Stock Tank Pool Rolling Cover

After the last few years of having -and loving- our stock tank pool, I realized it was time to upgrade our pool cover to something a little more secure than the soft covers we'd been replacing year-after-year.

With two precocious toddlers, a hard cover became a lot more important as well, but I also wanted something that the older kids could manage on their own. So, I did a lot of Pinterest pinning, shopping around, and eventually landed on a cover that combines cedar planks with yoga mats to make a lightweight cover that won't sink.

Supplies

I started with some simple supplies: 20 cedar 1x4s, 2 4x8 yoga mats at 1/4" thick, 1" exterior screws, and exterior-rated finishing washers.  I had intended to make this one single cover, with a drainage gap in the middle where the yoga mats meet, but partway through set up decided to make the cover in two parts instead of one.  It's still too hard for the little kids to maneuver, but manageable for the big kids to roll the cover back and use the pool (don't worry: we have very clear boundaries on pool use for everyone's safety).

Using these, I also have an easy to maintain pool that gives me good access to the pump and filter (since I use a primed loop system instead of a drilled filter).  The ability to roll the cover back from the middle makes this so much easier.  For a cooling dip when it's warm, we don't even feel the eneed to fully remove the covers at all.

Assembly

Cover assembly was very straightforward!  I started by laying the boards across the pool and marking the ends of each where they'd need to be trimmed.  From there, I should have numbered the boards to get them back in the right order... but I didn't.  I proceeded to cut the ends down.

With the ends cut, I returned the boards to the top of the pool.  Then I laid the yoga mats on top, and I used the exterior screws and finishing washers to secure the mats to the boards.  Then I used my good -not fabric- scissors and trimmed down the drooping corners of the yoga mats. The newly-minted pool covers were now upside down, so with an assist I got these flipped over and relaid on the pool.

Overall, this has been a huge anxiety-reducer with our backyard.  Having an unsecured pool (even though it was empty until we had the cover) with our little kids who both love the outside and love water made for a stressful winter.  Now, we can get settled in and enjoy our summer!  Next year: it wouldn't be a surprise if we add a little pool deck.

Supplies:
Cedar boards: Lowe's
Yoga Mats: Amazon
Exterior screws: Lowe's 
Finishing washers: Lowe's