For some pool owners, an automatic pool cover represents enhanced safety, energy savings,
reduced chemical consumption and protection against
debris. That’s all well and good, argue the contrarians,
but covers just don’t look cool.
That perception appears to be fading — especially if the
winners in the pools-with-automatic-covers category of PHTA’s
2024 Awards of Excellence, sponsored by AQUA, are any
indication. They prove that, when given as much attention
as other key elements, covers do not detract from a project’s
overall aesthetic.
“I’ve definitely done more covers in the past five years
than I did in years prior,” says Mike Farley, a renowned pool
designer for Southlake, Texas-based Claffey Pools. “The design style in the last five years has been rectangular, so the design
style is not limiting people wanting to put on a cover versus
when the freeform was a big deal — back when I was doing
pools in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Back then, people were
like, ‘I want safety, but I’m not gonna do a stupid rectangle; I
want a freeform pool.’ So it was off the table. Right now, your
design style and the cover are in step with each other.”
The aesthetics of covers themselves are changing, too.
“We installed our first transparent but slightly opaque
automatic cover [in 2024],” says Jerry Hammerschmidt,
majority co-owner of High-Tech Pools in Cleveland, Ohio,
which includes covers on about 80% of its projects. “The
homeowner wanted to see the pool glowing even with the
cover on. It’s not gathering as much radiant heat, but it does
create a cool-looking effect at night. It’s like a spaceship. I
think those types of covers may become a thing.”
THREE BODIES OF WATER, THREE COVERS
The owners of the Gold-winning project in Moreland Hills,
Ohio — designed by High-Tech Pools and completed in
summer of 2023 — have six daughters from toddlers to teens. They opted for separate automatic pool
covers on all three bodies of water, each
of which feature glass tile: the diving-well
pool, a kiddie pool and a raised
spa. Lots of lights, colored bubblers,
fire features, an in-water basketball
hoop, and a water weir between the spa
and the smaller pool serve as inviting
accents.
The project’s literal highlight is the
sleek self-cooling, polished stainlesssteel
slide imported from the British
company Splinterworks at a cost of
several hundred thousand dollars.
“When the sun hits it, you’d think it
would get really hot,” Hammerschmidt
says. “But the water that sprays into the
slide starts in the base and goes up the
handrails and through each of the steps
to get to the point where it sprays. So
it keeps the unit cool to the touch, so
you’re not burning yourself. And it can
be glary if you’re in the wrong spot, but
it is truly like a mirror. It’s like a piece
of art.”
All told, the price tag for this project
came to about $1 million, according to
Hammerschmidt, and the cover plays
a vital role in overall operations. “When
you close the pool covers, the slide
turns off. And if you close the slide pool or the kiddie pool, the weir turns off, so
that you’re not flooding the cover,” he
says.
Fun side note: In order to
commence this project, crews ripped
out the home’s original pool, which
High-Tech Pools had built on the same
site two decades ago; that one was
featured in Cleveland Magazine.
While some builders like
Hammerschmidt include covers on
most new projects, others might
do so more sporadically. In those
cases, it’s critical for installers to
understand that “certain bugs need
to be worked out” when new covers
begin operating, Hammerschmidt
says. “That’s something you have to
explain to customers. Say, ‘Listen, there
are parts that wear on these covers
before they operate perfectly smooth.
Call us anytime something gets out
of alignment, because we’re basically
dialing the cover in for it to work the
way it’s supposed to work.’ We’ve
learned that from over 30 years of
installing these.”
Photo above and below courtesy Farley Pool Designs
A 2024 Awards of Excellence winner in the Pools with Automatic Covers – Concrete category, this project designed by Mike Farley and built by Claffey Pools in Southlake, Texas, uses Platino limestone coping to neatly hide cover tracks and rails and provide a clean, majestic look.
DESIGNING AROUND A VIEW
Farley has designed six pools for various
members of the same family — and
all of them have automatic pool covers
that in no way diminish their beauty.
In the case of the Bronze-winning
project (pictured on page 36), located
in Sunset Cove on Possum Kingdom
Lake in north-central Texas, the cover
adds safety for the homeowners and
their guests, as well as protects against
unwanted visitors and wildlife when
the family is away. (While this is the
homeowner’s main residence, plans
call for it to eventually become a second
home.) Walk-on cover lids blend with
the limestone deck, coping, steps and
porch cap to seamlessly blend the
home and pool area.
“It’s called Sunset Cove because the
sun sets perfectly over the cove, looking
right into the house,” Farley says. “So
it’s a really pretty setup that keeps the
view open from the water out toward
the lake.”
Expanding on the picturesque
setting is the pool’s hillside location.
The pool is located close to the main
porch off the home’s great room, with
full-length steps descending 2 feet to
the deck. The backside of the pool drops
about 48 inches to the ground, so Farley
added a built-in bench that spans the
43-foot length of the pool and provides
an ideal spot to watch the sun go down.
Similarly, the flush spa at the deep
end of the pool — where the cover
resides — maximizes views, while
the nearby fire pit is surrounded by
additional seating and the cover box
drop beam (which accommodates even
more sunset viewers). An expansive
tanning ledge and three bubblers accent
the pool’s shallow end.
“Typically, when you do auto covers,
90% of your spas end up [opposite the
cover box],” Farley says. “People want
to be able to just barely open the cover
so they can access the spa, instead
of rolling the whole thing off. For this
scenario, the client has to open the
cover up all the way, but that was what
created a more functional design for
them.”
Unlike Hammerschmidt at High-
Tech Pools, only about 10% of Farley’s
projects include covers. In some
municipalities, door alarms that prevent
people from entering swimming pool
areas unattended provide a more costeffective
and legal alternative to pool
covers. But a cover accomplishes so
much more.
“All covers do the same thing,”
Farley says. “They make it so the pool is
cleaner when you use it, you can use the
pool longer because it stays warmer in
the spring and fall, and the pool’s safer
because it’s covered. It gives you greater
peace of mind, and you can’t put a price
tag on that. But some people don’t
even know a cover is an option. That’s
the fun of my job; I get to help people
decide what’s best for them.”
All told, the price tag for this project came to about $1 million, according to Jerry Hammerschmidt, co-owner of High-Tech Pools, and the cover plays a vital role in overall operations. “When you close the pool covers, the slide turns off. And if you close the slide pool or the kiddie pool, the weir turns off, so that you’re not flooding the cover,” he says.
This article first appeared in the February 2025 issue of AQUA Magazine — the top resource for retailers, builders and service pros in the pool and spa industry. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to all industry professionals. Click here to subscribe.
