As the summer comes to a close and fall weather sets in, many people begin thinking about pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween costumes, and when the first snow flurry will appear. As you sit curled up in a blanket, watching the leaves fall, have you ever daydreamed about your ideal pool? It seems only natural to focus your thoughts on the impending cooler months, the latest jacket trends, or which store will offer the best deal on wrapping paper, but take a minute to lose yourself in paradise: what would your dream pool look like?

Main drains and skimmers are used to help filter the water in your swimming pool. The two main drains, if you have them, should be located in the deepest section of your swimming pool about three feet apart. Skimmers are located on the swimming pool wall.

If you have a prevailing wind in your area, you will want at least one skimmer on a wall opposite from the prevailing wind.

Main drains are not required in an inground swimming pool, however, they are strongly recommended and can be extremely useful in some circumstances.

The advantages of main drains are to give you the ability to drain the water from your pool without the use of a sump pump. This is useful when replacing your pool liner. Main drains are also helpful in the filtering of water and dirt from the bottom of the pool.

If you choose not to put two main drains in your swimming pool, you are required to have two skimmers.

You might ask "Why am I required to have two?" The answer to this question is two-fold. First, there is the Virginia Graeme Baker Safety Act which requires two suction points in your pool for safety vacuum release reasons.

The second reason is simply in order to provide your pump with plenty of water. In addition to providing the pump with more water, having two skimmers will help circulate and filtrate your swimming pool water. The baskets located in your skimmers will catch leaves, small twigs, bugs, and other debris.

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The exhibit show case will be held November 12-14 and will feature over 550 manufacturers, distributors and representatives from around the world. They will be displaying products, services and equipment for the pool, spa and backyard industry. Along with such a great line of exhibitors, this event features top notch educational seminars hosted by APSP, NSPF, NPC, Genesis 3, and many more from November 9-14. These seminars include certification prep courses and certification programs.

A key part of this event is the opportunity to network and create business relationships that will last a lifetime. The main events held this year includes a welcome party, Saber BBQ bash, APSP town meeting, Genesis 3 winemaker dinner and a treasure quest that will feature some great prizes.

Not only are we we are excited to attend some powerful educational seminars and review new products, we are also excited that attending this show will give us an opportunity to bring wealths of new information and revolutionary products to you - the customer!

Perhaps you are in the process of measuring your swimming pool, have come across the corners, and you're not sure how to measure them. Or perhaps you're getting ready to measure your swimming pool and just want to research how to do it. Either way, this short guide is about how to properly measure the corners and determine the corner radius of your inground swimming pool.

There are several ways to measure and check your corner radius measurements. We will be illustrating the most common method, "Squaring the Corners". We always recommend starting with this measurement method as it is the easiest. In this method, you square the corners to find the radius.

To begin, follow an imaginary line past both sides of the radius until those lines intersect. See the photo for reference.

Once you have the corner squared, you then measure from the start of the radius to the point where the two imaginary lines intersect. This is your pool's corner radius measurement.

To double-check the corner radius measurement from above, you can use the length of the straight walls of the pool. Basic mathematics will tell us that the Straight Wall + (Radius x 2) must equal the total width and length of your swimming pool.

For example; You have a 16' x 32' Rectangle Pool with 2' radius corners. The long side measures 32'. Since this pool has 2' radius corners, then the math to check the corner radius would be 32' - 2'- 2' = 28'. So 28' would be the measurement of the long wall between the corners. The short side math would be 16' - 2' - 2' = 12'. So 12' would be the measurement of the short wall between the corners. If the measurement you calculated for the straight section of wall between the corners is not correct, you will need to re-measure the radius to confirm it is correct. See the photo below for an example.

Are you still nervous that you may have measured wrong?

No problem, there are a few more ways to double check the radius measurement. In the photo below, we listed the most common radius corners. The photo provides two additional measurements you can use to check your radius corner measurements.

To clarify some of the terms in the photo; The perimeter of the radius is the arc of the radius. You will need a flexible tape measure to get this measurement and will simply measure the total distance of the arc. The chord is a straight line connecting two points, the start of the radius on both sides.

Is your radius uncommon?

We can help here too. Let's go over how to calculate both the Perimeter of the Radius and the Chord of the Radius.

To calculate the perimeter of a radius, multiply your radius measurement in inches times 1.5705 to give you the approximate perimeter measurement. For example; a 2'-6" radius converted to inches is30". So the perimeter measurement of a 2'6" radius would be 30" x 1.5705 = 47.115".

