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Swimming Pool Covers
There are many advantages to having a pool
cover on your swimming pool.
For example,
a pool cover can:
- protect your pool from accidental or unauthorized
use
- save energy costs by keeping heated water
warmer
- keep debris out of your pool and protect
it in the winter
- lower maintenance by reducing water and chemical
evaporation
If you are considering installing
a pool
cover, consider the following:
- Pool covers come in both manual and automatic
models. Manual types are less expensive,
but depending on the size of the pool, it
may not be possible for one person to pull
the cover on and off. The addition of a power
wheel can make this process easier, but it
still may take two people. Most pool owners
will find automatic models more convenient.
Automatic covers use electrical power to
slide the cover over the pool’s surface.
- Including a cover in the initial design of
your pool offers the most options and results
in the most satisfactory outcome. The pool
cover can slide into an underground housing
and the tracks can be installed underneath
the pool’s overhanging coping. Rectangular
pools are the easiest to fit with a cover,
but free form pools can use the "deck
on deck" system, where a slightly raised
deck housing the cover sits at one end of
the pool. Another option for free form pools
is a cantilevered deck. This system has tracks
that are laid in the pool deck parallel to
one another at the pool’s widest point. A
second slightly raised deck allows the cover
to open and close without obstruction.
- Covers added to existing pools do not have
the option of installing the cover tracks
under the pool’s overhanging coping. In these
cases, low profile tracks need to be fitted
into the deck alongside the edges of the
pool. Custom made pool cover systems are
available to fit any shape pool.
- Wireless touch pads that operate the pool
cover can be surface mounted to the wall
of the house or recessed flush to the wall.
These devices can be ordered with a key lock
that prevents unauthorized operation of the
pool cover.
- Pumps that automatically remove standing
water from the cover are also available.
These pumps will keep dirty water from getting
into the pool.
Pool covers come in a variety
of custom colors.
Color can also be added to the
cover tracks
so that they match the cover’s
color. Hinges
that lift ladders, handrails
and water slides
out of the track’s path can also
be installed
in most cover systems. |
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