Punctured holes in cover

[Esand323]

Hi,

We just purchased a Loop Loc safety cover 3 months ago. Today, I found a neighbors dog in my backyard running on our brand new cover. It punctured quite a few holes in the cover. One hole is about the size of a penny, and the others are quite a bit smaller. But they are all in sets, clearly from the nails. The muddy prints are also a dead giveaway. The neighbors don't seem thrilled about paying for it given how small the holes are (this will be a separate issue in its own). However, our local pool company said it needs to be patched as the holes will continue to grow. As we get snow and other weight is added to the cover, the holes could continue to get bigger and bigger over the years. Since it is only 3 months old (and we were hoping to get 10+ years out of it), they suggested we mail it in to get the sections repaired by the manufacturer instead of patching it.

Is it stupid to get this repaired by the manufacturer, or should we just patch it with a repair kit? Loop-Loc claims that any hole less than 3" can be patched. However, we've had a pretty terrible first year as pool owners and now with this as well, I'm kind of exhausted with it all. But given that it is only 3 months old, I think it might be worth it to get it repaired correctly.

 

[kimkats]

worth it to get it repaired correctly

This AFTER you can make sure the dog does not come visit again. Get it done right so it will last longer. (Here is hoping the dog owners step up)

 

[Texas Splash]

Wow, what a horrible thing to happen. I have six dogs, and if one of mine did something like that, I'd certainly step-up and take responsibility. Some people. Ugh. Good luck with the cover ..... AND those neighbors.

 

[Newdude]

If the cover was old and you could use this as your excuse to replace it, that would be one thing. Having a brand new cover needing patches is a whole ‘nother story. The size of the holes doesn’t matter to me, if their dogs did it, they should be held responsible (in a perfect world).
having the cover being brand-spanky new very well may work in your favor. Loop-loc does repair covers but once it hits a certain age, it either won’t match or be repairable at all. Your material should be completely fresh and workable. And not faded by the sun yet so the new panels would match.

 

[l1ltaral1l]

Yikes, I can't believe you got holes from dogs! Is it a solid or a mesh cover? We have a mesh (installed 4-ish mths ago) and a lot of dogs (that walk on it ).

 

[Esand323]

Thanks for the replies all! I'm definitely hoping that the neighbor fixes the issue. Other than putting a taller fence up, I don't have any ideas. The neighbor claimed they would put some chicken wire across the top. Might not look as nice, but oh well. The worst part was finding out that this has been happening frequently without us knowing. They told us that he never runs over by our pool, which is how we found out that this was happening more than once haha.

As for the cover. I'm surprised it was punctured as well. I noticed that our cover has some "give" to it. More so than I was expecting. I talked with the store that installed it and they did say that new covers might stretch a bit after being installed for the first time. I don't know how true this is, but I looked around and did notice that some of the springs weren't very compressed. After yesterday, I noticed one side definitely looked a bit more stretched. The pool store didn't think it was a big issue and just told me to tighten them and all should be good. It is a mesh cover by the way.

Here is one spring that is uncompressed:



and one next to it that has more compression:

 

[l1ltaral1l]

Can you snap a pic of the whole pool with the cover on?

So the dog is jumping his own fence? And then how does he get over your fence? (Or do you not have a fence?)

 

[Esand323]

Both of our properties are fenced in. They are a neighbor that lives behind us and we have a shared fence with them.

Here are some pictures. In the first picture you can sort of see a bit of slack in the cover and how it is wrinkled (look near the bottom of the picture near the water.

 

[bmoreswim]

Your cover looks quite tight to me. I was expecting to see sagging from your description. I think that first spring is also compressed some. I do recall tightening my straps a bit during or after the first year, so I would potentially agree with some minor initial stretching.

As for the holes, I'd send it back for repair. Yours is not to be overly concerned about their financial well-being. That said, I clearly wouldn't request a new cover for such damage. That seems excessive in this case. You aren't being made whole, but whole enough with a factory repair. The other aspect is that since the neighbor will be paying a bill that is more than a few dollars of a patch kit, they become more motivated to resolve the issue of their dog escaping. Nothing like some financial incentive to keep it from happening again. I think you would be setting the wrong precedent by patching for peanuts. But its always tough dealing with neighbors/money/dogs. I don't envy you on this.

 

[l1ltaral1l]

Gotcha!

Our cover looks similar in the stretch. When the dogs walk on it, water comes up through.

I think I'd have a serious conversation with the neighbor about this. Do you happe to have a any type of camera you can setup to catch him in the act in case they push back?

 

[ajw22]

I would send the cover to Loop-Loc for repair once it comes off in the Spring. That should have the cover last as long as possible.

Once you get the bill for the repair you can take it over to your neighbor for a discussion.

 

[Newdude]

I do recall tightening my straps a bit during or after the first year, so I would potentially agree with some minor initial stretching

Mine gets a tad loose every year and needs some adjusting once it’s been on for a few weeks. The first few years were more than now, but it still needs the occasional tweek.

 

[HeyEng]

I would send it off to be repaired, especially if they will warranty it. +1 on getting a camera on the pool...that can go a long way if you need to take your neighbor to small claims court.

 

[Esand323]

Hi all,

So it seems the cost to repair by Loop Loc is going to be around $400-500 shipping included. I talked to our local store today and they said that a patch kit should be okay. They said they have seen the cover last for 20+ years and it could potentially lower the lifespan a bit by having to add patch kits so early on, but unlikely to really shorten it by much. So I'll either have to ask my neighbor to pay up 400-500 or $30. Not sure yet. If it were older than 3 months, I wouldn't even bother.

 

[JamesW]

What's going to prevent this from happening again?

 

[Newdude]

Tell him that patching it is kinda like key-ing the neighbors brand new car and then coloring in the scratches with a magic marker that is close in color.

 

[sktn77a]

Wow, we have a Loop Loc-type cover that's almost 25 years old and our dog walks on it all the time - no holes/cuts/tears from his nails. It does have two holes where a tree fell on it in an ice storm - BIG tree - would have killed anyone standing there when it fell. I'm inclined to think that either the cover is defective or they have really cheapened their manufacturing over the years - if a dog can do that, what would a child or an adult do with shoes on - they are supposed to be safety covers, after all.

 

[bmoreswim]

I don’t share the same concern. To me a dog running or even panicked with long claws is very different from a human with shoes or feet. I’m a little surprise the dog did cause it but still would have no fear for safety of a human.