Fabricating safety covers

by Sally Bouorm | August 1, 2013 12:03 pm

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By Leigh Hinsperger

Today’s backyard oasis is quite different than it was 20 years ago. Now they are designed with every detail in mind, e.g. beautiful walls and gardens, spas, vanishing edges, grottos, and even bridges. In fact, with the advances in pool design and the growth of the pool industry, the sky is the limit, and there is no end in sight. Any backyard, big or small, can now be transformed into a unique, private paradise.

In Canada, however, most swimming pools must be closed for nearly half the year to protect them from the harsh elements (i.e. rain, snow, sleet, wind, cold, dirt, debris, etc.). Therefore, almost every swimming pool built in Canada requires a cover of some sort. Over the past 10 years, safety covers have soared in popularity thanks to reduced costs, ease of use, increased availability, and the accurate customization provided by many of the leading manufacturers.

The evolution of safety covers

The most common winter cover is still the standard tarp and water bag system. Although they are effective, these covers, which are typically oversized rectangle or square tarps with very little customization, appear baggy and sloppy. They can easily fall into the pool or be blown away. For homeowners who want the appearance of their backyard to look stellar year-round, these pool covers are simply not good enough anymore.

In order to create a custom, streamlined look in the backyard, cover manufacturers need more detailed information than what was required in the past—simple length and width measurements are no longer sufficient.

Safety cover manufacturers view this process as a more intricate design. Like anything custom-made or tailored, it is all in the details; therefore, manufacturers encourage and welcome all pictures, measurements, and opinions. It is better to have too much information than not enough.

Further, manufacturers should not be asked to make assumptions on the client’s behalf as this is how mistakes are made. It has to be assumed the person designing the safety cover has never seen the pool or backyard before, nor do they have the ability to run back and forth to answer what may appear to be mundane questions.

In an effort to limit mistakes, safety cover designers are trained to ask what may seem like ‘foolish’ questions, and/or request pictures to aid in the design.

Swimming pool safety cover manufacturing is much more intricate and detailed then just cutting and sewing fabrics together. Almost every cover has to be uniquely designed, cut, assembled, finished, inspected, and packed.

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When it comes to ordering a safety cover, it can be guaranteed the cover will fit only as well as the measurements that were provided. The more measurements, diagrams, and pictures the cover designer has at their disposal, the tighter it will fit on the pool and its obstructions (e.g. dive rock, spill-over spa, etc.).

Pools can be measured in one of two ways—a simple lineal measurement with cross dimensions, or a more complex ‘A/B’ triangulation measurement, which allows installers to plot the shape of the pool, its steps, and/or any other obstructions or appendages, point-by-point via a computer-aided design (CAD) program.

Manufacturers will try to use every bit of information they receive to ensure the safety cover meets all requirements and expectations of the installer and pool owner. The goal is to make sure it does not need to be returned for any alterations.

IF IT CAN BE MANUFACTURED IT CAN BE INSTALLED

[3]   Just because the safety cover can be fabricated does not mean it can be easily installed—some can be quite tricky. In some cases, installers must get into a dingy inside the pool to drill anchor points into a waterfall face, one hand holding the drill and the other holding the wall. Some installations may also require the pool to be drained to provide better access to certain areas and, similarly, new liners and safety covers are often sold at the same time. When the liner is removed, installers have unhindered access to these complex areas. By following an easy step-by-step method, most safety covers can be installed quickly and properly. Assuming the pool was measured correctly, the likelihood of the cover fitting like a tailor-made suit is high. Once the cover has been removed from the box and draped over the pool it is crucial to start the installation at the right spot. In situations where a unique cutout has been provided (e.g. rocks, walls, features, and waterfalls) it is best to start the installation here as the cover was designed to fit this area snug and secure. This ensures the cover is locked in place with only minor movements allowed. Once in place, the installation can proceed by fastening the cover strap by strap. After the cover has been installed and stretched across the pool, weigh the straps down with water-filled buckets to allow the cover to be adjusted to ensure the overall positioning is correct. Step 1 Once the cover is centred properly, identify the strap that runs the middle length of the pool. Attach springs on each end, drill, and install. Complete both sides of the strap as this will start pulling the cover out of the pool. Step 2 Repeat the first step only this time with the middle width strap. Step 3 Working off the middle width strap, install both ends of the next strap. It does not matter if the installation proceeds towards the deep end or shallow end; however, it is important to always work off of an installed strap. Step 4 Use all of the hardware provided. If the manufacturer supplied 10 waterfall bolts to secure a cable to a wall, use all of them. If only half are used there is a chance the cover will have sizeable gaps between rocks and/or the possibility of the cover being wrinkled and puckered.

What do manufacturers need to know?

In order for safety covers to be designed properly, obstacles such as rocks, waterfalls, gardens, slides, sheds, decks (widths and elevations), need to be addressed and measured. Basically, anything that is within 304 mm (12 in.) of the pool’s perimeter should be noted so the manufacturer can make the proper cutouts and customizations.

For example, if the manufacturer is unaware of a rock sitting on the pool’s edge in the centre of the deep end, the custom safety cover will be made with no cutouts in that area. Should the manufacturer be aware of the rock, the cover design will compensate for the obstruction and include strength straps on each side. Further, manufacturers will also ensure there is no cover overlap to bunch and/or wrinkle.

Decks

Decks do not seem like they would factor heavily on safety cover design, but they do. In fact, almost every cover is dependent on the deck to tightly secure them in place all winter.

At one point, pool decks were almost always constructed of poured concrete and were a standard 1 m (3 ft) around the pool’s perimeter. Today, however, decks are built using various mediums—from concrete to interlock and then garden space.

