Tag Archives: Winter Pool Covers

Pool Accessories, Pool Closing and Winterizing

An Essential Pool Winterizing Accessory

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Air Pillow for Swimming Pools

If you live in a climate where winter air temperatures drop below freezing, the first accessory you’ll need before covering your swimming pool with the winter pool cover is an air pillow. Air pillows absorb the pressure created by freezing water and protect your pool’s walls and liner. As the water in the pool freezes and expands, it will freeze inward on the air pillow rather than outward on your pool walls.

Air pillows are placed under the winter pool cover on top of the water in the center of the pool. To ensure that the air pillow doesn’t move out of place over the course of the winter, you’ll want to use durable string, cord, or twine to tie it to two sides of your pool wall.

Pool Closing and Winterizing

How Will You Secure Your Winter Pool Cover?

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Winter Pool Cover Accessories

Winter is coming, and pool season is at an end for a majority of the country.  Once you’ve winterized your above ground swimming pool, how do you plan to keep your winter pool cover in place for the duration of the off-season months?  If not secured well, a winter pool cover can be easily blown around on breezy days, exposing your pool to the elements and ruining the hard work you put into winterizing.  Three of the available options include pool cover wall bags, winter cover seal, and cover clips.

Pool cover wall bags are designed especially for above ground pools and are positioned around the inside perimeter of your pool, fastened to your pool cover’s cable. Wall bags should be filled only three quarters full with water to make room for the water to expand should it freeze.

Winter cover seal is another way to keep your pool cover in place, and while it looks very much like a large roll of plastic wrap, it’s really a tough poly blend film packed with UV inhibitors. Winter cover seal is wrapped around the covered pool several times to create a tight seal, which prevents wind as well as dirt from getting under the cover and causing damage and premature wear and tear.

Cover clips are a third option for securing your winter pool cover. Cover clips are exactly that — handy fasteners that hold your pool cover in place. They grip your top rail like a clothes pin and hold securely throughout the winter season.

However you choose to secure your winter pool cover, be sure to use something that will keep your cover in place through the entire winter season.  Doing so will protect your cover and your above ground pool from possible damage and exposure to the elements.

Pool Cover Wall Bags Winter Cover Seal Winter Pool Cover Clips

Pool Closing and Winterizing

Keep Your Winter Cover Firmly In Place

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Cover Clips
If you have an above ground pool, you probably have a winter cover. Now is the time to start thinking about the best possible ways to hold your cover in place this winter to ensure that your pool stays clean and protected. There are several methods available to hold your cover securely in place. Here are the tools that we suggest:

  • Cover Clips – These handy fasteners are tough! They grip your top rail like a clothes pin and hold your cover on tightly. Cover clips keep your above ground pool’s cover in place and helps reduce the wear and tear on a winter cover from wind damage. Use two clips per upright or approximately every 16 to 18 inches.
  • Cover Loc Jr. – If you are looking for a stronger hold that regular cover clips can offer, you should consider the Cover Loc Jr. system. It offers deluxe two-part cover locks that will not pull off in the strongest winter winds. Just snap together the 5″ male and female clips and your cover will stay firmly secured. They are perfect for high wind areas.
  • Winter Cover Seal – In addition to cover clips, winter cover seal is a great option for keeping your cover in place. It offers a very simple solution to keep the wind from getting under your winter cover and causing damage and premature wear and tear. Its unique blend of tough poly-blend film wraps around your pool to seal out gusty winds. The secret to Cover Seal is a special blend of resins that enables this unique material to stretch and hold tightly over a long period of time, even during extreme cold weather. Cover Seal is also packed with U.V. inhibitors so that the sun will not weaken it.
Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Not Too Soon to Prepare for Winterizing

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Yes, summer is still with us, and thinking about winterizing the pool right now probably seems premature.  But, now is actually the best time to make sure that your winter pool cover is in good shape and that you have all the necessary accessories to keep your above ground pool properly protected over the winter months.

