Use a swimming pool cover
To get the best use from solar pool covers, it is essential that they fit well, so they must be measured accurately. A correctly fitting cover will reduce your pool chemicals usage and time commitment to cleaning. Ill fitting covers will also suffer wear and tear much more quickly and have to be replaced sooner.
Simple shapes such as a rectangle are easy to measure, but more complex shapes, for example a kidney, require some expertise. A variety of different methods exist, but this is our preferred method and has produced well fitting covers time after time. The method we recommend is the Triangulation Method. Using this method we identify a number of points around the perimeter, and take measurements from two different points that then cross reference the original one, allowing us to build up a picture of the perimeter.
Start by marking a number of points around the pool edge. As a guide these should be about 18 inches or 2 feet apart. However, on straight or reasonably straight areas they can be further apart, whilst on highly curved areas they need to be closer together. Place a chalk mark right on the edge of the coping, and number it. Proceed clockwise around the edge until you come back to your starting point. Typically you will have marked and numbered between 25 and 40 points.
The next step is to mark the A and B reference points. Ideally these should be to one side of the pool, approximately 10 feet from the edge, and slightly wider apart than the pool is long. Mark one as point A, and the other as point B.
Now take the measurement from point A to all the points in turn, starting with 1 and finishing with the last point. Record these as A1, A2, A3, etc. It is vital that the end of the tape at point A is held securely, either with help from someone or secured with a stake or something similar. Also you need to make sure that the tape does not become entangled with any obstructions such as plant pots or pool ladders. Obviously the tape needs to be kept straight at all times and any deviation will cause inaccuracies in the finished plan. Then repeat the process from point B.
Some pools will have some fixed obstructions such as ladder uprights or diving boards. These fixed points also need to be recorded from points A and B and noted on the recording sheet so that the manufacturer can make allowances for these. For example incorporating slits to accommodate ladder uprights.
Finally, on the sheet on which you have recorded all your data, draw a rough sketch and show roughly where points A and B are in relation to the pool.
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