Swimming Pool Must-Haves: Covers

If you’re planning to have a new backyard swimming pool installed, one of the must-have accessories you should plan to purchase is a safety cover. Of course, pool covers are necessary to keep unwanted debris out of your pool water, especially during the off-season, but they’re an important part of swimming pool safety as well. A pool safety cover can provide a barrier to prevent accidental drowning. While certainly no replacement for a swimming pool safety fence, this safety barrier provides additional protection against anyone accidentally falling into your swimming pool. Safety regulations such as those listed in the ASTM F1346-91 statute will ensure that a pool safety cover can hold at least 485 pounds — the equivalent of the weight of two average-sized adults plus the weight of a child.

Blue Wave Rectangular In Ground Pool Safety Cover

Solid Covers

While both solid and mesh safety covers serve the same basic purpose, there are pros and cons of both types. Solid swimming pool covers are made to stretch over the pool’s surface, securely anchored on the surface surrounding the pool. Typically comprised of vinyl, these covers offer an impervious barrier that keeps out not only people and pets but also precipitation, sunlight, and debris. The downside of a solid cover is that it allows water to puddle on the surface, potentially providing an additional safety concern. The standing water not only contributes to the amount of weight atop the cover, but it also creates the need to pump excess water off the cover, and when wet, its surface can easily become slippery.

Blue Wave Rectangular Leaf Net In Ground Pool Cover

Mesh Covers

Constructed from a porous material, mesh covers are lighter weight and less expensive than the solid swimming pool covers described above. Mesh swimming pool covers are comprised of screen-like mesh fabric that will definitely help keep people and pets out of your pool, along with different types of debris; however, they will allow precipitation to filter through. But is that a good thing? It does help keep water levels up, even allowing snow to melt and filter through; its lighter weight also makes such a cover easier to install. With a lower price point, many swimming pool owners prefer mesh covers; however, due to allowing precipitation through, these covers also allow for chemical levels to become skewed.

Whether you choose a mesh or solid safety cover for your swimming pool, it will benefit you by reducing the cost and burden of pool maintenance, but even more importantly, it will keep any small children in your life safe. Of course, it won’t do any good if it’s not used to cover your pool, though, so be sure to use it whenever your pool is not in use and you are not directly inside the pool area.

Lyon Financial

Since 1979 Lyon Financial has made the backyard resort dream come true for over 400,000 families across the U.S. Through our solid relationships with more than 3,000 pool contractors and our continued commitment to putting our clients first, we have built a reputation as the first choice in providing pool financing solutions. For more information, visit lyonfinancial.net or call (877) 754-5966 today.