I'm in Geauga County, Ohio. I drive past a house every day that has the same pool as I do, a 15" round intex & they have never taken it down in the winter! They have had their's up at least the last 3 winters!I'm going to leave mine up this winter. I will buy a mesh cover, drain below the inlet & outlet holes and the hole I cut for the skimmer I installed and hope for the best! I say go for it!
Intex owners: did you leave yours up over the winter?
- Thread starter barb3779
- Start date
I know this is an old thread, but I am considering winterizing my 18' X 48" Ultra Frame this year. Are there any updates from the users in this thread?
I live in South Central CT, about 5 miles from the shore. Winters are hit or miss, but the last few have been pretty nasty with large amounts of snow & below freezing temps.
Also, what is the preferred cover for winter and why?
Thanks,
Dom
I live in South Central CT, about 5 miles from the shore. Winters are hit or miss, but the last few have been pretty nasty with large amounts of snow & below freezing temps.
Also, what is the preferred cover for winter and why?
Thanks,
Dom
I have the same pool and left it up last year. I am in the Moore, Oklahoma area and never know what to expect with the seasons. I left it up because I was tired of patching holes from it being stored folded up in the garage. I dropped the water below the return, taped the holes with duct tape, put a double dose of shock in, pillow in center and cheap cover (thin tarp) I ordered from amazon at the last min. The pillow deflated in a couple weeks, the cover was cheap and thin so it was hard to take it off without tearing after vaccuming the leaves and water off the top. The pool was black. Total Fail. So I drained it, scrubed it, filled it ect in about 3 days and now its just like new. With all that said I would do the same next year as it is easier than patching pin holes and hunting down leaks while draining and refilling everyday.
I would suggest getting a good quality cover or two and wrap it up good, the water isn't had to get back to looking good.
I would suggest getting a good quality cover or two and wrap it up good, the water isn't had to get back to looking good.
Thanks for the reply.
I figured that I would need a good quality cover, the one that came with the pool is very thin, don't think it would stand a chance at all through a New England winter.
Dom
I figured that I would need a good quality cover, the one that came with the pool is very thin, don't think it would stand a chance at all through a New England winter.
Dom
AmyMrsR
0
Im going to be looking for this information as well. Ive been pouring over sites for winterizing ideas and plan to use a conventional over with a pillow and chemicals this yr. It will be our first yr with the 18' and our first year winterizing but the last 4 yrs of draining and packing were hard and this last year we started finding pinholes. Anyone that has left up over the winter with success and pics would be hugely appreciated!
Hi,
We just lost our 18'X52" Mushkin steel pool (rust, side collapsed). We are interested in an Intex of the same size and wish to leave it up year round. We live in northeastern Washington State and get a bit of snow and lots of freezing weather. We have had not trouble leaving the pool full over the winter as we are able to prevent any pool freeze with a couple of simple fixes that I have not seen mentioned here.
First one is placing a filled inner tube in the pool under the cover which acts as an ice breaker, or, alternately, 4 or 5 1/2 filled milk cartons. These both work very well and will take the pressure off the sides. We, also, user a pourous winter cover which stops a lot of the cover freezing and allows snow melt to pass through.
My Pool: Lots of extras
We just lost our 18'X52" Mushkin steel pool (rust, side collapsed). We are interested in an Intex of the same size and wish to leave it up year round. We live in northeastern Washington State and get a bit of snow and lots of freezing weather. We have had not trouble leaving the pool full over the winter as we are able to prevent any pool freeze with a couple of simple fixes that I have not seen mentioned here.
First one is placing a filled inner tube in the pool under the cover which acts as an ice breaker, or, alternately, 4 or 5 1/2 filled milk cartons. These both work very well and will take the pressure off the sides. We, also, user a pourous winter cover which stops a lot of the cover freezing and allows snow melt to pass through.
