Prepare to Park Your Pool Poles on Pegs!

It’s no secret. The vast majority of home pools in Florida have a screened enclosure! And for a myriad of reasons. They help keep out mosquitoes, leaves, trash, dogs, uninvited swimmers and creepy neighbors. The last two reasons earn the “pool cage” a gold star. But here’s another great use for the cage’s aluminum structure.

Every pool requires regular maintenance, which in turn requires pool tools. One of the staples of the pool tool world is the pool pole which you typically outfit with several attachments – a leaf net, a pool brush, perhaps a vacuum attachment. This makes the pool pole earn the rank of “cool pool tool”. To use it well, one should attend cool pool tool school. OK that was really bad, so sorry, it just slipped. So I must atone for my poor pool tool school quip with this neat Instructable on how that pool cage combined with a few select peg hooks can easily be a docking station for those cool pool tools.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

1 – Aluminum frame screened enclosure (pool optional, but highly recommended)

6 - 8” duel-peg style peg hooks

1 - Cordless drill

1 - Center punch

1 - 1/4” drill bit (unless you break it, then you’ll need 2)

1 – 3/8” drill bit

Step 2: Survey Your Pool Cage

They’re all different. No two pool cages are exactly alike. So you’ll need to survey your own and pick out the right place to set up your pool pole palace. You will also be able to stash your vacuum hoses there too, so pick one of the horizontal frame elements that is at least as long as the collapsed pool pole with an attachment on it, and in a place with less traffic and not particularly in the direct line of sight so as not to disturb the pool’s feng shui too much. Feng shui is ancient Chinese for ‘Put your pool stuff out of sight, or at least have a place to stow it neatly’.

Step 3: Prepare Peg Places

If you’ll be stowing some pool vac hoses on the pegs too, you’ll want to place the pegs about every 18” or so, depending on how droopy your vac hoses might be. In my case, I decided to use six pegs for an 8 foot pole with attachments, including the pool vac hose sections.

Using a pencil, mark where the center of each peg hook should go on the horizontal aluminum fame. If your frame piece is new and shiny, you might need to use a Sharpie.

Mark the vertical center of the aluminum frame piece at each of the peg hook locations. The center of the peg hooks should be aligned with the center of the aluminum frame. This is important as it will help keep all the peg hooks exactly in-line with each other.

Step 4: Drill Baby, Drill!

Drill a 1/4" hole exactly ½” each side of each peg’s center mark.

Hint: Use a Center Punch before starting to drill. This will help keep your bit from drifting away from your target.

Clean off any leftover burrs (I usually just rotate a 3/8” (or larger) drill bit by hand a few times around in the smaller hole and, voila, burrs are gone.)

Step 5: The Pegs Go In

Now insert the pegs in the holes. They should all be in a neat row. If any are out of line - too high or too low, consider re-drilling holes for the peg off to the side a little and inline with the other pegs.

Tip: You can optionally paint the pegs the same color as the aluminum screen frame before inserting them into the peg holes . This refines the look to the final project.

Step 6: Stow the Poles 'n Hoses

Your pole(s) and vac hose sections should now lay nicely across the row of, what are now, pool pole pegs. You can also hang any accessories from the pegs. What, no hole in the connecting arm of that accessory? Well remember that 3/8” drill bit you use to de-burr the small holes – introduce the end of that hole-less pool pole accessory to your little friend, the 3/8” bit gripped in the fearsome jaws of your cordless drill, and it should soon comply with your wishes to hang nicely from one of the pegs.

With all the pool poles, vac hoses and accessories hanging from the pool pole pegs the universe is back in order and the feng shui is preserved. Now if someone cleans the pool and doesn’t put everything back where it belongs, then school the fool on the new cool pool tool rule.

Cheers!