It may be too late this year for you to install a low-cost safety cover, or a solid floating winter cover on the pool. If you Do Use an Automatic Cover During Winter A very common bit of winter pool damage on pools with auto covers is loosening of several square feet of tile on the tile shelf, or dam wall. This can damage the tile, cracking or popping the tile off in some areas.Īnd when the water level approaches the perimeter tile band around a concrete pool, which are typically 6″ tall, it also reaches the level of the deep end tile shelf, the dam wall for the cover box. If the water level is below the tiles when it freezes solid, no problem, but if water or snow on the cover raises the water level, the ice sheet can put pressure on the pool tile. Some of the expansion is upward, but some is outward or horizontal. When a pool freezes solid across the surface, it expands about 9%. A safety cover stays taut like a trampoline, so leaves and debris just blow-off. From leaves in the fall, sticks in the winter, and blooming bits during the spring, along with worms, squirrels and birds – all creates work for you, to keep the cover clean. ![]() Everyone develops water stains around the center, that’s altogether common and somewhat unavoidable, but winter stains are much worse. You are probably averse to stains on your automatic pool cover fabric. Better to have both fabric and ropes rolled up on the reel during very cold weather, for longevity. Cold temps tends to make vinyl brittle and stiff, and with greater exposure to cold temperatures, you can expect the fabric to lose plasticizers at a greater rate, and reduce the lifespan of the fabric, and also the cable or ropes. That’s an expense that most people want to delay as long as possible! COLD TEMPS :Ĭold temperatures are also known to degrade soft materials, such as your automatic pool cover fabrics. Fabric replacement on an automatic cover can cost $3000-$4000 (!) for the average sized pool. While it may not wear out twice as fast, it definitely won’t last as long as if you had it safely rolled-up on the reel all winter long. If your season is 6-months long, but you use the auto cover for 12-months, you may expect the fabric to be exposed to twice as much UV radiation each year. The sun’s ultraviolet rays are degrading to fabrics, even to reinforced PVC vinyl used on automatic pool covers. A good automatic cover pump can keep rain pumped off, but it can’t do anything with snow and ice, until it melts. This lowers the water level in the pool, which is needed to support the weight of the cover, and snow and ice. ![]() Snow, ice and rain also displace the water in the pool, pushing it over the deep end dam wall, the tiled shelf, which can cause damage to the tile when the water freezes at that level overnight, but more importantly, it lowers the water level in the pool as the water on top of the cover pushes the water under the cover over the tiled shelf, and out the cover box drain. Sharp sticks that are trapped in the ice can also puncture or abrade as the ice sheet shifts and moves. In northern areas, snow may melt and refreeze before you can pump it off, now you have a heavy slab of ice on your cover, which thaws on the edges to produce sharp edges that can puncture or abrade the cover material. ![]() If the water level is not high enough, the tracks can be pulled out, or the sewn canvas edges of the cover will tear and rip, under the weight of heavy ice and snow. Most auto cover tracks are attached to the underside of the pool coping.
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