Securing the “instant” garage cover around the swimming pool to turn it into an indoor pool for the winter presented certain challenges. We had already had some experiences with it in the wind, so were well aware of its ability to catch the air. However, we had the cement sidewalk put in around the perimeter of the swimming pool, to keep down debris tracked into the water. The cover only came with stakes and ways of tying it down to these pushed into a dirt type base.
I was presented with 2 options by my engineer. The one we did NOT choose was to insert permanent eye-bols in the outer perimeter edges of the sidewalk. The advantage to this would have been no ropes in my way while the portable garage cover was in place during the winter. The down side was that they would be sticking up exposed there, waiting to trip people, all summer. Even if we put some sort of rubber cap over them, it would be hard to make them keep their hats on and they would still be tripping hazards.
So, we agreed that attaching the eye bolts low on the outer aspect of the cement box was better. It would mean ropes strung vertically in a few places along the edge of the pool, to tie the cover to the cement box. There would not be much space between the side of the pool and the cover anyway, so I would be moving slowly, thinking only about that small space. It would not be like walking out to the yard thinking about picking flower and forgetting about the details of the pool.
I observed the drilling of cement and placement of bolts (before the ropes were attached). It was a fairly fast procedure when the engineer did it. If I was doing it, the drill would probably have been bouncing all over the outside of the cement, creating the look of a bomb site. (He was using a special, heavy duty drill powerful enough to drill into the cement quickly and not stress the drill motor.) I was not pressured into trying it this time. The portable garage cover frame was already positioned over the swimming pool, so he could see the best position for the bolts in relation to where he wanted to tie it later. In the few weeks before the cloth cover would go on, I had time to experience having those bolts stick out the inch or so that they did. There were a few times when it seemed they were teasing me about grabbing my toes, but I think they were really too close to the cement for me to really be walking there. The main time to be careful was when I was walking around the pool to remove the cover or take care of chemicals, but it was never a serious threat.
When it was finally getting cold and windy enough that the cover was desirable, tying down was the last step. Since the cover was not centered over the swimming pool, for the sake of leaving more walking room on one side, 2 methods were used to tie it down. On the side where the frame was pushed right up against the cement box, it was easiest. No one would be walking there, so the ropes were strung the short distance from the eye bolt to a lower bar.
On the side where I will be walking, in order to get into the pool, the ropes were tied straight up from the bolt to a higher bar. It doesn’t block where I want to walk. It just means that I don’t want to carelessly leap from the sidewalk over the edge of the pool. It may all take 2-3 hours to transition with the change of seasons, but it seems pretty easy when you consider that I do now have an indoor-outdoor swimming pool. Not many people have one of those!
