If you live in the northern portion of the United States you’ve probably heard people talk about ‘winterizing’ their pool. This involves blowing out the piping, plugging the penetrations in the pool and draining the pool down 18-24”. Once the pool is winterized it’s time to put on the winter pool cover.
What Is A Winter Pool Cover?
A winter pool cover is meant to keep any winter debris out like leaves that blow around the yard, but mainly the cover is there to protect you and your children from unwittingly walking over the pool in the middle of winter. Imagine it’s winter and your pool is frozen solid. Then you get a foot or two of snow. Now your backyard looks like one big backyard, there’s no obvious pool at all. The winter cover protects against someone unwittingly walking across the pool in winter and falling in.
Winter Pool Cover Advantages
The cover material is a mesh. This allows rain and melting snow and ice to refill the pool over the winter while keeping the leaves and sticks on top of the cover. If there is too much rain over the winter you may need to pump out the pool to prevent it from overfilling. You do not want to allow your pool to overfill since this could cause ice damage to the coping and tile.
How Winter Pool Covers Work
Winter covers protect you by having numerous points of attachment to the surrounding pool deck. If you don’t have a pool deck all the way around there are lawn stakes that can be used. The bronze anchors for the winter cover are threaded so they can be recessed into the surrounding pool deck during summer, then brought back into use for the off season.
The cover attaches to these anchors like a trampoline. Each strap from the cover which attaches to an anchor has a buckle which can be adjusted to make the cover tight. The cover should be taut, and over the years as your cover ages the buckles will need to be adjusted for the additional slack in your cover which comes with time.
Winter Pool Cover Bottom Line
Using a winter pool cover is the best way to protect you and your family. It will also keep your pets safe during the winter months, too. Keeping the cover in good working order should be a priority every fall. Be sure that your pool service company evaluates the cover’s condition when they put the cover on. Any holes they find in the cover should be patched, and any straps needing adjustment should be adjusted.
Once installed, you can rest easy knowing your pool is winterized. It will be ready for the next season once the weather warms up again. During our time building pools in the northeast, a company we frequently worked with was Meyco Pool Covers. Hopefully you have a separate pool and spa so you can continue to enjoy the relaxation of a hot spa all winter long.