My Pool: Lots of extras
We left our pool up last winter. It made it through just fine. We live in a very very snowy part of Ontario and last winter the entire month of February was so cold that the kids were not allowed to go outside for recess. I did purchase a really good winter cover and then decided against putting it on. I was afraid the weight of the snow might be what would collapse the pool. So, we lowered the water below the lowest inlet and dumped in a bunch of bleach. We did not do this until the temperatures were low enough that algae would not be a problem. I am thinking mid October. There was a lot of ice in the pool after Christmas until April but we did not disturb it. In early May we reinstalled the pump and filled it up with a truck load of water, added some bleach and turned on the pump. No green water! We do not have any trees around the pool so it stayed quite clean. We only got a lot of dust/dirt from the fields. We threw in the vacuum and cleaned it up. We will be repeating this process again this fall.
My 18' Intex sat out for two winters straight with no ill effects. I drained the sand pump both times, storing one year, leaving it out the next. (Death in the family in the fall, no time to winterized. Never used a cover. Temps went down to 15 BELOW! zero last winter here. The pool was in great shape when I gave it to a friend. We used to take our easy set down, but sometimes I think that's how they get the holes in them, from year down and resetting. Or maybe they dry out too much or something. I'm definitely not taking the 26' ultra frame down, too hard to move it.
I'm in NH & thinking about leaving mine up as well. Last winter was absolutely brutal with snowfall, hopefully this year isn't the same. Do you shovel the cover off during the storms? I imagine it gets pretty heavy?
Instead of a cover, I waited until the ice melted and just added a little bleach and brushed til I could get the pump going.
I live in NJ and left my 12x24 ultra frame up last winter. It survives just fine, does not see any damage or degrade in the liner and frame. I drained the pool to below skimmer level, put 2 pool pillows and cover it with the cover. We had some pretty heavy snow last year, but it held up well and I did not shovel.
Hello
how is you AG pool today? Do you still keep it up throughout the winter?
thank you
how is you AG pool today? Do you still keep it up throughout the winter?
thank you
Hello
would like to confirm that you do not shovel the snow from on top of the pool cover?
thank you
would like to confirm that you do not shovel the snow from on top of the pool cover?
thank you
I have an 18' Sequoia Spirit intex pool - put it up memorial day weekend 2014, and kept it up through the winter last year (central Ohio). Opened it memorial weekend 2015, and everything was great - crystal clear water, and no damage from another brutal winter. The Sequoia Spirit pool is basically an Intex ultra-frame pool with a non-structural plastic "shell" around the soft sides.
I closed it in October 2014. I drained it about half way - approx 6" below the lower outlet hole. I used an In The Swim winterization kit for the water. I put a frame of 2x4's around the top of the plastic "shell" and ran ropes across in several directions (to help hold up the tarp I used as a winter cover). I also put one large pillow, as well as several of the inflatable toys/rafts from the summer under the ropes -- this all in the hope of keeping the tarp at least level enough that I could broom snow across and off. (After the first significant rainfall in October, the tarp had already bowled with water, so that part of the plan didn't work out as I had hoped).
I kept a pool cover pump on top all winter, and pumped off water as soon as possible whenever it wasn't frozen. I also broomed/shoveled snow off as soon as possible. In my opinion, it is very important to do this to avoid stress on the pool frame.
Everything held up well, and when I re-opened during Memorial Day weekend 2015, the water was crystal clear; no leaks; and the pool structure was great. I had to go around and tighten almost every one of the plastic nuts for the outer "shell" of the Sequoia Sprit imitation wood, but that was the extent of adjustments to the pool structure.
I plan on doing pretty much the same thing for this winter, minus the 2x4's and rope -- I think that was overkill, and it is questionable how much they really helped. Instead, I bought several more air pillows, and I will just be using those to prop up the tarp.
I use a very large tarp that goes all the way down the ground around the entire perimeter of the pool (plus quite a bit further), and secure it at the base of the pool all the way around with cinder blocks. I also feel this was necessary to avoid the tarp bowling up with too much water/ice for those few extended periods of time when the pool cover pump could not be used. By the time spring hit, the weight from the ice in the winter had moved quite a few of the cinder blocks slightly.
I will report back again next year, but fingers crossed we will get at least another season out of this pool. Feel free to pm me for pictures.
