• Custom Swimming Pool Little Rock

    Parrot Bay Pools

    Serving Central Arkansas

    501.664.6861

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  • In ground pool little rock, AR

    Parrot Bay Pools

    Serving Central Arkansas

    501.664.6861

    Larry's Cell 501.580.6364

  • Freeform Pool Benton

    Parrot Bay Pools

    Serving Central Arkansas

    501.664.6861

    Larry's Cell 501.580.6364

  • Custom Pool and Spa

    Parrot Bay Pools

    Serving Central Arkansas

    501.664.6861

    Larry's Cell 501.580.6364

Our Blog | Advice on In Ground Swimming Pool Construction and Maintenance

6 Types of Swimming Pool Covers

Posted by Larry Rogers on Tue, Nov 22, 2011

When taking care of a in-ground swimming pool, having the right type of cover can make all the difference. Finding the right cover can be a bit tricky and will depend upon a variety of factors including your pool shape, size, and of course, what you need the cover for. The guide below should help you identify just the right cover(s) for your pool.

swimming pool coverSolar Pool Covers: A very common pool cover, solar covers utilize the suns energy to generate heat for your pool. These covers float freely on your pool surface and are designed primarily for heating your pool and prolonging your pool season. They are not the most efficient covers for keeping debris out of your pool and should not be consider a safety cover.

Solar Sun Rings bigSolar Rings: While designed to provide heat for a pool similar to a standard solar pool cover, solar rings have a few unique benefits. Due to their design, solar rings are very adept at passing heat to deeper parts of your pool. They can also be turned over when the pool temperature is ideal, enabling them to act as barriers to sunlight that will evaporate water and precious pool chemicals. Solar rings work well with automatic pool cleaners as well.

00000621Leaf Nets: With these covers the name says it all. Leaf nets are basic covers designed to keep leaves and other larger containments out of your pool. Simply place the leaf net over the pool, anchor it down and watch as the leaves fall harmlessly onto your net. If you have a lot of leaves to deal with every year, it may be wise to remove this net multiple times to clean the leaves off. Leaf nets are often used in combination with a heavier winter cover. 

 

inground winter pool coverWinter Pool Cover: These heavy-duty pool covers are designed to protect your pool from debris as well as other unwanted pool contaminators. While many winter covers offer features such as thermal protection or coloring to help guard against algae growth, they do often vary in weave thickness which can be a determinate in the durability and overall quality of the cover. As mentioned above, winter pool covers can be used in concert with leaf nets. It’s important to note that winter pool covers are not necessarily considered safety covers.

ruggedcleandarkgreenSafety Nets and Safety Covers: Pool safety covers are available in a standard net/mesh form, as well as solid covers. Safety nets are designed with gaps too small for a child to fall through, but too big to allow efficient balancing or movement. Solid safety pool covers are heavy covers that are designed to be anchored down and keep everything from loose debris to kids and pets out of your pool.

Slide Image3Automatic Covers: Automatic covers have permanently mounted reels that automatically cover and uncover the pool at the push of a button. They are the most expensive option, but are also the most convenient. These reels can be run from either an external motor or using an internal motor that spins the reel.

 Parrot Bay Pools is fully qualifed to measure and install any of the afore-mentioned covering systems. Let us know how we can help you manage your covering requirements if any.

Tags: inground pools, winterizing your pool, Swimming pool covers

To Winterize or not to Winterize Your Pool

Posted by Larry Rogers on Fri, Sep 23, 2011

The pros and cons of leaving your pool open year-round:

The Good

1. Pools are beautiful: Whether it's 98 degrees in June or 32 degrees in January, moving water is great to listen to and enjoy. This is especially true with snow on the ground.

2. Spring Clean Up: Because pool owners often reopen for the season in May, by that point the pool has quite a bit of algae and/or other debris in it. Although this can usually be removed within a couple of days, leaving a pool open year-round means that it won't start to see nearly the same issues, especially in terms of algae, as one that's closed.

 The Bad

1. Losing Electricity: Fortunately for us here in arkansas our winters aren't that demanding. However in the event power goes out, a few blankets thrown of the plumbings pipes at the equipment pad generally will suffice. Another option would be to have the use of a portable generator.

2. Cost of Electricity: Although most pool owners now have variable speed pumps, an extra 4-6 months of usage does cost at least a few hundred dollars in most cases.

3. Salt System Will Not Be On: Even though this is not a huge deal, it's one that people often forget, and that's the fact that salt chlorine generators do not work when the water temperature drops below a certain level, usually around 60 degrees. With the cool temperatures though, water sanitation isn't nearly as much of a problem as algae will not grow during the winter months.

 If you are planning on winterizing your pool:

Part of maintaining a swimming pool, spa or hot tub includes preparing it for those months when you won't be using it. Also referred to as "closing your pool," or "pool closing," the time to tackle this task varies, depending on the climate or region in which you live. Most experts believe that pools should be closed for the season when nighttime temperatures are in the 40s and daytime highs are in the mid 60s to low 70s. If you close it too soon, you risk the possibility of algae overgrowth. If you wait until trees really start to shed their leaves, obviously you've got a big mess to contend with. Read more...

Tags: swimming pool, little rock, arkansas, winterizing your pool, pool builders

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