You have a beautiful swimming pool, spa, patio and fully landscaped backyard. But what about the unsightly pool pump motor, filter and plumbing pipes? Read this article on the best swimming pool filter enclosures to hide away the ugly filtration equipment.
Swimming pool filters are not the most attractive things to look at and many pool owners want to hide the equipment. Although pool filtration equipment is designed for outdoors and doesn’t have to be covered most people don’t want to see it.
Swimming pool filter enclosures will not only hide the equipment but will protect it from the sun, wind and rain. There are many options for hiding swimming pool filters including plants, walls, fences, screens, boxes and garden sheds.
Table of Contents
Best Swimming Pool Filter Enclosures
Landscaping & Plants
One of the easiest and least expensive ways to hide the filter is to plant a garden in front of it. Select plants that will grow up to 1 meter (3 ft.) high so that they just block out the equipment. You don’t want the plants to become a gardening maintenance issue so select evergreen shrubs. Some people like to create a small hedge that they can shape with hedge trimmers.
If you have the room in your backyard you can create a small mound in front of the filtration equipment to hide it. Cover the mound with small ground cover plants or ornamental grasses. This also deflects the pump noise away from the pool.
Walls
One popular way to screen a pool pump is to build a small wall with decorative paving blocks. Simply stack the retaining wall blocks around the filter and pump to the height of the filter. Purchase these paving blocks at garden centers and hardware stores. There is no need to mortar the blocks together. Stack the blocks up to a height of 1 meter (or 3 ft.) and they are very stable.
Fences & Screens
If you are a home handyman you can build a small decorative fence around the pump and filter. Usually you only need to build 2 sides so that you can access the equipment from the third open side.
The simplest way to build it is to purchase three metal swimming pool fence posts. Bolt them down to the concrete (or concrete them into the ground) and screw timber or metal palings horizontally onto the posts. Some people prefer to use vinyl panels rather than metal or timber.
Another way is to erect a section of pool fence around the equipment and use opaque glass panels to hide the pump.
Purchase pre-fabricated vinyl fence panels if you are not a home handyman.
Garden Sheds
Maybe you want to completely enclose the pool equipment to protect it from the weather and reduce the pump noise.
The cheapest option for swimming pool filter enclosures is to purchase a small garden shed. These sheds come in a kit set package and are very easy to assemble. Sheds are made with a variety of materials such as wood, plastic or metal.
Place the shed over the equipment and fasten it down to the concrete or ground. Ensure you have access through the doors to service the filter.
Make the shed more sound proof by sticking sound proof material to the inside of the walls and roof.
The added advantage of a garden shed is that you can store pool cleaning equipment, pool toys and gardening tools in the shed.
Customized Swimming Pool Filter Enclosures
If you have a larger budget, there are many options available for professionally customized swimming pool filter enclosures. These enclosures are designed and constructed to perfectly fit into your filtration space and match your existing décor. The structure hides the equipment and provides adequate ventilation.
Many customized swimming pool filter enclosures are designed as a box with a lid. The lid has a hinge or piston strut to hold it open while you inspect the equipment. Build your box large enough to store pool cleaning equipment, chemicals, spare parts, pool toys and even pool furniture.
Read our article on How to Sound Proof Your Pool Pump
Swimming Pool Filter Enclosure Design
There are some important issues that you need to consider when designing a swimming pool filter enclosure.
- Do not fully enclose heat pumps and heaters as they need ventilation to operate properly. Building solid walls around this equipment is acceptable when the top is open. If you are constructing a fully enclosed structure around heaters you will need to ensure the walls are built with gaps to allow airflow through the structure. Do not try to sound proof a water heater. You can sound proof the pump motor with a separate container.
- Select or construct a pool filter enclosure that allows for maintenance to the equipment. There must be adequate room around the equipment to open the filter and clean the cartridge or replace sand in a sand filter unit. You must be able to access the saltwater chlorinator to clean or replace the cell. You will need to access the pressure gauge, pump basket and valves.
- Do not store pool chemicals next to the pump and filter. These chemicals can cause rust to metal components. Store the pool chemicals in another location that is cool, dry and where children cannot access the chemicals.
- Protect the power cables from the weather and ensure the power points are weather proof. There must be a high speed circuit breaker installed in the meter box to protect against a short circuit or equipment failure.
- Construct a pool cleaning equipment storage box next to the pool filtration system. There’s no point hiding the filter when you have unattractive pool cleaning equipment and pool toys lying around the backyard. The storage box will not only tidy your backyard but will protect your equipment and make it last longer.
Conclusion
Building a swimming pool filter enclosure is a simple way to hide unsightly motors, filter equipment and plumbing pipes. It’s also a good way to sound proof the pump motor and protect it from the weather. Many pool owners choose to build a larger enclosure to store the cleaning equipment and pool toys. And you will easily recoup the cost of the enclosure by protecting your equipment to make it last longer.
