Auto Cover Lid Options?

[Fat_Al]

We're in the planning stages for our new pool build in central NJ, and one question that has come up is what lid to use for the auto cover housing. Aesthetically, obviously a lid that matches the coping is most seamless, but the PB has said that it requires a bracketing system that is prone to wear and tear and breaking given the weight of the stone. The other alternatives seem to be aluminum and composite of some sort. Any views on which are better as a matter of functionality? Does the standard aluminum lid seem cheap and flimsy? The cover will be at the deep end away from the house/patio, so I don't think it will be terrible visually whatever we end up with. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

Al

 

[swimcmp]

In my opinion if you are building a "highend" pool you should have a lid for the auto cover that matches that finish. Not a cheap looking aluminum lid. Coverstar from Latham has stainless brackets that we use for stone lids all the time and I have not had any issues with breakage.

 

[jjslinger]

My pool builder made our lids out of concrete that matches the deck. It looks very good. I can tell you that these things are heavy, and that somewhat discourages me from cleaning out the cover vault as often as I should, since I hate lifting those things. But, I still think I prefer this over the alternatives because it does look so good.

 

[wjr75]

The house we bought has the cover star aluminum lids. I think it looks fine. Not to many people have a $10K pool cover in the first place around my parts. I wasn't even aware you could get a matching lid for your concrete (I have a colored stamped). I want to go out and polish my aluminum up now

 

[bdex]

We have an APC cover and an aluminum lid. But it is not a "high end" pool. Just some redneck schmucks that could patch enough together for our own swimmin' hole. Hard to see but i will post a better pic.

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[Fat_Al]

Thanks for all the feedback. We're not redneck schmucks, just Jersey shore schmucks. We are spending a fair bit on a new gunite build, so I don't want to just get the standard cover if I think it's something we'll regret later. But I'm lazy enough as it is, if the stone cover makes it harder to access, that might discourage me. I guess we probably need to get our hands and eyeballs on some installations to see what we think in real life. Thanks again.

Al