny thing.....once the cover was on, not a leaf was blown on to it for about an hour. Go figure.

 

[Guest]

We got the mesh cover on. Each year we ALWAYS lay the cover out the wrong way and have to either turn it , flip it or both. Funny thing.....once the cover was on, not a leaf was blown on to it for about an hour. Go figure.

aint that the truth, we closed in early october, but it was awsome to have the 75-80 last tues-thursday. wasn't it? thats when we put up the christmas decorations, because it was so warm and new it was going to get COLD by friday.

 

[robrinker]

75-80 sounds wonderful. We got our first real snow here (about 2 inches) on thursday and some of my trees still have some leaves left on them. Both my yard and my pool cover are still a mess.

 

[sammm]

The previous owners of our home decided some nice pear trees (fruitless) on each side of the pool would be a good idea. After fighting leaves last year (first year of ownership), this year I went to Harbor Freight and bought a 30' x 40' tarp to cover the pool until the leaves fall. Next year the trees are coming down!

 

[Sabot]

LOL!

First year owner here... Not just one but TWO Pecan trees within feet of the pool. They are about 10 years old and about 20 feet tall. These things can grow huge and live a LONG time.... My wife won't let me cut them down but after a few years of cleaning I am sure she will allow me to get a cover.

Can I install a net on a pool which only has 3 sides? One entire side of the pool is a rock wall which goes below the water line.

 

[uwimage]

ugh...the bottom of my pool is brown, not from dirt but from leaves! Looks like I get to have my fun tomorrow.

We have two huge oak trees on either side of the pool. The good news is I found out the strange little things stuck in the pool decking around the pool are for a stretch tight cover, the bad news is I found out after the leaves fell

Looks like I know what I'll be adding to the pool next year!