Pool Covers Made Easy: Maintenance Simplified
The swimming pool at Fancourt is covered with an imported white Roldeck pool cover. They are also available in grey, blue, black and a translucent material.
Automatic Pool Covers From Europe Are Making Their Mark in South Africa
By Kathryn Alexander
When an illustrious Swiss banker decided to set up his holiday home at Fancourt in George, he wanted an automatic pool cover just like the one he had back home in Switzerland. More specifically, he wanted the best – a Roldeck.
It may not be well known in the USA, but the Roldeck brand name is a pool cover name which is known and trusted by Europeans and it has an excellent reputation for being the Rolls Royce of pool covers. Since neither the architect nor the pool builders commissioned to build his swimming pool knew where to find a Roldeck, PowerPlastics, a Cape Town – and Johannesburg – based company which specializes in pool covers, was asked to undertake the sourcing and installation of the cover.
Local Builders and Installers
Needless to say they were successful in their search. The pool at Fancourt was constructed by local builders and PowerPlastics installed the cover. The results were spectacular. All the mechanical equipment was placed inconspicuously under the coping. so that the cover could roll up to one end of the pool and be stored, totally out of sight. The silent motor is engaged at the single press of a button. As soon as the cover is fully open or closed, the motor stops automatically, but you can stop the movement of the cover at any time. Wireless remote control is available, making it as easy to operate as locking or unlocking your car. This also means the swimming pool can be covered for shorter periods, making it more convenient to use. By covering the pool, there are considerable energy savings and less time needs to be spent on pool maintenance.
The Fancourt pool cover was installed more than a decade ago, and since then, the company has installed a number of Roldecks, although other installations have had the placement of the roller in other positions. Depending on the shape and configuration of the pool, covers may be installed above the ground, assembled in a recess, at the base of the pool or even below the floor of the pool.
Penthouse Pool
When Two Oceans Projects, project managers for a prestigious apartment block in Mouille Point, Cape Town, were designing their penthouses, Roldecks were planned for the pools on the top floor. PowerPlastics were asked to supply and install the covers.
The pools, which were built by Sundance Pools in February 2006, were meticulously planned and implemented. The contractors, Murray and Roberts ensured that all aspects of the pools were attended to, including a couple of layers of waterproofing. A Roldeck with an in-roller motor was placed at the base of each pool. The result is that the cover is hidden from view when not in use – and when it is in use, it provides the safety and security of a covered pool.
A Superior Technical Product
Roldeck, is proud to present their product to the South African marketplace through pool cover specialists PowerPlastics. Even though it is rather aspirational in its price tag, the Roldeck certainly offers a superior technical product and one with excellent aesthetics.
“When we sell a pool cover of this caliber, we sell a pool cover project,” a PowerPlastics spokesman said. “We link in with the owner,the architect and the pool builder in order to implement the project. These covers take the concept of pool covers into an aesthetic realm that the South African marketplace is only gradually becoming aware of and it is a truly amazing addition to the home-decoration and pool marketplace.”
The automatic Roldeck cover on the swimming pool at Mouille Point is in harmony with both the sea and the sky. Step onto the pool deck and you feel as if you could be on a ship at sea.
Wanting to know more about international products, he said he had been lucky enough to represent PowerPlastics at a European pool show in Barcelona and had the opportunity to do an in-depth study of pool covers on offer. He found that Europeans are certainly trend setters when it comes to covering pools and it is the norm in Europe to have a covered pool. Automatics are only one of the options.
A pool cover can offer benefits such as heating the pool, retaining heat, stopping water evaporation, and some covers also have safety features. For instance, the Roldeck is made from very strong, hard PVC slats which form a very sturdy structure. With a simple device that supports the slats along the sides of the pool, and a specially designed electro-mechanical locking device, you have a safe cover.
The fully automatic covers which the company installed first in 2003 have certainly come a long way to developing a market for those who want everything that opens and shuts at a push of a button..