I closed it in October 2014. I drained it about half way - approx 6" below the lower outlet hole. I used an In The Swim winterization kit for the water. I put a frame of 2x4's around the top of the plastic "shell" and ran ropes across in several directions (to help hold up the tarp I used as a winter cover). I also put one large pillow, as well as several of the inflatable toys/rafts from the summer under the ropes -- this all in the hope of keeping the tarp at least level enough that I could broom snow across and off. (After the first significant rainfall in October, the tarp had already bowled with water, so that part of the plan didn't work out as I had hoped).
I kept a pool cover pump on top all winter, and pumped off water as soon as possible whenever it wasn't frozen. I also broomed/shoveled snow off as soon as possible. In my opinion, it is very important to do this to avoid stress on the pool frame.
Everything held up well, and when I re-opened during Memorial Day weekend 2015, the water was crystal clear; no leaks; and the pool structure was great. I had to go around and tighten almost every one of the plastic nuts for the outer "shell" of the Sequoia Sprit imitation wood, but that was the extent of adjustments to the pool structure.
I plan on doing pretty much the same thing for this winter, minus the 2x4's and rope -- I think that was overkill, and it is questionable how much they really helped. Instead, I bought several more air pillows, and I will just be using those to prop up the tarp.
I use a very large tarp that goes all the way down the ground around the entire perimeter of the pool (plus quite a bit further), and secure it at the base of the pool all the way around with cinder blocks. I also feel this was necessary to avoid the tarp bowling up with too much water/ice for those few extended periods of time when the pool cover pump could not be used. By the time spring hit, the weight from the ice in the winter had moved quite a few of the cinder blocks slightly.
I will report back again next year, but fingers crossed we will get at least another season out of this pool. Feel free to pm me for pictures.
We opted to leave our 12x24 ultra frame up last winter, drained below all inlets/ outlets. We were pleasantly surprised in the spring to discover no leaks or issues whatsoever. We had disconnected and properly winterized all of our lines, pumps, filter, etc, so a couple of quick connections in the spring and voila, that was it
Now where we live once we get into freezing temps (our average winter temps are -35 Celsius and often lower), we don't have issues with freezing, thawing and freezing again, so I am not sure how fluctuating temps would affect the liner in your caseI am in the same area as you basically, but have not been brave enough to leave mine up over the winter. See how you make out in the spring and maybe that will convince me to leave it up next winter.
We opted to leave our 12x24 ultra frame up last winter, drained below all inlets/ outlets. We were pleasantly surprised in the spring to discover no leaks or issues whatsoever. We had disconnected and properly winterized all of our lines, pumps, filter, etc, so a couple of quick connections in the spring and voila, that was it
I plan on leaving mine up this winter. A friend of mine has never taken her 18 X 52" intex down, saying that most people experience leaks after re setting it up in the spring. The biggest trick will be shocking at the right time and making sure the leaves are gone before it freezes up solid, oh yeah and keeping the grandkids away from the side once it is frozen.
AmyMrsR
0
There is a thread for this. 2 of us left our pools up with success. Winterize like a normal above ground. Are you in an area that experiences allot of snow or single digits?
Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
We got a new ultra frame last summer (2015) and decided to leave it up. I am in North Dakota where everything freezes solid for months during the winter. Just checked it this morning and ice is almost all the way off and no problems that I can see!
Pic is from the winter. Snow and ice is now gone
View attachment 45707
Pic is from the winter. Snow and ice is now gone
View attachment 45707
I had lowered my water about that far, and it is completely full after today's rain. Mine has been thawed since last week. I have some leaves in there, wish the water was warmer, I'd get them out, ha ha. We are due for a bit more cold weather soon, I think. (Pennsylvania)
Also, I often wonder if more problems are created when you take it down, versus leaving it up. Much easier to accidentally get a hole when moving it, or chancing an animal chewing while in storage.
Also, I often wonder if more problems are created when you take it down, versus leaving it up. Much easier to accidentally get a hole when moving it, or chancing an animal chewing while in storage.