Conferring on covers: are covers compatible with high-end pool projects? Cover makers who think so discuss the latest trends and design issues affecting the market

Julie Phillips Randles

As pool designs consistently become more multifeatured, cover manufacturers are stepping up to the challenge of creating systems for just about any pool that a builder or designer can put on paper.

Pool & Spa News recently asked representatives of leading cover companies across the country to share their thoughts on the state of the market and how it is affected by modern pool design. The respondents produce a wide spectrum of covers, including winter models, manual and automatic styles, and solid and mesh safety designs.

They report that the cover industry is making increasing strides in meeting the needs of builders and homeowners, whether their projects are upscale or economy-priced. They say the current generation of covers addresses safety concerns while still allowing for aesthetics.

Do higher-end builders make up a significant part of your business? How has this figure changed in the past five years?

Rick Clark: Our automatic cover business is proportionately divided among all categories of pool builders. However, we're seeing more business with the high-end pool designers and builders. We have created ways for them to provide the benefits of an automatic cover without having to sacrifice their creative designs or the aesthetics of their projects.

Jim Zell: The high-end pool segment of our business grows every year, and the degree of difficulty increases as well.

J. Kevin Shea: Higher-end builders do make up a significant part of our cover business, but not the majority. Over the past five years, this figure has [increased] as a result of more homeowners seeking customized inground pools in terms of shapes and/or features. This results in higher-end, custom-shaped covers.

Wesley Mathis: Since the majority of residential pools do not fit the category of "high-end pools," the automatic cover industry provides a significantly higher number of models for "middle-end pool" projects.

However, on a per-capita basis, I believe that high-end builders include automatic covers with just as many, if not more, of their pool projects than do middle-end builders. Over the past five years, the automatic cover industry has responded aggressively to consumer demand for aesthetically cleaner designs that do not distract from the elegance of the pool environment.

Is it challenge getting these builders to consider covers on their more upscale/ custom projects?

Clark: It's a challenge to get uninitiated builders to consider adding automatic covers to their upscale or unique projects. But once they understand how ... the systems allow them to have a cover and maintain their unique designs, builders then become promoters of covers.

Mathis: Ten to 15 years ago, builders were told to "build a basic rectangular pool" if their customer wanted an automatic cover. Today, we like to tell builders to feel free to design the pool their customer wants, and we'll figure out a way to install an automatic cover with minimal impact to the project. One of the goals of the automatic cover industry appears to be to create designs that protect pools, but are essentially invisible to the environment during periods of use.

Shea: I don't see it as a challenge in getting the builders to consider covers on their more upscale/custom projects. However, I have seen the challenge come in the form of [devising] the actual design and application of the cover [to accommodate] some of the various features that are now being used in construction.

Will the growth of this niche require more outreach to end-users as well as builders? What should be done to get customers on board?

Lincoln Christensen: Customers in this segment rely on builders to determine their needs. Once the correct price and adequate integrity of the builder are established, the consumer has little interest in what happens next. After all, we are selling the swimming, entertaining and family-enjoyment experience.

Tom Dankel: Looking at the demographics of current or soon-to-be pool owners, they are college-educated and earn at least in the upper middle class. Therefore, this segment is typically well-educated in respect to how they want their pools. We hear over and over that end-users are armed with their list of what they want at the time of the initial sales presentation with the builder. Where we still see a lot of work is within the industry itself, and [the need to] educate the builder.

Zell: The driving forces for this segment of the cover market are the same ones for most consumers: safety, aesthetics and convenience. The demand is there; we just need to instill confidence in our builders and designers that we can manufacture, and they can install, a cover that meets or exceeds the pool owner's expectations.

How should builders express the benefits of covers when making design presentations?

LeeAnn Donaton-Pesta: Our dealers emphasize that a cover is integral to safe use of the pool. We provide sales tools, including a consumer video and brochures, to assist with the education process.

Roshan Patel: For the sales representative, it depends on the type of customer. For couples with children, you have got to focus on the safety aspects. With a retired couple, put the focus on the visual appeal and the ability of the cover to keep the pool cleaner, and [that] opening it is less work.

Dankel: Most people know of the obvious safety benefit, but it should still be addressed. Where one can elaborate in the sales presentation is the return on investment. Energy consumption is reduced because the pump and filter time is cut in half. Water consumption and chemical usage is reduced because the covers eliminate evaporation, and a byproduct of a covered pool is that it gets used more. A pool that is clean and warm is more inviting than one that is dirty and cold.

Michael Shebek: Every aspect of the pool works better when an automatic cover is in place. Homeowners experience less evaporation, more consistent water temperature, less work on the pump and filter, and, of course, increased safety. When dealers have these facts memorized and include them in their sales pitches, the homeowners aren't [just] considering the cover anymore--they [are ready to buy and] want to know color choices.

