Bajavestruz
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Posts: 13
Registered: 7-12-2006
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Swimming pool covers
Do the advantages outweigh the cost?
Was quoted just under 10,000 pesos to furnish and install a custom cover with manual roller retractor.
I will be paying a service to maintain the pool once a week
La Paz location
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Diver
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Registered: 11-15-2004
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That depends on a few things;
Do you have small kids that could fall in ? or small neighbor kids ??
Will you heat the pool ? and use it in the colder months ? Are you concerned with evaporation ?
If any of the above are the case, the cover is probably worth it.
If you are just using it in the warmer months with no heater and no kids, it's probably not worth it.
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oxxo
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I post my response with the following qualifications: I am just retiring after a career with a large swimming pool company in Southern California.
Last year we built over 1000 swimming pools and have built in excess of 10,000 over the last 20 years.
Swimming pool covers are usually promoted as offering the following advantages:
1. Maintains water temperature
2. Safety with children
3. Minimize maintenance
We have found that a pool cover keeps a pool warmer by less than 3 degrees. This is negligible when water temperatures may drop by as much as 20
degrees overnight depending on the ambient air temperature. It is our opinion that pool covers do not pay for themselves if it is used to maintain
water temperature. For the record, competitive swimming (such as the Olympics) the water temperature is maintained at 80F. Every client is
different. Some want the water temperature a 75F while others want it at 90F. A swimming pool cover will not maintain these temperatures. Pools
covers tend to be a high maintenance item and after the novelty wears off, our experience is that people stop using them. I hope that you are not
counting on a dark colored (black) cover to heat up a pool. It may heat it up by one or two degrees at most, even in La Paz.
Swimming pool covers are effective if your concern is safety. However, the same thing can be accomplished with exterior door alarms. I just saw a 5
pack of door alarms at Costco for $25. My advice is that children, whether they can swim or not or whether the pool is covered or not, should ALWAYS
have adult supervision when in the vicinity of a pool. In a sad note, one of Jack Nicklaus' grandchildren drowned recently at their pool in Florida.
Pool covers DO NOT reduce pool maintenance. In some cases, they actually increase pool maintenance. At a minimum, a pool should be professionally
maintained once a week. In our area in Southern California, pools require twice a week maintenance because of water hardness and PH.
We do recommend a "salt water" system for pool water purification. This is the equivalent of swimming in softened water - no burning eyes, no skin
rashes, no chlorine smell, silky hair, etc. Any competent pool company can install one for you. However you cannot use them if you have copper
plumbing because of corrosion. Your plumbing must be PVC which is the superior material for swimming pool plumbing.
Suerte.
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Bajavestruz
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Posts: 13
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Thank you Oxxo and Diver
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Bob and Susan
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$1000 bucks is too much
a solar cover costs $85
the roller cost $300
Easy to install with a screwdriver and siccors. (sp)
a cover DOES keep the pool warmer!!!
it does lower the cost of chemicals!!!
it does keep dirt out!!!
it reduce pool maintenance!!!
it does not provide safety for children!!!
when you use a cover in southern california you do have to check the pool once and a while to see if you have trapped any rats, possums or other
critters...
and
it is the ULGYEST thing you can put on your pool!!!
southern california pools only need one 10 minute workout every week!!!
NOT two
just use a pool vac
salt water pools cost much more and still need maintaince...
thats why builders promote them.
you feel "slimy" when you get out!!!
there's something about getting out of a "good ole" clorinated pool...
you smell soooo good and clean!!!!
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vandenberg
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Had swimming pools for over 20 years in central Ca, with and without covers.
No matter what, they are a royal pain in the behind for all the use you get out of them. Will never own another one again. Now swim occasionally in my
neighbor's ,if it's not too hot. Prefer the sea across the street.
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dean miller
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Owned several homes with pools. Only one had a pool cover. As stated by X00X after the novelty wore off they were a pain to remove and replace. I
only considered the cover as a means of keeping the pool debris free for it certainly did not maintain the heat.
I agree: Never again!
sdm
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
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we must be talking "apples and oranges"
the plastic solar covers for under $100 do keep the warmth in
but ulgy
half the reason to get a pool is to sit by the clear water not an ulgy cover
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El Jefe
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Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
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Had a house with a pool for 20+ years and maintained it myself. Yes, it was some trouble, but about the same as a lawn. You sweep, water and
chlorinate a pool. You mow, water and fertilize a lawn. After working around the yard you can jump in a pool to cool off. To me, that was the best
part of owning it.
My feeling on a cover was that it would be too ugly compared to looking out on a nice pool. You spend way more time looking at a pool than you do in
one.
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
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