Pool cover repair best practices

[gkw4815]

With the leaves nearly done falling here SE Texas, I'm getting ready to uncover my pool and would like to repair a few holes/worn areas before rolling up the cover.

The cover is of unknown age and brand. It came with the house when we purchased four years ago and I never installed it until this past November (saved a massive amount of effort during leaf drop season, wish I had installed sooner!) The holes in the cover were present when I installed the cover and don't seem to have worsened over the past three months. They are generally located at points where the cover stretches over natural stone waterfalls on the sides of the pool.

Any recommended best practices for patching these? Thoughts on the pool patches/patch kits available on Amazon?

 

[Newdude]

I bet the previous owners laid towels or large rubber mats on the rocks so they didn't rub through. Or it never snowed for them.

All the patch kits I've ever seen are for the solid like covers, so there is alot of material for the glue to adhere to. Yours might not have enough material for glue/patch or gorilla tape.

Do you have a close up of the anchors ? That may hold the key finding the manufacturer for their patch suggestion. The suggestion for a leaf net may be to string your own reinforcing in the hole areas.

 

[gkw4815]

Thanks, I'll send a close up of the anchors when I get home.

Putting some sort of padding over the high spots on the waterfalls in the future sounds like a good idea.

The damage to the cover was there before the snowfall a couple weeks back, and as far as I can tell, the snow weight didn't worsen the holes.

FWIW, here in the Houston area we only get snow a couple of times a decade, and the previous owners mentioned they last used the cover during the 2019-2020 winter.

 

[JamesW]

That is a leaf net, not a safety cover.

Probably best to replace it with a safety cover.

 

[JamesW]

Combo Leaf Cover

Pool Nets Pool Safety Net Product Summary Fittings Installation Combo Leaf Cover FAQ Gallery Katchakid Pool Safety Net & Combination Pool Leaf Cover

katchakid.com

Pool Cover Fittings

Pool Covers Pool Covers Product Summary Fittings Gallery Katchaleaf Pool Cover: Fittings and Components Fine Materials and Meticulous Manufacturing

katchakid.com

 

[gkw4815]

That is a leaf net, not a safety cover.

Probably best to replace it with a safety cover.

Thanks, I figured there was a difference, but I have little experience with either type of cover. Both seem to be very rarely used in our area. According to Google Maps, my next door neighbor and I are the only ones in our area who cover our pools in the winter, despite 50%+ of homes in the area having pools and all of them being surrounded by mature trees that make a big mess.

I only rely on the cover to keep leaves out of the pool, not as a safety device (our kids are strong swimmers and we have automatic closing gates securing our backyard).

 

[Newdude]

I only rely on the cover to keep leaves out of the pool,

Then get to lacing.

And find something flexible to use underneath as padding on the rough edges.

 

[gkw4815]

Closeup of one of the anchors.

Mine may be the same brand as that shown in JamesW's first picture above...it even stores on a similar PVC reel.