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View Full Version : swimming pool enclosure. home built?



Michael Weber
06-18-2008, 10:18 PM
Looking for any ideas for making a low profile pool enclosure. Just something to keep the leaves and limbs from the overhanging tree out as well as the occasional wild livestock like rabbits that fall in. I'm aware you can buy these things but I want to keep cost to a minimum because I haven't decided if we're going to keep the pool or have it filled in. It came with a house we purchased. Never really wanted a pool. Thinking along the lines of some short PVC pipe walls with some slightly domed PVC pipe running across the top. Maybe covered with nylon screen material. Not sure how the screening material would get attached to the PVC and with walls would need support at the bottom to keep them from getting pushed outward by the spring in the domed top. I'm open to any ideas for other material to use or construction methods. I do want it to be tall enough so people can swim without having to take it off the pool. I guess, thinking about it, it would almost be a permanent structure over the pool unless someone has a great idea for something easily disassembled. Also, its about 18000 gallon kidney shaped pool but I don't have the actual dimensions right now.

Craig Field
06-18-2008, 10:31 PM
i made green house once, out of pcv pipe, with continuous lengths from side to side, (like arches) with "rails" along the sides to hold the spacing. i held "shade cloth" to the lowest rails by sewing it around the rail.(stretched tight). i had it for about 5-6 years and 2 people could move it around the yard easily. Take care

Lee Schierer
06-19-2008, 12:04 PM
How about one of these! Pool Cover (http://www.nationaldiscountpoolsupplies.com/ingrswpowico.html) I've seen some of these and small animals and children can walk across them without getting wet.

Chris Padilla
06-19-2008, 4:55 PM
Mike,

Funny, it could have been me writing your post as I was in the exact same situation back in 1999 when I bought my house. However, here in California, you could skip one stone from San Francisco to Los Angeles along everyone's pool!! ;)

Ours is a figure 8 shape with a circular "nub" at one "corner" of the 8 that is the spa section. It is about 25,000 gallons. I also have a 200 year old Valley Oak tree right next to it that is the pride of our yard but the thing rains stuff down 365/24/7. :(

Your idea made me think of something I recently purchased: a new (free-standing) tent for hiking (2-person). I dunno how familar you are with tents but this one has two highly flexible aluminum poles that thread through loops in the tent to prop it up. They also make awnings like this--basically a tent with no sides or bottom; just a roof.

One thing I'd like to do is get a smaller cover just for the spa part because that is the one that fills with tree rain the most....

You may wish to visit your local REI (outdoor sporting goods store) as some of the larger tent or awning structures *could* possibly work for you although I fear they won't be large enough for you but the design might give you food for thought. I must say that it as given ME food for thought!!

I have a custom-cut pool cover on a large roller that I pull off and on as needed but, basically, I take it off in spring to open the pool and put it back on in the winter to close the pool and that is it. Using it daily during the swimming season would be a royal you know what. If I ever build a house and/or pool, you can bet your hinney that I will put in some kind of an automatic pool cover--QED!!

Neal Clayton
06-19-2008, 7:22 PM
How about one of these! Pool Cover (http://www.nationaldiscountpoolsupplies.com/ingrswpowico.html) I've seen some of these and small animals and children can walk across them without getting wet.


i've got one exactly like that for mine. that's the easiest method by far.

Chris Padilla
06-20-2008, 12:38 PM
Neal,

Which one do you have, what size, and how much does it weigh? Do you open/close the pool daily with the cover?

My current cover is rather bulky and heavy and a royal pain in general so I'd be open to something different.

Michael Weber
06-20-2008, 1:47 PM
Thanks Lee and Neal for the pool cover suggestion. I have one but its' designed to only go on when the pool is closed. Like Chris says it would be a PITA to use daily. Craig, thanks for the input on your PVC greenhouse structure. Chris, I'll look into the tent suggestion but it's going to have to be pretty big. We have a Sams club I know has the alum. framed 'picnic awnings' so it's a possiblility. Maybe I could tie more than one together and then just use screening fabric to close off the sides. The pool came with the house and I have never wanted a pool and don't much want this one but stuck with for now. I'ts an old pool, kidney shaped so that makes covering it even more of a hassle.

Jim Becker
06-20-2008, 2:03 PM
Solar covers are easy to remove and install, reasonably priced and help cut your pool heating bill, too.

Neal Clayton
06-20-2008, 3:05 PM
Neal,

Which one do you have, what size, and how much does it weigh? Do you open/close the pool daily with the cover?

My current cover is rather bulky and heavy and a royal pain in general so I'd be open to something different.


well my pool is about, eh, about 20x40.

you drive holes around the slab and it clamps down via recessed anchors inside the holes.

folds up and stores away in a bag that's about 4'x3'.

i'd say all folded up it weighs 5 pounds or so. there's no solid structure to it except the springs on the hooks, it's basically just a big nylon mesh sheet that has a bungee cord grid sewn into it which can be stretched to hook in the anchors. it's light enough that wife/kids can put it on or take it off by themselves.

i leave mine open all the time in the warm months, i just cover it for the winter. but i don't see why you couldn't cover it/uncover it whenever you wanted to.

i didn't buy mine, came with the house, so i'm not sure where the previous owners got it from or how much they paid for it, but it looks just like the ones linked above.

Michael Weber
06-22-2008, 11:12 AM
Solar covers are easy to remove and install, reasonably priced and help cut your pool heating bill, too.
Heating?? Well there is a heater but I'm way too tight to use it;) A solar cover would be nice but unfortunately the pool, built by a previous owner, is a custom shape. The old owner dropped by this weekend and explained that the pool shape was designed by laying out a water hose on the ground until they thought it looked good and matched the area it was going in. She said they always regretted doing that. I kindly made no comment. Consequently, nothing about the pool is easy or cheap. I've never had a pool and frankly find it a real PITA but we're giving it a year before we decide if we want to get rid of it. It's not looking good at the moment.:mad::D

Jim Becker
06-22-2008, 2:20 PM
Michael, a solar cover is still easy and reasonable in cost....just buy one (or two) that is(are) large enough to completely cover the shape and use scissors to make your custom shape.

Chris Padilla
06-23-2008, 5:56 PM
I have a solar pool cover with my pool as well as the cover. Guess what, just as much a PITA to take it off and on. So much so that I dropped some good coin on a passive solar pool heating system that sits on my roof...and even more impressively, it works fantastic!

I think other than putting an awning over the pool or having some sort of automatic pool cover, manual covers are too much trouble to deal with, manuever, and store.

Unless you've owned a pool for a number of years, you can't imagine how wonderful and horrible maintaining a pool is!! ;) However, seeing the joy my daughter gets from it makes it all worthwhile....

Alessia Hayden
02-02-2018, 5:32 AM
The main advantage of solar covers for pools can help you to improve hygiene, save money from cleaning and filtering. It also generates free heat energy simultaneously!

Frederick Skelly
02-02-2018, 1:12 PM
The main advantage of solar covers for pools can help you to improve hygiene, save money from cleaning and filtering. It also generates free heat energy simultaneously!

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