Mesh Pool Cover Repair Tips

When your swimming pool safety cover gets damaged, knowing how to do the necessary pool cover repair can save you money and keep your pool protected. Pool safety cover repair restores the integrity of your cover, sealing up any rips, tears, or holes to prevent further damage as the water, weight, and environment pull at the edges. As your swimming pool safety experts, we’ll help you understand what to look for when evaluating damage to your swimming pool safety cover, how to perform the most common DIY repairs, and when you need to contact your independent All-Safe Pool installer to ensure larger repairs or replacement needs are managed professionally.

ASTM-Compliant Swimming Pool Safety Covers

Our swimming pool safety covers are engineered to be strong enough to support the weight of a full-grown adult and are manufactured using rip-resistant mesh and straps. Time, however, is undefeated, and pool cover repair may eventually be needed. We offer the same materials used in the production of our ASTM-compliant pool safety covers, nets, and fences for DIY repair. While the materials are the same, care must be taken to perform all repairs properly to ensure your pool safety barriers offer the same industry-leading protection against unsupervised pool access you’ve come to know and count on to protect your swimming pool.

Assessing Damage to Your Swimming Pool Safety Cover

Before you can plan a pool cover repair, you have to establish what part of the cover you’re repairing and the supplies needed. There are several different parts of the pool cover that are user-repairable under the right conditions. When assessing the damage, be sure to be conservative when estimating the extent of the damage, as it’s far better to be safe than sorry when the lives of those you care about are on the line.

• Mesh Material – Small rips or tears in the mesh material can often be patched by the pool owner if they’re six inches long or smaller. Even jagged, cornered, or curved rips may be a candidate as long as they would be completely covered by a circle about six inches in diameter, or about the size of a saucer for your morning coffee. Larger rips, tears or holes will need professional attention.
• Straps – A single weathered or frayed strap may be able to be repaired. Due to the complex stitching required to support the full weight of your pool cover, straps that have fully separated or if multiple straps show warning signs of worsening damage should be examined by your local safety pro.
• Anchors and Clips – The anchors and clips that secure your swimming pool’s cover to the deck are prime candidates for at-home pool cover repair. 

Common Safety Cover Repair Procedures

Accidental drownings are responsible for thousands of deaths every year, and a lack of adequate safety barriers is cited as a contributing factor in the majority of them. There are plenty of DIY pool cover repair parts and options, but if you have any doubts, contact a professional. Peace of mind is far cheaper than regret.

Patching Swimming Pool Safety Cover Mesh

Small rips and tears in mesh swimming pool safety covers are easily repaired with a mesh pool cover patch kit. These easy-to-use kits usually include several patches that are approximately 6-8 inches long. While some manufacturers suggest you use successive patches to repair longer tears, the patched fabric will never be as safe or secure as before the large tear occurred, so we recommend professional repair or replacement in those cases.

These self-adhesive patch kits make pool cover repair easy. 

• Clean both sides of the cover around the tear with a mild detergent and water, then allow it to dry.
• Peel the back off a safety cover repair patch and place it over the tear, pressing firmly with your hands on each side to ensure adhesion.
• Peel the back off a second patch and apply it to the opposite side using the same procedure.

By patching both sides of a small tear, you have extra assurance that the job is done right and ready for long-term use. 

Reinforcing Worn or Weathered Straps

Worn and weathered straps can be reinforced to keep them strong enough to support your pool safety cover. These methods should only be used if you’re confident with a thread and needle, as the stretching and contracting movement of the strapping under tension makes adhesives impractical for these repairs.

• Straps that simply show signs of weathering can be reinforced by stitching a high-tensile strength web strap of equal width over the existing strap. A simple running stitch that outlines the full length and width of the strap from where it begins just past the clip to where it ends directly before the original strap is attached to the mesh of the pool cover should suffice. 
• A single broken strap can be repaired by running a new web strap through the clip and then attaching that new strap to the remaining strap half attached to your pool cover using a running stitch to create a box with an X through the center where the two join, doubling this stitching a second time for strength.

If you aren’t confident in your sewing ability, have multiple broken straps, or several straps are showing signs of premature wear, contact a pool cover repair pro for advice.

Replacing Anchors and Clips

Strong anchors and clips are vital to maintaining a cover that’s ready to prevent accidental drownings. Luckily, these are excellent candidates for DIY safety cover repair.

• Deck anchors are easily replaced with common household tools. Unscrew the old anchor from your deck and install a new one to give your clips the solid purchase they need.
• Clip replacement is a little more involved and, once again, requires sewing. Run the new nylon strap through a new clip, and secure the new strap to the old as above, trimming off the old strap material once the new strap section is secured.

When You Need Professional Repair Help

Your local All-Safe Pool installer is an independent pool safety professional who has dedicated their career to protecting the pools in their community. They’re a phone call away and ready to help. Schedule a visit, and they’ll assess the damage, take measurements, and give you a written quote on your repair or replacement options. Make sure your pool cover is repaired and ready for action. Call your All-Safe Pool pro today.