Advice on covers

[lee872]

I'm thinking about putting a solid cover on top of my mesh cover this year, hoping I can get the best of both. I'm thinking the taut mesh cover will keep the solid cover from collecting water so it will be easier to remove in the spring. Has anyone tried this? Think I should put a pillow between the 2 covers?

 

[J20832]

What is your plan for when snow accumulates on the cover? What happens when the pillow fails? I have thought about doing the same thing, but I think if you want the benefit of a solid cover, just go with one... maybe someone who has tried your plan will chime in. It would definitely decrease the amount of silt and pollen come opening time.

 

[lee872]

Hmmmm .... good question. What I want is for the snow to just sit there and melt, and the melt would run off because it has no where else to go. I thought the advantage would be the tautness of the mesh keeping the solid from holding water. But what I want and what I'd get probably are not the same.

 

[bandersesk]

I have a permanent, roll away cover. I keep a sump pump on it in the spring to pull away the water as it melts.

 

[J20832]

Not sure about your setup, by my loop-loc mesh is meant to sag with the weight of the snow until it rests on the water beneath and then melts into the pool when the temp goes up. If I had a solid on top it would melt and just sit there in the sag, I don't think that would be great for the longevity of the loop-loc...

Snow is heavy!

 

[lee872]

When I thought about the snow question, I figured that would be the result. My cover sags very slightly and stays up out of the water all winter, but as the water level gets high from melting and rain in the spring the cover is in the water. I guess it wasn't a brilliant idea after all. Now I'm wondering about closing in stages, covering the pool with my mesh cover in Sept to keep the water clean, and continuing to run the pump for a few or several hours each day until the water temp comes down to 60. I'd weight the corners of the cover rather than fasten, so I could easily add bleach and test water until the actual closing. Have I overlooked the obvious with that idea also?

 

[Swampwoman]

I have heavy leaf traffic at my home and this is my first fall here, so I too have been debating some simlar kind of "semi-close" with a leaf cover.
I will likely need to buy one of those tools to raise the concrete anchors and get a leaf cover that fits those, but I was wondering, has anyone with a high volume of deciduous trees tried anything like what lee or I are thinking about doing?

Eg. I'm wondering if there'd be so much leaf litter getting through the net if it would actually be easier just to leaf rake daily. I want to keep the pool available for the odd October/Indian summer occasion.

The owners former to the foreclosed owners also told me that some years they actually just covered the pool but left it "open" by keeping the heat on in the pool house and the water circulating. I'm in Michigan. Apart from expensive, does this even sound viable? All equipment is indeed in the pool house and it IS possible to keep same from freezing. I believe they said it made for a much easier opening come spring.

Last thought, might benefit Lee as well -- has anyone ever retro-actively had an automatic cover installed, and might that (eventually) be a good solution for a pool surrounded by maples and oaks? (Yes, you heard me, SURROUNDED by very very very TALL maple and oaks! -- It's a beautiful site...but not without its challenges...)

 

[lee872]

I just started a new thread on the close in stages question. Someone has done this and can enlighten us!