Oval Pool Installation With Gladon Foam

by Scott Peters
( Emmaus PA)

Great site. I'm replacing an overlap liner in a 15x30 above ground pool. I'm using Gladon pool cove with track clip, Gladon wall foam, Gladon foam adhesive (4 cans) and an Armour Shield bottom. I have a few questions.

1. The cove isn't seated against the walls at the back bends. I cut the 6" piece from the cove before installing. Will this seat as the pool is filled?

2. How heavy do you apply the wall foam adhesive? Would you apply early am before the sunniest part of the day?

3. Would you tape the Armour Shield to the cove. And what kind of tape would you use?

4. Do you put sand up onto the cove to achieve a 2" depth where the straps run across at the back bends?

Thanks, Scott Peters

Hi Scott.

It sounds like you are going all the way with this installation, and I will try to help you out.

I have never used the adhesive so reading the directions and asking questions of the store selling the product, or the manufacturer, would be the best bet.

You do want the brace assemblies well covered in sand. This will probably bring the sand up at least half way up the cove, that is OK. The cove is protection against a cove wash out, nothing else. You can cover it if need be.

I never tape the top edge of the cove, they seat themselves as the pool fills. I tape all of the seams and use duct tape.

I'm sure I would tape the final base shield to the wall, or the top of the cove, it makes sense to do so.

Whatever it takes to hold all of this in place is what I would do, with duct tape. I do everything with duct tape, don't you?

Gladon Pool Cove Question

by Chris
(NY)

I will start by apologizing for the length of my post, but also to provide my sincere THANK YOU for the abundance of information and help that your site has thus far provided me in my first AGP installation.

I am installing a 21'round Trevi pool with a 52" wall. I have a 52" liner, and I am using the Gladon peel and stick wall cove. The issue that I am having is that when I install the liner, and remove wrinkles, I am finding that there is still a significant gap between the liner and the wall base. This gap appears to be anywhere from 6-8". The gap between the liner and the wall higher up on the wall is about 1-2". So, my question has two parts:

1. Is it normal that there is at least somewhat of a space between the liner and the wall prior to filling the pool with water? I am imagining that the liner should stretch somewhat when it is filled with water. Or, should the liner fit right up against wall and base cove before any water is added?

2. The Gladon pool cove only provides a 4" x 4" cove. The liner installation instructions clearly state that the cove should be double that (8"). I am wondering if others have run into this issue.

When I previously started filling the pool I noticed that after adding about 10" of water, the wall started buckling in one area. I have since removed all but about 2" of water. I am hypothesizing that this is occurring because the liner can not stretch enough to alleviate the downward pressure that the liner is exerting on the sidewall of the pool. My thought is to use sand to build the cove up to reduce this gap. However, prior to doing this work, I want to see if you agree that this might alleviate this issue, as well as to determine how much I might want to build that cove up.

Hi Chris.

I would much rather have the liner a little on the tight side, like yours, than have one that is loose and baggy.

The Gladon pool cove should be fine the way it is. At least I would only change it as a last resort. I would first try filling the pool during the hottest part of the day with as much sun as possible on the liner. This should soften it up enough to stretch in without pulling the wall down.

If that does not work you could always build up the cove, but only if you have to.

Pool Cove and Foam Pads

by Judy

I have recently purchased my first above ground pool and am planning on installing on cement. What would be the very best pad to put under it?

How about the styrofoam? I want a good one so that it will last several years.

I am planning on purchasing the peel n stick cove, will that work or should I purchase another type?

I am planning to put it up sometime next week, a quick response would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance, Judy

Hi Judy.

For a concrete installation I prefer the preformed pool cove that snaps into the bottom rail as opposed to the sticky back foam. The snap in cove stays in place much better and is easier to work with.

If your concrete is smooth a basic foam pool pad will be fine. They are thin but do give a real nice feel to the pool base. They are the perfect amount of cushion for your feet. Because they are thin a rough surface underneath them will probably show through the liner. So a rough concrete floor will leave the bottom of the liner rough.

If that is the case 4 x 8 sheets of 1" styrofoam would work just fine. If you are using this type of cove you could cut it to fit all the way to the edge of the pool and use the pool cove to cover the rough edges. In this case, since the cove will placed an inch above the bottom track, use the sticky backed cove and just stick it to the wall.

No matter how you do it, use plenty of duct tape to cover all seams and hold everything in place.

Pool Cove and Foam Pads

Foam Cove Molding

by Jim
(Vernon, TX)

We are installing a Wilbar 18' x 33' buttress-free above ground pool. The pool structure is completed. We have installed the optional gorilla pad, foam wall padding, and foam cove molding. We have placed and compacted 2" to 2 1/2" of sand in the bottom of the pool.

On top of the sand, we've installed 3/4" foam insulation board so we'll have a nice smooth surface. My concern, now, is that there appears to be only about 3" of the cove molding above the surface of the insulation board.

Is this 3" a sufficient amount of cove to protect the liner?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi Jim.

When using foam I usually install the cove over top of it. The cove tends to cover any rough edges between the foam and the wall. At least when I install foam, there is a gap and plenty of rough edges. I stick all the scraps and pieces into this area and install the cove over top of it.

The only cove that works in this type of situation is the kind that has the sticky tape on the back. The type with the molding on the back, the stuff that fits into the bottom track, does not work on top of the cove. It needs to be inserted into the bottom track, like it was designed to.

With that type of cove installed your foam needs to be cut to fit very carefully. It should even have a beveled edge to fit up snug to the cove. If this has been done there is no problem with only a small amount of cove sticking up above the foam. The height of the cove is not that big of deal. Just be sure there are no gaps between the cove and the foam, gaps the liner could fall down into. Using Duct Tape over the area where they join might help if you do have small spaces.

The pool cove is only to keep the liner off the pool structure, like bottom rails and footplates. The cove also prevents the liner from washing out from under the bottom rail. The height is not important.

If your pool came with a beaded liner you are probably better off with the least amount of cove as possible. Beaded liners can easily be too big for the pool so I would start with a small cove. It sounds to me like you will be fine the way you have it.