pool closing in Albuquerque NM

[tshelton75]

Hello
Love this forum! You ALL have gotten me up to speed in caring for and maintaining my pool myself, i really appreciate it!
I rarely need to ask questions, as I can usually find the answers in the forum.
Closing my inground pool is a bit more specific and so I'd like to ping the community of experts.
The last two closes have been performed by a local pool store. It seems like all they do is:

1. drain the hot tub below the inlets (sits above pool/pump).
2. remove plugs from heat, pump , filter
3. fill pool to half skimmer
4. close auto pool cover
5. place cover pump
6. one tech used antifreeze in the skimmer, and another did not

Is that all there really is to it? I can certainly to that!
A few posts I have read suggest I need to blow out the plumbing lines and then cap them, but those posts seem to be in much colder regions.
The pool guys never blew out the lines or capped anything.

Have I simplified it too much?

Thanks!

 

[Bperry]

Hello
Love this forum! You ALL have gotten me up to speed in caring for and maintaining my pool myself, i really appreciate it!
I rarely need to ask questions, as I can usually find the answers in the forum.
Closing my inground pool is a bit more specific and so I'd like to ping the community of experts.
The last two closes have been performed by a local pool store. It seems like all they do is:

1. drain the hot tub below the inlets (sits above pool/pump).
2. remove plugs from heat, pump , filter
3. fill pool to half skimmer
4. close auto pool cover
5. place cover pump
6. one tech used antifreeze in the skimmer, and another did not

Is that all there really is to it? I can certainly to that!
A few posts I have read suggest I need to blow out the plumbing lines and then cap them, but those posts seem to be in much colder regions.
The pool guys never blew out the lines or capped anything.

Have I simplified it too much?

Thanks!

Does it freeze at all where you live? If not, there’s no reason to blow out lines or even use antifreeze.

 

[tshelton75]

It does snow and freeze here in the winters.

 

[Bperry]

It does snow and freeze here in the winters.

Do you know your frost line depth. Looks like it may be 18-ish inches? Anything below that is safe from freezing but shallower than that should be blown out. Unfortunately pool plumbing may be buried about that deep, hopefully a bit deeper.

My only concern was the skimmer. If the skimmer is full of water and the water freezes, that can crack the skimmer housing. Did they install some plugs and “gizmo’s” in there previously?

 

[tshelton75]

They did not intstall plugs or a gizmo last time. They did pour some anti-freeze in the skimmer and then filled the empty bottle with some water and placed it in the skimmer upside down. Maybe I can reach out to them and ask why they dont blow out the lines. Thank you for your posts!

 

[Bperry]

They did not intstall plugs or a gizmo last time. They did pour some anti-freeze in the skimmer and then filled the empty bottle with some water and placed it in the skimmer upside down. Maybe I can reach out to them and ask why they dont blow out the lines. Thank you for your posts!

The antifreeze was a waste of money if they diluted it in water. The upside down bottle may be just a makeshift gizmo. But since all the air in the bottle floats above the freezing point of the water, it would seem to be also a waste of time.

 

[Newdude]

I'm guessing they only expected a thin layer of ice, if any. It can dip below freezing for a night and the water temps are still above freezing.

Unfortunately as we've been learning lately, 100 year storms come around every 5 now. It takes once or twice to get good at it and once it's second nature, blowing the lines is cake. Opening helps get there sooner because you're basically closing but in reverse.

Closing with shop vac.

Today was the day for closing and it went great with a 6HP shop vac. I hooked my blower up for fun after, and there really wasn't much left but some spray. Anywho I wanted to do a write up for all the folks wondering if they could save a chunk of change and tackle their own closing...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[tshelton75]

What about the skimmer plug (not the gizmo) that seal on the front face of the skimmer, are those wortha shot. I am probably other thinking this, every pool owner I talk to in the area just pulls plugs and turns everything off.

Thanks!

 

[Bperry]

What about the skimmer plug (not the gizmo) that seal on the front face of the skimmer, are those wortha shot. I am probably other thinking this, every pool owner I talk to in the area just pulls plugs and turns everything off.

Thanks!

If you drain the skimmer you could try a skimmer plug like that but I don’t have experience with it. Does the pool surface water freeze in the winter?

 

[tshelton75]

The pool guys tell me to keep the water level at mid skimmer to support the auto pool cover. The skimmer plug won’t fit in my skimmer as it is tapered. Looks like I just need to curl a few pool noodles in the bottom of the skimmer and weight them down with a bottle of bleach or whatever fits in the skimmer to protect from freezing?

 

[Newdude]

The skimmer plug won’t fit in my skimmer as it is tapered. Looks like I just need to curl a few pool noodles in the bottom of the skimmer and weight them down with a bottle of bleach or whatever fits in the skimmer to protect from freezing?

Stuff some pool noodle pieces cut to length in the skimmer mouth and it'll keep them in place while allowing plenty of leeway for ice to expand.

 

[tshelton75]

Do you all wait until the water is 60F before closing? Seems like a lot of work still when no one is using the pool. Last two seasons the pool store closed us earlier.

 

[Bperry]

Do you all wait until the water is 60F before closing? Seems like a lot of work still when no one is using the pool. Last two seasons the pool store closed us earlier.

My pool is 65 today and still open. Probably won’t close until end of October. Just stinks having Romney out leaves every day. I may put the ragged cover on anyway to try and stem the work.