To calculate the chord of a radius, multiply the radius measurement in inches times 1.4142. For example; a 2' radius converted to inches is 24". So the chord of a 2' radius would be 24" x 1.4142 = 33.9408. *As shown in the photo above, you may round this measurement to nearest hundredth of inch 33.94".

We hope this guide has helped you measure the radius of your swimming pool's corners. If you require additional assistance, feel free to contact us!

When choosing your inground liner, you will need to know how to convert Decimals(Feet) to Inches.

In this blog we will explain how to convert a measurement that is in decimal (feet) to inches or even down to the eighth of an inch. Don't know what decimal (feet) is? Have you ever seen a measurement in feet yet it is not a whole number? For example, 4.62'. This is a measurement in decimal (feet). Sometimes you need to know what the .62 part of the measurement is. That is what this blog is for, how to convert that decimal amount into inches, even down to an eighth of an inch.

As a quick reference before we start, most measurements required when measuring for a vinyl swimming pool liner should be rounded to the nearest inch, however, in some cases you may want or need the measurement to be more precise.

Here is a quick and simple reference on converting inches to feet and rounding to the nearest inch. This is a great tool when you need to calculate square feet or add measurements together using a calculator.

1" ?. .08 2" ?. .17 3" ?. .25 4" ?. .33 5" ?. .42 6" ?. .50

7" ?. .58 8" ?. .67 9" ?. .75 10" ?. .83 11" ?. .92 12" ?. 1.0

This can also be done by multiplying the inches times .08333 (1/12th), this will give you the exact number, not the rounded number. This can also be very helpful if you have a measurement in inches and want to quickly convert to feet. For example, you have a pool that you measured the total width as 150" you can multiply 150 x .08333 which equals 12.4995 or 12'-6".

Now that you understand how to convert inches to feet, here's a chart and we'll further explain how to calculate down to the eighth of an inch. In the chart below, the math is done for you to make this as easy as possible. If you are like most of us, you want to better understand the math involved in doing this calculation, so we explain the process and provide an example below the chart.

Now that you have reviewed the conversion chart, here's an example.

Let's assume you have a measurement in decimal form which equals 33.5528' and want to convert it to Feet and Inches instead of just Feet.By looking at the chart above we know 33.5528' is 33' 6-5/8", but how do we get this conversion. It is done using a two-step process, see below?

• Step 1: Take the numbers to the right of the decimal and divide by .08333 (1/12th). This will give you the whole inches to the left of the decimal and the amount less than an inch to the right. For this example, you will take 0.5528 of 33.5528' and divide by .08333 which will equal 6.6339. So now we have 33' - 6.6339"

• Step 2: To determine what the eighths of an inch will be, simply divide the amount from right of the decimal by .125 and round the result to the nearest whole number. This gives you the top of the eighth fraction. From our example, this would be .6339/.125 = 5.0712. Round down to 5. So the fraction will be 5/8".

Our final result for this conversion is 33' 6-5/8"

THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT

The photo below was taken from a free iPhone app named "Decimals and Fractions by Grand Unified, LLC." This app is a very simple program that will quickly convert a fraction to decimal or decimal to fraction and even shows the remaining amount in plus or minus form. The program will also reduce the fraction. As shown in the photo below, we used the app to calculate step 2. So, whether you prefer using the chart above, a standard calculator, or an iPhone app you should be able to convert a decimal amount to inches and to an eighth of an inch.

If you are now ready to order your liner, you will need some of these resources!

Measurement and Quote Form 1 is required for all pool shapes and sizes. Click the link below to download Form 1.

• Liner Measurement Form 1

Measurement and Quote Form 2 is required if you are ordering a liner for an L-shape pool or if your pool has Vinyl Covered Steps. NOTE: Form 1 must also be completed and attached to Form 2. Click the link below to download Form 2.

• Liner Measurement Form 2

If you are unsure of how to measure your pool, please view our detailed measuring instructions or have a pool professional measure your pool to ensure correct and complete measurements are recorded. Click the link below to download Liner Measuring Instructions.

• Standard Pool - Measuring Instructions

Freeform pools such as a Kidney or Deer Creek pool are very common but require more measurements than a rectangle pool. To ensure we create a liner that fits properly for your freeform pool, we require you to complete an A-B Point to Point Measurement Form. We have made instructions available so that you can complete the form yourself. Click the links below to download the A-B Point to Point Measurement Form and Instructions.

• Freeform Pool - Measuring Instructions
• Freeform Pool - Measurement Form