What changes when the job is on a La Zagaleta plot
The first issue is logistics, and it’s settled before anyone sets foot on the plot. The AISI 316L stainless steel axle travels in one piece, and on a long pool that means a single length of more than ten metres, which has to clear the gatehouse and get up private roads with tight bends. We arrange it with estate security well in advance — vehicle registration, working hours and the names of the crew — exactly as any other trade working inside would.
The second is the pool itself. The pools here are large and many are free-form, with the water split into two bodies, or with a Roman end or built-in steps down one side. A slatted cover needs two parallel bearing points and a constant width between them, so on pools like these we measure the usable rectangle and, where the shape doesn’t allow one, we run the axle along the straight section and finish the remainder in the coping.
And the third is that on plots this size a visible roller is rarely a problem: there’s more than enough room to work it into the surroundings. Where the owner wants to see nothing at all, a submerged roller sits in a chamber below the waterline, so there’s nothing on show at the poolside at all.