Cover Problems...Any Advice?

[fdegree]

The cover I have is the original one that came with the tub...so it is about 3-1/2 years old.  Not sure what brand it is.

The vinyl top has weathered.  It is no longer smooth...it seems to be dry, rough and slowly wearing away (poor preventive maintenance on my part).

2 of the corner tie down straps have broken, and 1 of the plastic latches has broken...the cover is currently being held down with 2 hurricane straps.

Otherwise it seems to be good condition...it is NOT waterlogged, and is still insulating the tub just fine.

So, what should I do...
1.  Leave it alone and let the hurricane straps hold it for the rest of its useful life.
2.  Try to repair the things that have broken...if so, how do I repair these?
3.  Get a new cover.
4.  Something else.

[Spa Guy Dave]

Lets face it, most spas covers have an average life expectancy of about 4-5 Years. You are not far from that point. The good news is you stated the cover is not water logged yet. You have Hurricane Straps, which are a nice heavy duty strap and will hold down the cover, probably better than the original factory straps. I would say ride it out for awhile and squeak out another year with this cover, maybe longer if it stays light and does not get water logged. When you do decide to purchase a new cover, shop around for a quality product, they are not all the same. There are some real cheap low quality covers floating around out there. We see many of them falling apart in less than a year. In most cases a better quality cover, will cost about 50-100 Dollars more. Hope this helps. Goodluck.

[ndabunka]

My OEM cover from Jacuzzi lasted about 5 years before I saw the same deterioration level as you have described (rough exterior but not water logged).  It took about another year before the vinyl cover was breached and water started seeping into the foam itself.  From there it was about 8 months before it had gotten bad enough that the weight became an issue.   What I am trying to say is that you probably have 18 months to 2 years before you would really need to replace it IMHO based on my experience.

[fdegree]

Thanks, that's what I was thinking...as long as it still doing it's job, and not waterlogged, let it go for a while.

Thanks for the life expectancy estimates, that is really helpful.

[Comotoes]

I've got about 10 years on my cover and while it's being held down by bungee cords and has some small holes in the vinyl, still shown no sign of waterlogging.  I spent the extra $$ for the closed-cell foam so I think that has something to do with that.  I have a real problem with both trashing a perfectly functional cover AND dropping $600 on a new one.  Last year I formed a sub-cover out of 2" Styrofoam on the idea of a water blanket but more substantial.  It's a bit of effort each time but pulls out and lays on the opened cover just fine and really helps keep the heat in.

One thing you didn't mention was your climate.  I think it's more critical up here in the north where we typically have sub-zero F. at night.  The reality of it is it depends on how much effort you want to put forth, how cold it gets and how much cash you want to throw at it.

To answer your repair question, you can fix up your straps without much difficulty with a sewing awl and heavy nylon thread.  I got one from Harbor Freight but you can also get them from your local crafts/sewing/fabric store.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

No, all covers are made out of the SAME foam. It's all closed cell. No one has EVER used an open cell foam.