The right tools for the job
The safety cover will arrive as a kit, complete with cover storage bag, anchor springs, appropriate hardware anchors (e.g. brass, wood deck, waterfall, or lawn tubes), tamping tool, an installation bar, and a hex key.
Standard cement decks, which must be at least 0.9 m (3 ft) wide, use brass anchors. If the deck around the pool is less than 0.9 m (3 ft) wide, short springs are available, or the anchors may need to be placed into the grass or garden. Garden stakes or lawn tubes, which resemble 457-mm (18-in.) long nails, can be used. If there is less than 0.9 m (3 ft) of deck and a fence or obstruction prevents anchoring in the grass/garden, short anchor springs should be requested for these points.
Decks built using interlocking bricks use brass anchors that are set into a steel pipe and driven approximately 0.3 m (1 ft) into the ground, while decks made of wood use special anchors.
The anchors used in flagstone decks depend on the material beneath the flagstone. If the flagstone has been installed on top of concrete, a standard brass anchor can be used; however, if it has been installed on top of landscape screening or sand, steel pipe and brass anchors should be used.
For waterfalls and rock walls, ‘D’ loops should be attached to the cover in these areas instead of straps. This loop attachment style is preferable over the cable-and-hook method, as they attach securely to the wall and provide more strength and safety. Sometimes, the gap left between the wall and the cable is large enough for a small dog or child to fall through.
Installing the new cover
When installing the safety cover, it should be spread out across the pool. If the pool is an irregular shape, the installer can use water bags or buckets of water as weights to hold it in place.
To ensure a symmetrical and visually appealing installation, it is important the installer centre the cover, makes certain all folds/wrinkles are removed, and ensures an equal overlap on the deck around the pool. If the cover has cutouts for slides and/or non-removable handrails, they should be carefully aligned with the matching obstruction.
The first anchors to be installed are those at each end of the pool, starting in the middle and working outwards. To start, the installer should identify the centre of a strapline with chalk after measuring from cover edge to cover edge. A full-width strapline should be selected by choosing one that is closest to the end of the pool. Next, the width of the pool under the selected strapline should be measured. The centre of the pool’s width can then be marked on the deck by keeping the measuring tape in place across the pool width and holding a vacuum pole perpendicular to the measuring tape at the middle of the pool.
