I don't really have any information for you, but we are considering an automatic pool cover and a salt water pool, though we haven't talked to an expert yet.

Do you know why the two are not supposed to be used together?

Laura - The salt in the pool is known to corrode the mechanics/gears of the automatic pool cover. There might be a solution, although I've never heard of one.

Twingle - Best bet would be to get free written estimates from builders in your area. Look up their ratings on the BBB website first. Make sure they've got an "A" rating, and are doing their customers right. Three quotes is the norm, but some people get more.

Keep a checklist next to you of all the things you stated that you want in your pool build. Make sure each and every one is listed on the builder's quote. Each builder does things differently, but at least this should give you a pretty close apples-to-apples comparison between them all.

Stick around here and update us on what's going on. There's plenty of info here to keep you busy on a lazy afternoon. Best of luck!

I can't tell you prices on LI, but here in GA we just put a PCS Infinity 4000 deck mount cover on our existing 14x32 rectangle salt system pool for about $6,600. We had a carpenter build us a bench using Trex for much less than the price of the ugly formica veneer looking bench often shown by the companies. We were told to rinse the tracks off once or twice a month, but nothing else was said about salt specific to the cover.

I realize this is an 8 year old thread, but I was wondering if you went ahead with an automatic cover, who you used, are you happy, and pros/cons. I live on LI, have a 20 x 40 lazy L in-ground pool. I use chlorine, not SWG. I need to replace my vinyl liner and skimmer boxes and want to get an automatic cover. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.