Swimming Pool Covers: My Tips

There are several different varieties of swimming pool covers. These different types are manufactured to do different jobs. There are swimming pool covers that are designed just to keep leaves out; there are covers to keep people and animals out, and there are solar heating covers which will heat your pool, and there are combination covers that will heat your pool and keep intruders out of it.

All of these kinds of covers are made for but both above and below ground pools. They also come in a multiplicity of sizes and colours, or you can have one made to fit.

The first requirements of any pool cover are that it fits and that it is strong. If it does not fit, it is dangerous, because if anyone or an animal slips under the cover, he will drown in a panic of not being able to find the 'hole' again - particularly at night or in very cold water. The shock would knock the air right out of you.

After fitting well, it must be strong. Ideally it should be robust enough to bear a person's weight, just in case someone walks out onto it by mistake in the dark. However, it needs to be sturdy anyway, because of all the folding and unfolding it will get.

Another word of advice is to check that your swimming pool cover complies with any local by-laws. Such laws are not pertinent everywhere, so it is a good precaution to check with your local police force before you spend money on a pool cover to see what you need. If you use a cover that does not comply with the local regulations, and there is an accident, you will almost certainly not be covered by your insurance policy, which could work out very costly for you.

All good pool covers come with a warranty of some kind. Two years is the norm, but try to get a cover with a five year guarantee. Pool covers are not cheap, and you do not want to be renewing it every couple of years. Try to ensure that the warranty covers everything that can go wrong with the cover; tears, slits, cracking, perishing, torn eyelets, etc. Look for a firm with a solid local reputation, one that will not avoid its responsibilities, if you need them.

If you are purchasing your swimming pool cover from a shop in order to fit it yourself, look at the instruction booklet carefully and make sure that all the bits and pieces are there. You do not want to have to go back because straps or anchors are not there. If it is within your resources, it is better to have the shop install the cover the first time, so that you can see how to do it and make sure that nothing is omitted.

These days, you definitely must have a swimming pool cover for the sake of your kids and others who may try to use your pool while you are not there. If you can lock the swimming pool cover down, then so much the better.