I live in Buffalo, NY. It definitely freezes and gets a decent amount of snow. I have an 20 ft. Ultra Frame Intex pool. After doing a bit of reading of other posts, I did decide to leave it up last year through winter and decided not to use a cover. I waited until the temperature was consistently below 60, dumped some bleach in and just let it be. I was delighted to discover in the spring there were not any structural problems. I have not yet upgraded the crappy pump that came with the set up, which I do plan to do next year. However, my frustrations in opening included trying to get all of the small chunks of leaves, sticks, etc. out of the bottom (there is a very old maple tree in neighbor's yard next to pool), as well as getting all of the very fine dead algae, et. al. to filter out. I believe upgrading the filter to a sand filter would help with the second problem. However, my question is about the use of a fine mesh cover to keep the other debris out. I have found so many different styles, and varying opinions/reviews about how well they work. Does anyone have experience with using these with an Intex pool? I figure it would be great to have the water/snow drain through leaving the chunks behind. It seems there are 2 different types (ones that sit on top of the water directly, and ones that are cinched tight with a cable). Can these pools support the "pulling inward" from the snow and cable? Does anyone with Intex pool have one they recommend for a snowy/cold environment? Thank you.
Intex Pool Winter Covers Needed???
- Thread starter BuffaloSwim
- Start date
We get quite a bit of snow in Manitoba, and for last 3 years we do not use a cover at all during the winter months. I use a leaf met right up to the first snow fall, take it off and leave no cover at all. I did not want the walls to be pulled inwards from the weight of the snow on the cover in case some water leaked, and also I saw no benefit in having the cover during the winter.
Get some debris come spring, but simple to clean out for me.
Get some debris come spring, but simple to clean out for me.
I put a regular winter cover on my pool for over the winter months and take it off in the spring. My pool has a large maple tree and other trees nearby so I put a leaf mesh net (the kind that is cinched tight with a cable) over the pool and over the winter cover until all the leaves are down and then remove the mesh netting. I keep the mesh net as tight as I can get it and find that most of the leaves that fall on the net blow off. But last fall we didn't get any snow until well into December and when we got back home after a cruise the mesh net was buried in snow
and frozen in. It was spring before I removed it but it wasn't harmed. Lesson learned.
and frozen in. It was spring before I removed it but it wasn't harmed. Lesson learned.
Thank you both. This is actually along the lines of what I was thinking; probably forgoing the winter cover though. Now I just need to decide on the type of leaf net. DarrellB, how is the Intex sand filter? I think that is what I will upgrade to next year. I cannot tell you how demoralizing it was for two weeks of trying to vacuum up the algae and other fine particles and watching a dark stream blow back into the pool after passing through the cartridge filter.
Love the sand filter, best money ever spent. Do yourself the favor and hit the buy button on one. The leaf net I got from poolsuppliescanada.com, but I am sure you could find one at the USA site. Works great, easy to use, seems to be built quite well.
15 ft Round Mesh Leaf Cover Hemmed | Pool Supplies Canada
15 ft Round Mesh Leaf Cover Hemmed | Pool Supplies Canada