Creative Minds Needed - Temp Fencing Off Pool in Winter

[l1ltaral1l]

Hi all!

As some of you know, I own a dog daycare and boarding business in my home. The past two years, we’ve temporarily fenced off the pool once closed, as I don’t want 10-15 dogs on the mesh safety cover And yes, they learn verrrrrry quickly how fun it is and how they can get water to rise up through.

In the past, I’ve used the orange flexible snow fence, with some makeshift support ‘poles’. But the fencing gets beat up through the winter, dogs bumping into it, wind, rain, snow and without a real sturdy support. I was considering drilling into the concrete with some type of female screw in base that I can just take metal rods and screw then into that base - but I’m so hesitant to drill into the concrete. Anyone have experience with that? Or what to look for when it comes to this type of insert (and a plug to fill in the base when the pool is open)?

Any other creative ideas to temp close off the pool from a whole bunch of dogs? We generally close the pool in Nov and open in Mar.

Thanks for any thoughts!

This is what we’ve been doing so far:

https://fb.watch/nJCa0Jzgfj/?mibextid=v7YzmG

And this is the aerial view:

 

[JJ_Tex]

Keep in mind that I have zero experience in pool covers and closing a pool, but could you form a hard cover for the pool with 2x4's and plywood, similar to building a roof structure on top of your mesh cover?

Alternatively, could you build a more permanent wrought iron fence to separate out the pool from the dog access area. Something like this would be minimally invasive and let the dogs have access to the non-pool area of the backyard:



Lastly, is building a dog run in the grassy area an option outside of your current fence?

 

[l1ltaral1l]

Thanks! The plywood idea has been thrown around, but the physical moving and storing of it stinks.

We use the stairs off the deck to get inside the house, so the permanent fence idea is out. And I use the bulk of that rear grassy yard for play. If I go perm, I’ll get one of the pool safety fences (just hate drilling into the concrete if I don’t haaaaaaave to).

Outside the already fenced area is verrrrrry wet. I wish it wasn’t - or our yard would def be 3x bigger!

 

[EzriJax]

You could use these with some wood between then to block off the bottom, and those cheap wire fence posts from tractor supply stuck into the hole in the middle, with your construction fence attached to the posts. The blocks should be heavy enough to not move (easily anyway) especially if connected with boards. The whole thing could be disassembled and stored when pool season kicks off.

I have these blocks at home and I use them for all sorts of things. They are really handy and versatile.

 

[Newdude]

So I wanted to go without a cover last year but was worried about the dogs running across the thin ice as my last dog took 15 seconds to use the solar cover as a shortcut the first time I put it on the pool.

So we spent on a looploc and the little guys nails were ripping the brand new cover. So I needed a fence to protect the cover from the dogs the cover was meant to protect.

I Macguyvered a string fence which was staked in the outside perimeter and built T's for the patio.



The mental barrier worked 95 out of 100 times but the strings forever needed to be tightened. This year I'm going with snow fence similarly staked where possible and I'll build beefier T's for the patio and hold them down (up?)with pavers. With any luck the 2x4 supports will have less drag in the wind than the chairs you used. I contemplated using 1.5 inch pvc but the T fittings were crazy expensive at HD yesterday. I'd need 3 T's to make an H base and they were $7+ each.

Offender and fence closeup pictured here when I was draining. Little buddy never questions why I'm flooding the yard. He just helps the best he can because he is the best boy.

 

[l1ltaral1l]

You could use these with some wood between then to block off the bottom, and those cheap wire fence posts from tractor supply stuck into the hole in the middle, with your construction fence attached to the posts. The blocks should be heavy enough to not move (easily anyway) especially if connected with boards. The whole thing could be disassembled and stored when pool season kicks off.

I have these blocks at home and I use them for all sorts of things. They are really handy and versatile.

Ohhhh these blocks look great!! Never saw them before. Is this SS from Home Depot?

 

[l1ltaral1l]

So I wanted to go without a cover last year but was worried about the dogs running across the thin ice as my last dog took 15 seconds to use the solar cover as a shortcut the first time I put it on the pool.

So we spent on a looploc and the little guys nails were ripping the brand new cover. So I needed a fence to protect the cover from the dogs the cover was meant to protect.

I Macguyvered a string fence which was staked in the outside perimeter and built T's for the patio.

View attachment 536092

The mental barrier worked 95 out of 100 times but the strings forever needed to be tightened. This year I'm going with snow fence similarly staked where possible and I'll build beefier T's for the patio and hold them down (up?)with pavers. With any luck the 2x4 supports will have less drag in the wind than the chairs you used. I contemplated using 1.5 inch pvc but the T fittings were crazy expensive at HD yesterday. I'd need 3 T's to make an H base and they were $7+ each.

Offender and fence closeup pictured here when I was draining. Little buddy never asks why I'm flooding the yard. He just helps without question because he is the best boy.

View attachment 536093

Awwwww a Bassett babbbbyyyyy. They are the best!

Yeah, I think no matter what I need a real support system. Even if that means making t bases like you and adding in those blocks Ezri shared. I need to go at least 4.5’ high, as I have quite a few leapers.

