intex ultra 18 foot pool.. winterizing tips / suggestions, the best cover to use?

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theskyisthelimit99

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Jun 28, 2016
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Pittsburgh, pa
I'm getting pretty close to closing down the pool for its first year up.

I think i understand the basics of the steps to winterize it..

-drain the water down to just below the two intake holes
-take off all the pumps (salt water and regular pumps/sand pump) and store in house (not garage)
-put an inner tube in the middle of the pool
-pull out the steps from the pool, maybe place on the deck for the winter (plastic).
-put the cover that came with the pool over the pool (tie down somehow)?

Did i miss anything here?

I assume i should pull the steps out of the pool, otherwise the cover wont really cover that area.

I also am unsure on the cover.. the one that came with the pool.. is it good enough.. i cant recall, but i thought it had small holes in it, which may or may not matter?

If the cover it came with is no good, any suggestions on an alternative.. or just an 18 footer from amazon with good ratings?

Thanks in advance
 
The cover that came with the pool is full of holes and it will slowly sink. This is my first year closing also but I would not use the cover that came with it. I used it during the summer and it is starting to fall apart after 3 months. I don't think it would hold up after a long winter.
 
This will be our second year closing our pool. We had a great swimming season following the TFP recommendations here last year, but our first close was an epic fail. The Intex cover allowed a bird to get in and it died and rotted in the pool. I then decided that the pool must be drained because that is just nasty. We are looking at how to close it better this year. We also are getting a leaf cover this year for sure.
 
I covered my 18' with a 21' pool cover, making sure that the cover touched the water so it did not pull the walls in when full of snow. I used the ratchet/wire to tighten the cover to the pool, then laced it to the bottom rope on the pool. I then topped that with a leaf cover that came off when the trees were empty.

I plan to do exactly the the same this winter.

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domct203 said:
I covered my 18' with a 21' pool cover, making sure that the cover touched the water so it did not pull the walls in when full of snow. I used the ratchet/wire to tighten the cover to the pool, then laced it to the bottom rope on the pool. I then topped that with a leaf cover that came off when the trees were empty.

I plan to do exactly the the same this winter.
Click to expand...

nice.. what brand cover is that..swimline?
 

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theskyisthelimit99 said:
nice.. what brand cover is that..swimline?
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I honestly don't know. It's whatever brand my local OSJL carries, and was only $40 or $50.

It should make it for another winter or two no problem, after that I figure I got my money's worth.

I didn't want to spend a lot on the cover as I only planned on three to five seasons out of the Intex, which will get replaced with a larger hard-walled pool.
 
Nicspen80 said:
Hello, did you leave the filter on? Or drain below the filter?
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I drained the pool to just below the skimmer & capped off the original suction port. The pump & multi port valve was stored in the house, the sand filter was deep cleaned, drained and stored in the garage (it only holds 75lbs of sand, easily moved with two guys and a wheelbarrow). I used a rag (old T shirt) to cover the opening from the multi port valve, and held it there with the original band clamp.

I had planned to do the same this year. Next season will see a much larger sandfilter (200lbs of sand), so that will have to stay on the equipment pad over winter. I will most likely build a box cover to keep the weather off of it. The pump & multi port will always be stored in the house.
 
Hello, I'm joining this thread because I'm not getting responses in mine! I have the rectangular Intex pool so I can't really drain below the intake valve (the sides will bow/bend in a lot). When you say you capped off the suction port, what did you use as a cap? I have thought about getting a plug and trying to put that in underwater, but I'm not sure that would work. Is it ok to just disconnect the hoses and close the valves? I am in Texas and I really don't think the pool water would freeze solid. Also does anybody have experience using pool wrap (like the saran wrap that you wrap around the pool to keep the cover sealed)? I had to buy an oval pool cover because nobody makes rectangular above ground pool covers. Finally, I read in some places that the water temperature needs to be below 60 degrees before you close the pool. Why is that necessary? But if I do that it could be December! It is still in the 90s here and my air conditioner is running. I really want to close this pool!
 
Welcome to the forum.

I use the cap from the waste port on my sand filter. I made a custom flat rubber washer to use with it, I got the rubber materiall from a buddy that is into boats.

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The reason we wait until the water gets to below 60 is because at those temps algae is extremely slow to reproduce. This, coupled with shock level FC at close gets us through the winter.

I'm not familiar with closing a warm weather pool, but once we (solid) cover ours, I don't check or maintain chemicals or circulate the water all fall/winter. I would imagine that with warmer water temps you would need to maintain FC and circulate water a bit.
 
I believe that poolguy's concern may be the cover pulling in the sides of that pool, something that concerns me as well.

When I close my pool, I lower the water to just under the skimmer, which works out to about an 1" below the return jet, the suction port is still under water. I was not comfortable going much lower with a soft-sided pool.

When I cover my pool, I use an oversized cover (21' for my 18') so I could lay the cover flat on the water, right up to the sides of the pool, & follow up the pool wall. This way the snow & ice weight is supported by the water, not hanging like a hammock & pulling in the sides of the pool.

Here's the only pic I have where you can somewhat see this, through the leaf cover which is drawn tight across the pool:

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inkybrown said:
If I don't cover it, then don't I have to add chemicals and run the pump year-round? I bought a cover, air pillows, leaf net, winterizing kit and everything already. Only got a couple of replies in the post I started but they said they cover.
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I'm sorry to hear you spent money on things you may not need, but I don't see anyone in that thread specifically telling you to cover that pool. I see one post where someone mentions that they cover their 18' round pool.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...ing-a-pool-need-advice!?p=1143595#post1143595

Your rectangular pool is a different challenge as you know, due to the sides naturally pulling in. The round pools do not have that issue.

If your suction and return ports are like mine, you could pick up a few covers and cap them so you will not have to drain as far, but there still is risk of freezing water inside the fittings if they are very close to the top of the water.

How much bigger than the pool is the cover? What does this "winterizing kit" contain?
 

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