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It is important to know about any deck discrepancies to ensure the safety cover is designed with the proper anchoring system. Standard 76-mm (3-in.) concrete anchors cannot be used on decks comprising interlock brick or loose stone, and paver rods are not optimally effective in garden beds or sod. Each strap placement can also vary on the pool surrounding. For instance, designers will limit the number of straps going into a garden as this can become a potential weak point in the cover.

Noting the deck’s width is also important. Unless otherwise stated, most manufacturers will design their covers to have a standard amount of overlap—typically 305 to 406 mm (12 to 16 in.) around the entire pool perimeter. Once adding a 152-mm (6-in.) spring, 102- to 152-mm (4- to 6-in.) strap, and a couple of inches to drill the anchor, installers will find themselves approximately 0.76 to 0.8 m (2.5 to 2.6 ft) away from the pool’s edge. In some cases, this can be problematic if the deck is only 0.6 m (2 ft) as the cover will need to go back to the manufacturer for alterations.

In situations where the width of the deck varies, there are a few design methods commonly used to ensure the cover fits properly. In most cases, the cover’s overlap can be reduced, shorter springs can be used, and in some situations, special rings can be sewn onto the cover.

Rocks, waterfalls and walls

Jump (i.e. dive) rocks are the most common obstruction safety cover manufacturers face today. These rocks are typically incorporated into the deck in the pool’s deep end. Depending on the pool’s design, these rocks vary in depth, height, and triangulation (i.e. location). As stated previously, if the design team is not aware of the rock, nothing will be done to avoid it.

Once the rock’s location and angle is determined, a proper cut out will be incorporated into the cover design to ensure it fits snug around the rock face. Some manufacturers also sew a plush vinyl bumper around this area to plug up any gaps that may exist.

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In most cases, safety cover manufacturers also try to avoid the need for installers to drill and install anchor points into smaller rock faces. It is appreciated that many pool owners do not like the look of a bold, stainless-steel anchor drilled into these features. Further, all rocks are not equal and some could crumble or crack under the pressure of a hammer drill. Anchor points, however, will need to be installed on waterfalls typically every 0.45 m (1.5 ft).

Manufacturers also need to know exactly where every obstruction starts and stops along the pool’s perimeter as the goal with every cover is to eliminate potential gaps or open areas. If measurements are off, the cutout may be too big (allowing for gaps) or even worse, too small, which would force the cutout to bunch up on the obstruction.

Appendages

It is also essential to let the cover manufacturer know if there are any appendages (e.g. steps and/or spill-over spas) outside of the main pool body, which also need to be covered.

Here, simple start and stop points may not provide enough information as these features are available in many different sizes and shapes.

The most common pool steps are French curve and rounded Roman. If the manufacturer is not aware the pool incorporates one of these types of steps they may in turn design the cover to include a square flap as opposed to it being fitted. In these cases, the step flap will be too large and may not even fit on the deck; therefore, A/B triangulation or measuring the entire perimeter of the steps with the rest of the pool is recommended. This will notify the manufacturer whether to trim or square off the cover’s corners.

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When it comes to spas and spill-overs, it is important to measure their diameter as well as their height. Not knowing the spa’s height can be problematic for cover designers as they may think the spa is flush with the pool and nothing further is required.

Many spas are now raised—even a few inches—and must be treated differently by manufacturers. For example, even a spa that is slightly raised will require a few inches of extra material to be added to the length of the appendage to ensure there is enough at the back end, allowing the cover to be fastened to the deck. If nothing is done to account for the raise of the spa, there will be gaps around the perimeter of the back end. Further, if the height is more than 152 mm (6 in.) most manufacturers will sew diagonal darts (folds sewn into fabric to help provide a three-dimensional shape) on the side of the appendage cover to pull it down to deck level.

Standing up to wear and tear

Smooth aluminum coping systems are not intrusive and should not harm a safety cover. However, some design techniques used today, which involves using abrasive flagstone and/or rock/brick capping to cover the pool’s coping, can destroy a safety cover over the course of its first year.

Also, under the weight of snow, water and/or debris, a safety cover is pulled into the centre of the pool. Once the weight is relinquished, the cover is pulled back tightly onto the deck. Although safety covers are designed for this, constant movement can become burdensome; therefore, manufacturers try their best to protect the cover by sewing specially designed plastic rub strips on the underside of every perimeter-based strap. These rub strips safeguard the cover’s straps and stitching; however, they do nothing to protect other areas of the cover, which drag on the deck. Therefore, on projects that have a rough deck and/or coping, manufacturers can sew vinyl padding on the bottom of the entire safety cover to absorb the abrasiveness of the deck. Initially it may be more expensive, but it will pay for itself several times over by adding many years of life to the safety cover.

Installations made easier

As one can see, designing and manufacturing safety covers has changed significantly. As part of this evolution, most manufacturers offer technical support via phone to assist builders with measuring and/or installing safety covers, and, in many cases, they also offer onsite assistance where trained personnel and/or field representatives meet with builders/installers to assist on extraordinary projects. Finally, there are also dedicated companies available, which focus strictly on measuring and installing safety covers.

 

Leigh Hinsperger is the Canadian sales and marketing director for Hinspergers Poly Industries Ltd., manufacturers of Yard Guard swimming pool safety covers in Mississauga, Ont. He has held this position for 10 years and has extensive knowledge in safety cover manufacturing and installation. Hinsperger can be reached via e-mail at hinsperg05@hinspergers.com[7].

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/fabricating-safety-covers/

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