no-drill pool safety fence

February 20, 2008 1:37 PM

I want to put in a safety fence around my pool, but do not want to drill into the concrete deck. Help me find a product, or build something that would preserve my pool deck.

We re-landscaped the backyard all Asian/Tropical last spring with absolutely no idea that we were going to be having a child. But we are. One of life's pleasant surprises. The unpleasant surprise is the realization that we need to put in a safety fence around the pool. I would cry if we had to take a roto-hammer to our pristine new concrete deck. Cry. I have googled no-drill pool fences. I have searched the outerwebs for water filled fence bases. I can't be the only person who hates those standard issue nylon mesh aluminum pole pool fences . The perimeter of the pool is roughly 150-200ft. Buzzwords: safe, attractive, tropical, removable, concrete preserving. I am semi handy and have a flexible budget.

posted by SMELLSLIKEFUN to home & garden (15 comments total)

Install the fence around the concrete deck (if possible) and if the fence itself isn't very attractive plant bamboo around it (grows fairly fast and various varieties are good for a range of climate).
posted by estronaut at 1:57 PM on February 20, 2008

I know it seems awful, but this company shows only 1 1/4" holes drilled every 3 feet. And the fence looks nicer than the standard pool barriers.

For attractive and tropical, this company makes cool bamboo fencing, although I'll guess it is probably not too cheap.

Side note: This question showed up on the first page of Google when searching for "no drill pool fence" less than 20 minutes after posting. Scary.
posted by shinynewnick at 2:02 PM on February 20, 2008

It doesn't fit the "removable" bill, but you could make a vine fence with a bunch of heavy concrete pots, metal stakes and wire or string. It would be ugly, but not for long...those buggers grow pretty quick. It'll look great in winter, too.
posted by nevercalm at 2:02 PM on February 20, 2008

How about something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:8499720-R1-017-7SplitRail_wb.jpg

Built out of material like this:
http://www.bambooworld.com/bamboo%20products.htm

Any sort of fence would be reasonably self-supporting if you do it in a zig-zag pattern like the split rail above - more so if you can run bracing across the "points" of the zig-zag.

An alternative could be to build long, sturdy benches with tall backs that would act as a fence - if you created a "bin" underneath the seat of the bench, you could fill it with some sort of ballast to hold it in place.

Here's a sketch of my idea.
posted by davey_darling at 2:28 PM on February 20, 2008

Please don't plant bamboo. It's invasive and will take over your yard and your neighbors' yards -- unless you want to spend more time than you'll have trying to rein it in every single year.
posted by amtho at 2:48 PM on February 20, 2008

One thing to keep in mind is your fence needs to be "non climbable". You don't want to have anything with easy and convient hand and foot holds.
posted by Mitheral at 3:13 PM on February 20, 2008

I would cry if we had to take a roto-hammer to our pristine new concrete deck

Mate, if damage to concrete upsets you, just wait until your sweet new rugrat discovers plasterboard.

Just drill the goddam holes. You won't be removing the fence anyway.
posted by flabdablet at 3:55 PM on February 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

Okay. The next question is do we really need a safety fence?

And the next question would be, which is more Darwinian parents building a safety fence or children surviving without one?
posted by SMELLSLIKEFUN at 4:46 PM on February 20, 2008

I don't know what regulations exist where you live, but where I live it's actually illegal to operate a swimming pool without a standards-compliant child safety fence, even if it's in a locked yard and you have no children. Check your local laws.
posted by flabdablet at 5:01 PM on February 20, 2008

Yes, you MUST have the safety fence.
posted by HauteMama at 5:05 PM on February 20, 2008

We have the Protect-A-Child link that another poster gave. It's great and I really feel a lot better having it there.

Here's what's good about it--

1. It's not a big deal-- it's just small holes about every 3 feet or so. It is totally removable, not that we've ever removed it...

2. It isn't climbable. This is, IMO, a really big deal.


As far as "darwinian parenting"-- the problem isn't so much that kids that can't swim die in pools-- it's often kids that CAN swim who trip, hit their head, and drown. My wife's cousin's daughter did that-- didn't die, but had brain damage, etc.

Oh, and most important, ENJOY life with a pool and kids. We love our pool, and we live in New England!
posted by gregvr at 5:56 PM on February 20, 2008

Friends of mine did a beautiful glass panel installation similar to this one with the addition of tropical plant designs sandblasted into the glass. It has the nice added bonus of keeping the wind and wind-borne debris off the water. It's not a temporary installation but an enhancement to the garden in addition to being a safety piece.

Okay. The next question is do we really need a safety fence?

You might think you can get by without a pool fence, that you'll keep your eye on your kidlet at every second but the reality is, you can't. No parent can.

My house had a pool which couldn't be fenced or covered due to the proximity of the pool to the house. On several sides, the pool was less than 2' from the house: the house wrapped around the pool and in other parts, the pool wrapped around the house. There were 5 sets of French doors which lead out to the pool, plus two more doors from the house to the backyard. I bought this house solely because of the pool and its striking relation to the house.

When I was a kid, a playmate was discovered face-down in his family's koi pond. Due to the mammalian diving reflex, he was still alive when he was rescued after being underwater for 10 minutes. His ability for higher reasoning, however, did not make it out of that pond and he was severely impaired for the rest of his (brief) life. I never forgot him and when I discovered I was pregnant, I went into a mania to baby-proof my pool. Alas, no fence would fit without making it impossible to open the doors, no cover could get the necessary clearance to adequately cover the edges. I settled for putting latches at the very top of every door and telling myself I'd watch the kid like a hawk.

One day, shortly after my son started to be mobile, I caught him just as his diapered butt was disappearing through the doggie door. Heading straight for that damn pool. I grabbed him, hugged him tight enough to make us both cry and had the pool filled in by the following week.
posted by jamaro at 6:09 PM on February 20, 2008

Seriously, kid vs. concrete? I'm really surprised not to see a note from a mod saying a number of posts have been removed.

I think there's a reason that pool safety fences are ... mostly functional. Deviate much from that functionality and you introduce loopholes. You don't want it crawled over, you don't want it tipped over, you don't want it just-this-once sort-of closed while you get the margaritas.

You definitely want to give consideration to not just your kid, but to the kids of the parents who will be coming over to visit. Once when we were visiting someone in another state, we had about eight kids of various ages playing ditch'em in the back yard. I rounded a corner and before I knew it, I had slipped on a wet flagstone and ended up in their fish pond. Because the concrete sides were covered with algae, I only slipped further in as I struggled to climb out. The splash and my yell attracted virtually the entire party and someone pulled me out. I was nine or so, I could swim, it wasn't even that deep, but I was very wet and slimy -- and our hosts were mortified. It could have been one of the smaller kids. For the rest of the night, it was board games ....
posted by dhartung at 11:10 PM on February 20, 2008

Your child will not even be crawling for a little while yet. Take the time to find and install something you will like. Once you have a new baby, the very idea that the safety fence is unattractive will make you smile, not cry. And, yes, you absolutely must consider neighborhood kids who will find your pool irresistible. If your insurance company finds that you have an unprotected pool, they will consider cutting you off, and finding new homeowner's insurance is a nightmare that you don't even want to learn about. You should also investigate pool alarms.
posted by theora55 at 8:48 AM on February 21, 2008

Of course we will have a pool fence! And I am not suggesting that there is a price point, or aesthetic line in the sand, that I will not cross to make my pool safe. I was just hoping that a product existed that had eluded my search, but was known by a member of this community.
posted by SMELLSLIKEFUN at 9:04 AM on February 21, 2008