Adding Value to My Home

4 Ways To Keep Kids Safe Around Swimming Pools

23 March 2016

Irene Montgomery

Even though swimming pools are a great amenity to have around your home, they are also safety hazards that come into play when you have children at home. Drowning happens more often than you might think. Sadly, children ages 1-4 often end up drowning in their own yard, not somewhere else. To protect your children and prevent something like this from happening, you might want to get a pool fence installed. Consider implementing some of the following tips to keep your children safe and secure in your backyard.

Enclose Your Pool

When looking at fences for your pool, make sure you get one that encloses the entire pool. You want to enclose the pool without taking the rest of the backyard out of play. The only time the gate should be opened is when you plan on swimming.

Hire a Professional Installer

If you are having a fence put in, you need to hire a trained installation technician to do it for you. It isn't going to do any good to purchase a high-quality fence if you don't install it correctly. When looking for a fence, you need to hire someone who is experienced in installing fences. Ask what experience the installer has in putting in fences like yours. Check to see what their certifications are and what construction licenses they have.

Keep the Fence Maintained

Even with a fence in place, you will still need to have it maintained on a regular basis. Make sure all of the gates and locks are working properly. If you notice any gaps, you should have someone come take care of them quickly for you. Any areas that are damaged should be fixed promptly.

Gates Should Remain Locked

Now that the fence is in place, you need to make sure the gates can remain locked at all times. You don't want everyone being able to enter or exit the area. Since children are quite capable of opening gates and doors, you need child safety latches put on all of the entry points to the pool area to prevent them from getting injured. Self-locking gates are ideal for pools where young children are in the home. You can also install an alarm on the gate to alert you if someone opens the gate.

By following the tips above, you can make sure your family is safe and the pool area is off-limits until you are ready to use it. 

If you need help with pool maintenance, contact a local swimming pool repair expert.

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