I’m decommissioning my in-ground pool and wanted to cover it with a safety cover like Loop Loc. I called Loop Loc to help select the right type of cover — solid or mesh — but was told that their covers require the pool to be filled because otherwise it can collapse.
The question is if there is another safety cover that can be used for an empty pool? Decking it over would be expensive and am looking for less expensive approach.
Be very careful about how you deal with this. Decommissioning a pool is not a simple job, and removing an in-ground pool usually requires an engineer to sign off on the plan and you end up with a very big headache if you try to pull off a DIY hack job.
You should also not leave the pool empty. Frost in the winter, and the water table otherwise, produce buoyancy forces that can cause the pool to lift out of the ground and make an even bigger mess for you to deal with. A pool is meant to be underwater and its surfaces, finish, and structure will continue to deteriorate if it is not maintained and operated. The costs to fix it will just get bigger. If you're going to cover it, you need to either keep water in it and maintain it or you need to permanently decommission the pool and fill it or remove it.
A complete removal is the most expensive option, but if you do a complete removal properly, with an engineered plan, you gain two things :
The alternative is to simply fill the pool. This requires at least breaking up or drilling the bottom of the pool to allow drainage and filling it with backfill material. Even in this case you will likely require a permit from your city to do this work. A pool filled in such a manner must be disclosed when selling the house and it will negatively affect the value of the house. If you bury a pool improperly and hide that information when selling you open yourself up to rather unpleasant liability (even for yourself if you don't sell and the rotting, badly buried pool causes erosion that, say, threatens the foundation of your home - your insurers will not forgive your errors). In any case, there will be local regulations that you must follow when filling the pool so be certain that you understand your responsibilities before starting.
The best option here is to consult professionals.
If you are really decommissioning it, a truckload of stone (or multiple truckloads of stone) will do nicely and comparatively inexpensively. Ain't nobody going to fall into it or drown in it.
If you have doubts about ever using it again (or some future homeowner doing so) then leaving water and freeze damage prevention (if a freezing climate) pillows in it with a cover over is a lot more easily reversible.
Probably the easiest method to deal with a swimming pool that is taken out of service and not deconstructed is to fill it up with dirt after opening large holes in the bottom for drainage. Leaving a large pool shell in the ground with nothing inside of it is not recommended as it could pop up in case of very wet ground or in freezing conditions.
A cover over an empty pool shell will not solve the problems mentioned above.
May not suit your needs, but if you could find a trampoline just smaller than the pool, it can be fitted and secured to the concrete.
That way bouncers (trampoliners?) could get on without having to go up a ladder.
Downside the pool below will still catch rainwater, so a sump pump could be required. Or a compromise with the other suggestions. Also depending on what's around the pool you may wish for extra crashpads or a style vertical-side walls.
This solution does serve the request for a "cover" and it could carry the weight of an average adult safely.
If there's a chance the pool will be re-used, fill it with stacks of blow-up swimming pools, boats, structures, and any and all other large inflatables you can find via craigslist, then a safety cover will have sufficient support. Search "inflatables" on Google images for lots of examples.
