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martakeith

Pool cover and safety fence question

MPK 09
13 years ago

Hi, we are in the process of a fall/spring build in the Boston area and I'm trying to make some decisions on a pool cover and safety fence. I understand from reading some previous posts that loop loc makes a great cover, and a safety fence, but I just learned that they do not use the same size holes for their anchors, so I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of a cover/fence that can use the same holes for their anchors/fencing tubes? It's probably wishful thinking, but my fingers are crossed. thanks in advance! Marta

Comments (4)

  • golfgeek
    13 years ago

    marta p,
    You will most likely have trouble finding this combo. The cover anchors are designed to be close to the edge of the pool and the fencing anchors are placed near the back edge of the deck so the pool can used with the fence up.
    You can get plugs to cover the anchors.

  • poolguynj
    13 years ago

    Cover holes are typically too close to a pool's edge to allow fun things like walk by someone, vacuuming and other pole work, etc... just as my friend, golfgeek has mentioned.

    Fence hole placement is a much tighter tolerance requirement. A safety cover's hole may be placed a couple inches in any direction from the ideal spot as well as permitting the hole to be slightly less than vertical where fences not only must be placed at a specific distance, but usually must be perfectly vertical.

    Additionally, when using Baby-Loc with fiberglass poles, a slight lean in or out may be appropriate on curves. To do this properly, a core drill and torpedo level are needed to get the angle desired and the feet of the drill stand all making contact with the deck. This is a time consuming task, especially with paver decks or stamped concrete, where the deck level is different every time you move the drill stand. Drill stands have bolts for feet that get adjusted. Grass is a real PITA to get right and is not, IMHO, a real good surface for a removable fence to be set on.

    There is a lot more installer skill needed for the fence to be done correctly than for a cover. Fences depend on tension and gentle curves for strength and appearance. A sloppy fence will have waves or be too hard to connect each section to the next.

    There I go again, rambling on. Sorry.

    Scott

  • MPK 09
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    thanks Golfgeek and Scott, I figured it was a long shot, but appreciate your insight. We will have pavers on just 2/3rds of the perimeter, so grass would come into play. Perhaps we should think about alternatives to the baby-loc. Marta

  • poolguynj
    13 years ago

    The grass will be problematic for any brand of removable fence because the ground tends to have hidden undulations and rocks that divert a stabilizing pipe used to hold the ground level receiver used to hold the fence's verticals from being vertical or at a desired pitch. Waviness and ground level gaps often appear. Don't think it's just Baby-Loc. Its true for any of these barrier fences. If a salesman tells you otherwise, he is lying.

    Pavers are not a problem to a skilled installer. A slightly larger hole is drilled and a 15" pipe is sunk to stabilize the socket that the vertical goes in.

    Scott