How important are aesthetics to most customers when it comes to selecting a cover?

Donaton-Pesta: For a high-end pool, aesthetics will almost always be an important selling point of a safety cover.

John Ciniglio: Some people care a lot about safety, while others focus on aesthetics. Some just care about keeping debris out of the pool, so it varies greatly. However, when a pool has a raised spa and sits on the opposite side of a vanishing edge with a separate catch basin, [clients] tend to gear more to the aesthetics.

Mathis: In the past, consumers ... have been more than willing to sacrifice aesthetics in the name of safety. On the other hand, those individuals who have no children, grandchildren or neighborhood kids have tended to be less concerned about pool safety and more inclined to choose aesthetics.

But the days of having to make that choice are gone. Today's pool owners don't have to sacrifice aesthetics in the name of safety or vice versa. Lots of advancements have been made in technology, which now permits covers to be installed without visual distraction or design compromise.

How do you aid builders in creating attractive pool designs that don't sacrifice on safety features?

Zell: I think it is unrealistic to think the designers are going to substantially change their designs to incorporate safety covers into their projects. But we spend a lot of time talking to, and training our customers on, the challenges that some of their projects create.

For instance, if the project has a grotto, [we ask if] they want the cover to be installed inside it, or if it's preferable to go vertical and close off the opening. We need to spend as much time listening as we do teaching and training.

Dankel: We assist the builder by creating a drawing or design based on their initial desired shape. We also encourage builders to visit our factory and see all the options available to them. We also take them into the field to view actual custom installations.

Shea: A lot of information, including an array of drawings, is sent back and forth between our company and customers, to confirm the layout and design aspects of the cover. This way, we have an open channel of communication for feedback from the manufacturing side as well as the retail and installation sides.

Donaton-Pesta: Our [computer-aided design] system enables us to take pool measurements and translate them into a custom cover that will fit the pool perfectly--and be safe.

Mathis: We use seminars, interactive CDs and an engineering design staff to aid builders in how to include a cover without compromising design elements.

Mathis: The automatic cover industry is much more user-friendly than it was five or 10 years ago. Hidden tracks, ones that are integrated into pool kits, cover-housing lids that blend into the coping or deck, more powerful and faster motors ... all of these features are fairly standard in the automatic cover industry.

Manufacturers make much more of an effort to keep abreast of consumer trends and the "bells and whistles" that pool builders are emphasizing in their pool designs. When a new trend occurs, such as zero entries, negative edges and sophisticated waterfeatures, the automatic cover industry has responded immediately with design refinements that accommodate consumer demand.

Ciniglio: We've been looking at cover design on a 3-D basis for many years. This alone helps us design the cover to go around the pool rather than just on top of it. We've had to develop ways of making a flat cover into a multidimensional one that works better with a variety of landscapes.

Dankel: We have added a unique automatic cover that does not use a rope track interface as with a traditional cover system. instead, it utilizes an extruded PVC slat that can be cut to any converging shape where a traditional cover could not be used.

For the typical track systems, powder coating options to blend the aluminum extrusions with the hardscape are popular now, as well as designs on the cover fabric.

Patel: We're introducing stronger and lighter weight material. As for modifications, a lot of design changes that occur are due to input from our pool builders. For example, when we make a cover for a raised wall, we can use a cabling system instead of the usual anchoring one.

We're modifying designs to meet builders' needs. There are always changes coming based on what builders and homeowners express as a need.

What cover design options are available for builders who want to present their customers with greater choices?

Clark: From colors of fabric to vanishing-edge packages, remote controls and completely hidden mechanical components, the pool owner can work with the builder to choose their exact combination of safety, convenience, value and beauty.

Mathis: Most of the design options have to do with various methods of hiding the pool-cover track. We now carry three different kinds of flush-mount tracks and three styles of deck-on-deck ones for free-form pools, four styles of retainer-style undertracks ... and two track styles for existing pools.

In addition, these tracks can be custom-ordered in any color to coordinate with different shades of pool decks and other design elements. Extensive housing-lid systems have been developed. They are strong enough to walk on and permit the housing to be invisible in the pool environment. Consumers can order cover fabrics in 22 colors and also have murals, custom logos and other designs imprinted on top of their pool covers.

Are there new ways of installing covers that allow them to be used in more custom projects?

Ciniglio: Every season we find a new way of doing an installation, mainly because our customers choose to push the design envelope. A complex cover can be designed one way, but installed by various methods, depending on the builder.

