Safety Cover on New Haven, NY Swimming Pool Snaps

When excessive snow piles up on a New Haven, NY inground pool’s safety cover, it causes the cover to break, damaging the liner.

New Haven, NY Swimming Pool Inspection

Swimming Pool Inspection Services was called out to inspect an inground swimming pool that had incurred severe damage during the winter months. Our inspector spoke with the insured, who stated that the diving board had been damaged; in addition, he expressed concern over a possible leak in the pool, and asked for a pressure test on the lines of the pool.

Swimming Pool Inspection Observations

During the inspection, our inspector made the following observations:

• The pool equipment had been stored for the winter and was in good shape.
• The pool cover had been repaired in the past.
• The liner had a hole in it.
• There was a crack underneath the diving board.
• The water line was below the lines and above the drain.

Analysis of Pool Damage

After conducting a thorough analysis, our inspector drew the following conclusions based on what he saw:

• The crack in the diving board appeared to be from age, and had no relation to the storm.
• Though the cover was previously repaired, it should have been able to take the pressure of a usual snow load. This past winter was exceptional. The snow on the ground did not have a chance to melt before new snow piled on top. The weight of snow on the cover was too much, which caused the damage to the cover.
• The pool was in definite need of a new liner as well as a new safety cover, as the damage to the old cover had weakened the durability. As mentioned above, the cover has already been repaired and another repair would not have been ideal.
• While the structural integrity of the pool remained intact, our inspector emphasized that necessary repairs should be made as soon as possible, lest additional damage occurs.
• The home owner expressed an interest in pressurizing the plumbing lines, but our inspector did not feel that was necessary given the circumstances.

Cause of Loss in Pool Inspection

The excessive snow weight on the safety cover caused the springs of the safety cover to snap. The spring would have snapped with sufficient force to drive a hole in the liner. While homeowners are encouraged to sweep snow off of pool covers during the inter, this past winter was so harsh that doing so was not a possibility, and therefore the damage was not a result of homeowner negligence.