Once the pool water has been prepared properly for winter and you are ready to top it all off with a winter pool cover, there are really only three winterizing accessories about which you should be concerned.

Air Pillows

If you live in a climate where winter air temperatures drop below freezing, the first accessory you’ll need is an air pillow. Air pillows absorb the pressure created by freezing water and protect your pool’s walls and liner. As the water in the pool freezes and expands, it will freeze inward on the air pillow rather than outward on your pool walls. Air pillows are placed under the winter pool cover on top of the water in the center of the pool. To ensure that the air pillow doesn’t move out of place over the course of the winter, you’ll want to use durable string to tie it to two sides of your pool wall.

Cover Pumps

Next, you’ll want a pool cover pump to drain the water that collects on your pool cover throughout the winter months. If accumulated water is not regularly removed by a cover pump, the weight of that excess water can damage your winter pool cover or pull the cover into the water below. Either way, you’ll have a messy situation to clean up. Cover pumps are available in manual models and automatic models. Manual cover pumps require that you monitor the pump’s progress and unplug it when the water is drained. Automatic cover pumps, often preferred by pool owners, sense and automatically start when water is detected on the cover and turn off automatically once the water has been drained.

Bags, Seal, or Clips

Finally, you’ll want to consider how to keep your winter pool cover from being blown around on breezy days, exposing your pool to the elements and ruining the hard work you put into winterizing. There are many options available for keeping a winter pool cover in place, including pool cover wall bags, winter cover seal, and cover clips. Pool cover wall bags are designed especially for above ground pools and are positioned around the inside perimeter of your pool, fastened to your pool cover’s cable. Wall bags should be filled only three quarters full with water to make room for the water to expand should it freeze. Winter cover seal is another way to keep your pool cover in place, and while it looks very much like a large roll of plastic wrap, it’s really a tough poly blend film packed with UV inhibitors. Winter cover seal is wrapped around the covered pool several times to create a tight seal, which prevents wind as well as dirt from getting under the cover and causing damage and premature wear and tear. Cover clips are a third option for securing your winter pool cover. Cover clips are exactly that — handy fasteners that hold your pool cover in place. They grip your top rail like a clothes pin and hold securely throughout the winter season.

Are you all set for winter?  Then, go out and enjoy the rest of those hot summer days in the pool!

Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Safety, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Choosing A Pool Cover That Is Right For You

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 Pool Cover

Choosing a pool cover can be confusing. Below, you will find an explanation of the four different types of covers that pool owners’ normally consider. By comparing the explanation and benefit of each with your own person needs, you are sure to find the cover or covers that perfectly fit your situation.

Winter Pool Covers are mainly used to protect your pool from harsh winter conditions and to keep large debris out of your pool. A winter cover also block sunlight to prevent algae growth. They are normally solid and use air pillows to allow for water expansion in freezing weather and water tubes or weight bags to hold in place. They make opening your pool easier and less expensive in the Spring.

Safety Covers are used for maintenance as well as to protect children and pets from accidental drowning in a pool closed for the season. A proper safety cover is securely anchored into the deck area surrounding the pool and lies flat so there are no gaps between the pool and the cover. They are available in mesh and solid materials. Because they are stretched tight across the pool’s surface, water does not pool on top. These covers are very important if you have children or pets.

Solar Covers, or solar blankets, are designed exclusively to help heat and retain heat in your pool. They can be used to raise your pool’s temperature by an average of 10-15 degrees. They also reduce heat and chemical evaporation by up to 70%.

Mesh covers, known as leaf nets, are made of an open weave material that fits over your winter cover or solar cover and helps you avoid accumulations of wet, heavy, saturated leaves and twigs on top of your winter cover. These nets ensure a quicker removal of leaves and helps prolong the life of your winter or solar cover. They are perfect for pool areas that are surrounded by trees. They make removal of your winter cover much easier in the spring.