Donaton-Pesta: We provide our dealers with detailed guides in print and on video. They demonstrate installation techniques for raised walls, obstructions, different deck types and other special circumstances. Out of literally hundreds of thousands of pools we have covered, we encounter only about two to three a year that simply cannot be safely covered.

Mathis: The automatic-cover installation process in general has been simplified tremendously over the past few years. I suppose one of the most important changes in installation procedures ... has to do with the manner in which pools are prepared to accept automatic covers during the construction process.

In the past, cover preparation was pretty much limited to two things: a cantilevered pool edge, so the track could be anchored to the underside, and the installation of recessed housing to accommodate the mechanism. Now the pool-preparation process has been expanded to include the option of installing a track retainer during construction. It has resulted in a more aesthetically clean track and a vastly simplified installation process.

Round-table panel

Lincoln Christensen

Vice President

Custom Products Division

Anchor Industries

Evansville, Ind.

John Ciniglio

President

Meyco Pool Covers

Melville, N.Y.

Rick Clark

President

Cover-Pools Inc.

Salt Lake City

Tom Dankel

Vice President

Aquamatic Cover Systems

Gilroy, Calif.

LeeAnn Donaton-Pesta

President/CEO

Loop-Loc Ltd.

Hauppauge, N.Y.

Wesley Mathis

Co-Chair

Board of Directors

Pool Cover Specialists

National Inc.

West Jordan, Utah

J. Kevin Shea

President

Vyn-All Products Corp.

Newmarket, N.H.

Michael Shebek

President

Automatic Pool Covers

Fishers, Ind.

Jim Zell

Vice President

Sales and Marketing

Merlin Industries Inc.

Trenton, N.J.

Not pictured: Roshan Patel, administrator, The Cover Co., Branchburg, N.J.

RELATED ARTICLE: Spa covers round table.

Like their colleagues in the pool-cover industry, spa-cover manufacturers are facing new challenges from spa makers and consumers. The market seeks safe, aesthetically pleasing, modern ways to cover portable spas. Their comments attest to the fact that despite the type of spa cover--vinyl, aluminum or UV-ray-resistant polyester--manufacturers are finding ways to balance performance with style.

How do today's covers enhance the look of spascapes?

Michael LaPlante: Because your spa is not exposed to the elements most of the time, the color, fit and finish of its cover provides the most constant impression.

Ben Gargle: We offer seven colors and two different trims, with a variety of color combinations to blend into [most environments]. The last thing you want is for your spa cover to be the focal point of your backyard landscape.

How has the spa cover evolved to keep up with changes in taste and home decor trends?

Sue Ann Sousa: A great many more choices are available today. They not only [offer more options] aesthetically, but also provide full-length heat seals, better encapsulation and a choice of density to help reduce energy loss.

Carl Bryant: Our cover ... uses a polyester denier fabric, which is waterproofed with a PVC linen The look and feel of the fabric is more consistent with what is being put in today's backyards: looser fitting and softer earth tones. When the cover lies open, the inside bottom is color-matched to the outside fabric, creating a more consistent visual experience.

How important are aesthetics to most customers when it comes to selecting a spa cover?

LaPlante: Let's say 50 percent are choosing for style and 50 percent for performance. We want both groups to be happy. Even though most of our effort is in quality engineering, we know we must cover it up with great looks. I feel people care about the looks of their spa covers. You want everything about your home to look good, even the mailbox or garden hose.

Bryant: Obviously, the insulating, protective and safety factors of any spa cover are important. Most covers satisfy those basic requirements, no matter what their exterior construction. With the average spa cover occupying 60 square feet, larger than most couches, one would hope that the look and texture would be important to whomever invests in their backyard or deck.

Gargle: At first, looks are important, but most people receive free covers with their [spa] purchases. With the second cover they buy, they want something more durable and maybe better looking. At this point, they want lifts and assists to get it out of the way quickly.

Where do you see the look of spa covers going in the next five years?

Gargle: I think we need to make better, lighter covers that last longer, and the vinyl manufacturers haven't moved in that direction. The problem is, the cover doesn't dictate the purchase so the spa manufacturer, the largest purchasing segment, doesn't demand innovation or improvement.

Sousa: I don't think we have even scratched the surface with the technology that will be available over the next few years.

LaPlante: We are always researching and developing improvements to our cover. Our designers have considered the styles and colors of other products in coming up with our new look.

--J.P.R.

Round-table panel

Carl Bryant

CEO

Seattle Cover Co.

Seattle, Wash.

Ben Gargle

President

Be-Lite Covers

Anaheim, Calif.

Michael LaPlante

President

Panorama Cabana Inc.

Kansas City, Mo.

Sue Ann Sousa

National Sales Manager

Sunstar Spa Covers

San Marcos, Calif.

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