Pool Cover Install Questions

[mdthomas176]

Hi all. This is is my first post, so I feel obligated to thank this community for all of the awesome information. This was my first summer with a pool, and TFP was exactly what I needed to get my feet under me and have a summer of crystal clear water. Thanks!

With that out of the way, I need to replace my safety cover. The old one was in terrible shape, and the anchors were just in the loose-set pavers, so it was falling into the pool all winter long. Opening was ugly. I bought a new cover and new anchors set in 18" paver tubes. I need to drill for the new anchors, and I was looking for some clarification/tips on installing the anchors.

The info I read on anchors says that I should core drill, but there are several posts where people indicated that hammer drilling is ok. I also read that I should install the anchors at the joints of the pavers rather than the middle. My pavers are pretty thick at around 2" and they're pretty small, so landing anchors on joints should not be a problem.

Here are my questions:
- Should I install the anchors at paver joints no matter whether I core drill or hammer drill?
- Any thoughts on whether I'll be OK skipping the core drill. I found this loop-loc cover installation video (

), and they aren't core drilling in it.
- Finally, if anyone has any learnings from installing a safety cover that might help me out, I'd appreciate it.

Mike

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hello.... so glad to hear you've had a good first season with TFP help

Here is our reference guide to cover anchors..... Pool Cover Anchors - Further Reading

Maddie <don't forget that TFP relies on donations to keep this non-profit website up and running>

 

[mdthomas176]

I had read through the pool cover anchors information. I still am not clear on a couple points. Is the recommendation to drill in the joints just a method to prevent/limit cracking if you don’t core drill or should I install the anchors into joints no matter what?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

@JamesW might have a better answer than I can give, as I have a different type cover.

 

[JamesW]

I don’t like to hammerdrill into anything but solid concrete.

Hammerdrilling into anything else risks cracks.

I would core drill into bricks, blocks, stone pavers etc. to avoid cracks.

 

[mdthomas176]

and should I still be in the joints when core drilling?

 

[JamesW]

For core drilling, you can go into the center.

You should stretch out the cover to try to find the best pattern for the anchors.

 

[Newdude]

+1. The straps allow a fair amount of range on both sides.

 

[mdthomas176]

Awesome. Thanks for the help.

The last question I have is should I drill the full depth of the anchor pipe or should I just drill through the pavers and the drive the anchor into the ground?

 

[Newdude]

The first several inches of paver base are going to be compacted crushed concrete / gravel or similar. It will be a chore to pound through and very well may ruin the anchor tubes. I would use the masonry bit. (Switching if needed if you were coring first)

 

[mdthomas176]

This process worked great. I’m nearly done the install, but I ran into one issue. One strap falls directly over the skimmer line. I don’t know how deep the line is buried, but I’m using 18” anchor pipes.

Should I just move the anchor to the side? I’m also considering using rebar to probe for the line depth and then cutting the anchor pipe to length. Any recommendations?

 

[Newdude]

There is likely plenty of clearance. The skimmer itself is about 18 inches, plus the elbow at the bottom to go to the pad (which likely goes down and not horizontal), plus the height of the patio.

Get a good grip on the anchor and see if it bottoms out in the skimmer pipe. If it goes in 3/4 and is level with the patio, cut a little bit more than that and drill carefully while test fitting the anchor ad you go. If it fits completely, it's good as is.

I drew my skimmer in as an idea. There is about 2 foot from pipe to top, plus the patio.

 

[mdthomas176]

Thanks, this is exactly what I needed. Based on the skimmer depth, it should have been fine. My skimmer line runs perpendicular from the pool straight to the pump, so I still probed with rebar to make sure I didn't hit anything. I couldn't get the rebar more than 15" down, so I trimmed about 5 inches off the bottom of the pipe before installing it

Thanks again for all of the help. I attached a picture of the finished install.

 

[ibeme]

Great work! I'm about to do the same thing - install paver tubes into pavers. Do you mind letting me know the process/tools that you successfully used? It sounds like you used a core bit (diameter/length/wet/dry/hammer mode or not???) to drill through the pavers (not necessary near an intersection), and then used a traditional masonry bit (diameter/hammer mode?) to drill through the compacted gravel/stone. I imagine you then pounded in the tubes with a block/mallet. Thanks!

 

[mdthomas176]

Great work! I'm about to do the same thing - install paver tubes into pavers. Do you mind letting me know the process/tools that you successfully used? It sounds like you used a core bit (diameter/length/wet/dry/hammer mode or not???) to drill through the pavers (not necessary near an intersection), and then used a traditional masonry bit (diameter/hammer mode?) to drill through the compacted gravel/stone. I imagine you then pounded in the tubes with a block/mallet. Thanks!

Hey, sorry I missed your post. This is probably too late, but I used a core bit and drilled wet without hammering to get through the pavers. I just used my hose to wet the paver and a 2x4 with a hole to keep the bit in place.

I then used a masonry bit to drill down through the rock underlay of the pavers to clear a path for the anchor tubes. Hammering helped here if something was in the way.

There were one or two anchors where I couldn’t clear all the way down for the tube so I just cut a few inches from the bottom of the tube so they’d be flush with the pavers.

I had an issue because I bought a 25 mm core bit, which I thought would be ok for my anchors, but it was a little too small. I needed to ream the hole with the masonry bit for the anchors to fit.

Final recommendation is to have a spare core bit I’m just in case. I broke mine 2/3 of the way thru.