Ahhhh, gotta love the dogs! Lol

 

[SJPoe]

I setup a fence around part of our yard - we have about 3/4 of an acre at the back of the yard where a creek flows and then we leave essentially wild back to the boundary - I wanted to keep the dog on one side of the property, and out of the creek - I tried setting a fence with the snow-fence type stuff, and it was hopeless. Having someone in to run a REAL fence would have been $1000s.
So I used a 4ft galvanized wire fence, essentially pvc-coatedchicken wire, and U-posts. Much more rigid and durable, less succeptible to the wind etc.
The white box is the property line (roughly) and the red line is the fence. Doggo can get out of the fenced pool area, into the right-hand area - the back is secured with a fence, and she's trained not to go past the tree at the front of the pole-barn




The standard U-posts are pretty cheap, and you can easily mount them in a concrete block packed with sand or cement with no problem, even a big flowerpot will work. They'll push into the lawn just with your foot, or you can use a post-thumper-thingy You can even buy brackets that you could tap-con into the deck, and then once the winter is done, remove again, although they are a bit spendy compared to a block+sand

Everbilt 2-1/4 in. x 2-1/2 in. x 4 ft. Green Steel Fence U Post with Anchor Plate 901154EB - The Home Depot

Everbilt Lite Duty Steel U-Posts have tons of applications around the home and farm. Use to protect gardens from deer and other animals, create a temporary pasture, support young trees, or display warning

www.homedepot.com

Everbilt 4 ft. x 50 ft. Green PVC Coated Welded Wire 710247700 - The Home Depot

The Everbilt 4 ft. x 50 ft. green PVC coated welded wire can be used for a variety of outdoor applications including, field perimeter, barrier reinforcement, garden security and chimney protection. The

www.homedepot.com

For a couple hundred bucks and a couple hours, I ran about 250ft give-or take, and it's been up and trouble free for the last 2 years.

 

[EzriJax]

Ohhhh these blocks look great!! Never saw them before. Is this SS from Home Depot?

These are at Home Depot.

I wanted to add, but my phone died, that I read on some website that you can make “invisible” post/fence holes in the ground with pvc. The idea is to drive a 10-12” length of pvc into the ground and leave it there, so that you can drop a post or pole (depending on the diameter pipe) in and then take it out if you need to. I think the site suggested back filling around the post once it’s in the pvc with sand or whatever to help anchor it, which can be vacuumed out later to keep the hole open.

I know you have a concrete patio, but I see bare ground off to the side where this concept could work. I considered doing this to put up lighting around my pool area that I could easily take down when the inevitable hurricane rolls in, but just haven’t gotten around to it.

 

[Newdude]

Tara I've been thinking all day and after some Google price checking, I may go with cement filled Lowes buckets. (Blue is nicer to look at all winter than Orange IMO. ).

The 5 gallon buckets are $4.48 each and 60lb bags of Sakcrete are $4.23 each. 2x3x8's are $2.48 each and each plank would handle two 4 ft posts in the cement bucket. (You could raise yours 6 inches for 4.5 ft) I'd wrap the wet side of the posts with a few passes of cling wrap so the posts could be removed and replaced one day.

It'd be $9.95 + tax per 60lb post for the patio.

 

[Mdragger88]

If you’re into red Firehouse sells them for $3 & they come with a lid

 

[Superblue72]

You can make your own portable fence...either wood posts or pvc with a base..make like stands out of them...then weigh them down with sand bags...attach chicken wire or the heavier duty gavinized wire fence. Just zip tie it up.

 

[JJ_Tex]

$50 solution and if there are any donkeys nearby, they will get a good laugh:

 

[623Pool]

Drilling into concrete isn’t a big issue, tapcons work great BUT if you’re removing these annually you’ll run into holes being stripped out. Yes, you can grout the hole and re-drill but I personally would core drill it to sleeve the hole with a removable cap tube and use chainlink fence post (preferably 2 3/8”) and then tie your fence to the post via fence tie wire or zip ties.

 

[l1ltaral1l]

Thank you all so much!

I found 100’ of pool safety fence from DIY Pool Safety Fence on my local BST group for $200. I am considering it. But I did message the manufacturer to get their thoughts on removing it yearly, since they are mainly used as a permanent setup for at least a few years (if not more). The thought of drilling into the concrete makes me so nervous, but we shall see!

 

[Newdude]

I found 100’ of pool safety fence from DIY Pool Safety Fence on my local BST group for $200

LUCKY !!!! 100 ft leaves a 20ft side open for me, with zero setback.

I'll be buying 200ft of whatever I decide on.

 

[Newdude]

Made the patio posts today



I wanted to put the planks on the sides but thought they might shatter the buckets if they flexed any on a windy cold day. Being completely wrapped with sakrete, they won't budge and if the buckets shatter anyway, I'll have perfectly round cement chunks that hold a 2x3.

Each bucket took about 70lbs of sakrete. In typical HD fashion I had to whip out the calculator in the aisle because eight 60 lb bags was $7 cheaper than six 80 lb bags. I guess the 80 lb bags are more popular so they fleece you.

 

[JamesW]

I'll have perfectly round cement chunks that hold a 2x3.

I would worry about the wood breaking.

I probably would have gone with aluminum I beams or maybe titanium, tungsten or stainless steel.

 

[Newdude]

I would worry about the wood breaking.

Oh yeah. I meant some years from now.

It was in the 40s when I was making them and 2 of the lids cracked while cutting the notches with a sheetrock knife. I'm 50/50 if the buckets will last the winter. They're thicker but it will also be way colder.

 

[JamesW]

If you filled the buckets with Kool-Aid and froze them, you would have some giant popsicles.