Plywood pool cover

[p1zaul]

Thinking of building a plywood cover

Pool is not too wide so a a few 12 foot 2x4 or 2x6 and then sheets of plywood.

Pool is surrounded by grass so no real way to properly anchor safety cover.

I've seen other discussions about this but everyone seems to think it's a bad idea due to weight. I'm not sure I fully understand why that is. The weight would be resting really off of the pool itself.

 

[anotherpyr]

Basically you’re building a deck over your pool. So what supports the joists going across the pool? And what is the minimize size for the joist based on length and span. For 12 foot and a 16” span you’d need 2x8 as a minimum. Sitting the joists on the grass leads me to think the pool walls would be supporting the joists. That may be your load issue as I don’t think they weren’t designed to support a deck load.

 

[Arizonarob]

Why do you want to build a plywood cover? Are you closing the pool permanently?

 

[Newdude]

If you have concrete walls, the pool could easily handle the weight of the wood, but your coping might not. I would use 4x4s or 6x6s in the grass around the perimeter of the pool and secure the cross braces to that.

That being said, i cant imagine a reason to do it. The cost of the wood alone would be outragous. Actual plywood is expensive, and OSB is cheaper but at $10 a sheet it will still add up more than a tarp setup. And thats with only enough support to hold the plywood up. If you build to be able too walk on it, the cost will be many times that of a tarp setup. And it will need replacing every 2 or 3 years like the tarp.

They do make anchors for your grass. Friends with a loop lock have one side of their pool landscaped with mulch instead of patio. It can be done. The costs level out over time for the tarp and safety cover. Pay some every other year, or pay once and be done.

 

[p1zaul]

So all four sides are grass so trying to make something that is a safety cover. Apparently the safety cover only allows one side to be in grass

 

[Newdude]

Personally i would use the 8 inch cardboard tubes and make concrete footers for the safety anchors. Do it once and be done, instead of spending the same money replacing all that lumber every couple years. And the plywood will never look as good as the safety cover.

 

[kimmielea]

When the house I'm in now was foreclosed, the bank went out and secured the pool. They used either 2x8's or 2x10's. 18' going across the pool, and I'm thinking 2 18' down each side to build a frame. then they were spaced about 12" on center? (This was 11 years ago, so I'm going from memory and yes, we were stupid enough to walk across it SMH). On top of that, they stapled down a tarp. That is a lot of weight without the plywood, and to move it, you would have to take it apart.

I would buy a winter tarp and in the grass, use tent stakes or landscaping staples to secure it, but no matter what you do, anything over the grass could potentially kill it. And water blocks on the patio side.