Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped pool

[renbar1980]

Hi--we are just installing a 14' by 30' kidney shaped fiberglass pool. Since our funds have been tapped a bit with all the costs associated with getting the pool up and running we decided to pass on the $1300+ safety cover for this winter....we do live in Maine though. Is it ok to buy a rectangular mesh (probably 16' by 32') cover to put over the pool? Any tips or advice is greatly welcome and appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[JohnT]

Re: Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped p

Welcome to TFP!

The rectangular cover will work fine, just make sure you have the extra material anchored so the wind can't get it flapping.

Don't use anything to hold the cover down that you don't want falling in the pool. If a storm blows a table or something onto the cover it can drag whatever is holding the cover down into the the water.

 

[renbar1980]

Re: Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped p

Thank you John T. I was looking at covers on Amazon and the one I as looking at recommends 12 8 foot water tubes. But the reviews on those don't look great. Do you have recommendations on other materials to use to weigh it down?

 

[JohnT]

Re: Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped p

Thank you John T. I was looking at covers on Amazon and the one I as looking at recommends 12 8 foot water tubes. But the reviews on those don't look great. Do you have recommendations on other materials to use to weigh it down?

Well, if you want my real recommendation, (and I 'm not trying to be as smart alec, just telling you what I think) go ahead and get the safety cover and you'll be ~$200 and aggravation ahead of where you'll be when you give up on the floating mesh cover and install the safety cover next year. That's the advice I got my first year, and I'm glad I followed it, but I understand it's a big chunk of money and you may prefer to wait.

First, it's critical that a pool with a floating cover have a secure fence around it because dogs and kids will go out on it and the cover will wrap up around them so they can't swim.

Probably the reason for the bad reviews is that the tubes are a pain. They are a mess to store and they tend to split after a year or two. That leads to people using concrete blocks or similar pool-damaging items, which is the reason I warned you about not using things you don't want in the pool. There are water boxes that are much less headache than the tubes, but they cost more. http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Blocks-Cover ... cr_pr_pb_t

 

[renbar1980]

Re: Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped p

So can you put a rectangular safety cover on a kidney pool? All the places I call say I need to have it custom-made. I can't help but feel this is a sales gimmick. Custom covers are $1500-2000. Way out of budget--especially when I could buy a rectangular one for under $900 online. Your opinion is very much appreciated.

 

[JohnT]

Re: Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped p

Normally that's not going to work because you don't have enough concrete around the pool to install the anchors.

 

[renbar1980]

Re: Is it ok to put a rectangular cover on a kidney shaped p

We have 6 feet of concrete all the way around