Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

: The way it has worked for me with Rayner is that they offer special
: pricing to me while retaining a retail operation. They give enough
: trade discount that I can resell one of their covers and still make a
: decent profit, even though I sell the cover for less than someone can
: buy it retail out of Rayner.

Not unusual. Besides retailing covers we also wholesale to a lot of other companies. Some of them sell for less than we do............ but we also do a lot of "custom" work for larger customers, and what they sell for less, is also of a lessor quality.

: Personally, I
: take their R value figures with a grain of salt. I tell my customers
: that a 4 inch thick, two pound density foam will provide the same
: insulation regardless of manufacturer.

WELL DONE! Some of the exaggerating going on out there is approaching fraud.

: I have found their vinyl to be
: top notch,

For the most part, thicker vinyl shouldn't make a lot of difference. It would on a cushion your constantly sitting on, but not a spa cover. The most important thing is the UV resistance.

: Frankly, as long as the vapor barrier
: is solid, either aluminum or stainless steel will do a great job as
: long as it is rigid enough.

This is so true.......... but remains a selling point for many. The thing to remember is if the vapor barrier fails to the point of some C channel rusting, it wont be long till the foam is soaking up moisture like a sponge. I think the only time I've seen the C channel fail on and old cover was when the foam had already gained 150 pounds of water.

: I do not get much call for their more expensive Sunbrella fabric covers.

Just a little FYI, and I had to check to be sure. The added manufacturing costs to using sunbrella in place of vinyl are only about $150.

: I was also
: impressed with the thickness of the PE vapor barrier.

I've been saying for years that this is THE most important aspect of a cover.

I've been considering testing a 20 mil vinyl, something like what swimming pool liners are made of. the problem is we have a $20k computerized impulse sealer for sealing the PE and I don't think it will work properly on 20 mil material.

: John