A pool equipment enclosure is popular for hiding away all the unsightly gear you use to clean and maintain your swimming pool and spa. You could store the equipment inside your house or garage, if you have the room, but you really need the equipment close to your pool for easy access.
Pool equipment is not attractive to look at and many pool owners want to hide or store away the equipment. A swimming pool equipment enclosure will not only hide the equipment but will protect it from the sun, wind and rain. There are many options for hiding your pool gear including fences, screens, fake rocks, cabinets, boxes and garden sheds.
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Pool Equipment Enclosure
There are many options to hide away your pool gear. The simplest is to purchase a box or garden shed and place it in your garden. If you are a handyman you will probably want to construct an enclosure yourself.
Landscaping & Plants
One of the easiest and least expensive ways to hide the pool equipment 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.
Garden Sheds
Maybe you want to completely enclose the pool equipment to protect it from the weather and keep your backyard tidy.
The cheapest option for swimming pool equipment enclosures is to purchase a small garden shed. These sheds come in a kitset package and are very easy to assemble. There are sheds made with a variety of materials such as wood, plastic or metal.
Place the shed over a concreted area or pave the ground underneath.
The added advantage of a garden shed is that you can store pool cleaning equipment, pool toys, outdoor furniture and gardening tools in the shed.
Fences & Screens
If you are a home handyman you can build a small decorative fence around the pool equipment to keep it out of sight. 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 or lattice rather than metal or timber.
Another way is to erect a section of pool fence around the equipment and use opaque glass or pre-fabricated vinyl fence panels to hide the equipment.
How to Build a Pool Equipment Enclosure
If you have a smaller budget, there are many options available for building your own customized pool equipment enclosure. There are many plans available online that you can use to do-it-yourself and build an enclosure to fit your backyard.
A customized swimming pool equipment enclosure is normally designed as a box with a lid. The lid has a hinge or piston strut to hold it open while you access the equipment. Other designs can be a garden shed, fake rock that lifts up, seat with storage underneath or large storage cabinet. Purchasing some plans is easy and ensures you have a proven design to follow so you know it will turn out right.
Note: 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.
Wood Construction
The most popular, easiest and least expensive building material to work with is wood.
It’s easy for a home handyman to construct a wood pool equipment enclosure that is painted or stained to match your existing décor.
Metal Construction
The second most popular construction material is metal.
A home handyman can cut and mount color bonded steel panels onto a metal frame to create a customized pool equipment enclosure. Build the enclosure to house all your pool gear, gardening equipment, lawnmower, power tools, etc.
Step 1: Measure the Pool Equipment
Measure your pool equipment to determine the dimensions of the pool equipment enclosure. Place all the equipment in a pile to understand what volume your enclosure will need to hold. It’s always better to build it a little larger than necessary to make sure it will store any additional equipment in future.
Step 2: Purchase the Materials
Purchase online or visit your local hardware store to source the materials.
Many hardware stores provide a cutting service if you don’t feel competent to cut the materials yourself. Make sure you give them the most accurate measurements you can.
Remember that if you building with wood you will need to paint or stain the timber to protect it from the weather.
Step 3: Measure & Cut
Measure and cut the materials to your plan.
I usually measure three times before I make a cut to ensure it is right.
Step 4: Construction
Follow your plan and fit together the pieces. I recommend using screws to assemble timber or metal.
Timber needs to be pre-drilled to create a hole to prevent the timber splitting when screwing it together.
When fitting together metal sheets on a metal frame use self-taping metal screws. These metal screws have a drill head to cut into the metal making it easy it attach two pieces of metal together.
Step 5: Paint or Stain
If you built your new pool equipment enclosure from timber you will need to stain or paint to seal the wood and protect it from the weather.
Choose a color or stain to match your home décor.
Read our article on How to Clean Your Swimming Pool
Conclusion
Building a swimming pool equipment enclosure is a simple way to hide unsightly pool equipment and chemicals. It’s also a good way to protect your pool equipment from the weather. Many pool owners choose to build a larger enclosure to store all their pool accessories and toys. And the cost of building the enclosure will be easily recouped by protecting your equipment to make it last longer.