'Tis time to take the pool down. I'm looking for any tips you have for cleaning and storing it for the long winter months!
Time to take down the pool--looking for tips
- Thread starter Kellie00
- Start date
I just gave mine a good cleaning in/out, drained it, let it dryt out over night. Then afterwards we folded it up, and put it away it a huge rubber maid container. Drained the pump, hoses, and sand filter, then hauled it into my heated shop, tucked under a bench until next spring.
If not heated shop, I would suggest storing in the house so it does not freeze if your local temps do so in the winter.
If not heated shop, I would suggest storing in the house so it does not freeze if your local temps do so in the winter.
A tip my neighbor gave me and it worked wonderfully for her was to use baby powder and sprinkle all over the poll before folding up and storing. She said it made her life so much easier this year opening it up, no sticky spots and any left over or residual water was sucked up by the baby powder.
Clean the pool really well before you drain it. I store mine in a clam shell cargo carrier. You need to have a sealed container so mice do not eat the pool.
1380ken said:
Good idea. I will use a super large plastic garbage can with a lid and then use duct tape to keep critters out for the pool itself. For my poles I will use a separate garbage can and all tools, hoses, plugs, etc. associated with the pool are kept in there. My filter I cover with large contractor garbage bag and duct tape around so the winds do not take it away.
I normally do not take the pool down but am this year as I need to move it and resurface under the pool due to movement and now wrinkled liner bottom. I will probably use the foam backer boards to put down in spring under the pool for more cushion and less bumps.
Just got done taking down my pool some good tips in here...just wanted to give my two cents if it helps. I drained the pool using the drain plug and that took almost two days. I had quite a distance to run the hose but it is slow going. When the water was about half way in the intake I removed it and let that water run out. Then back to hose and wait. When the draining stopped I got in and washed the inside. Then I dismantled the frame. I squeeged the remaining water out. Then I rebuilt the frame minus three sections next to the liner. Three of us the flipper the liner over the frame. Broom stick in middle to hold it up. Washed inside and out and let dry. Flipper it over and folded/powder then into garbage can with wheels. Hope it helps!
Oh another thing even with no water the sand pump weighs about 200lbs with sand in it. I used a Dolly.
A leaf blowers helps to dry too...oh and vinegar in the sag and then spray with hose before drying. Hope this helps!
@Dtmos01 How did you flip it over, exactly? 99% of the water is out--there is maybe half inch left in the bottom of the pool and we're trying to figure out our next step. The outside of the pool is still pretty dirty--it would be great if we could figure how to flip it over and hose it all down.
Just grab one end of it by the liner, and walk it over and across the other side, thereby flipping it over. With a little work you can even turn it inside out if desired.
The leaf blower is a good idea. I used a Shopvac to get the last half inch of water out of the low spots, and then lots of towels to dry it completely. Sprinkle liberally with baby powder while folding.
xanadu said:
At the risk of appearing like a total moron, I'm assuming you took the frame out? I'm in the same boat right at the moment, with about 1/4 inch of water and some dirt still in the pool that I can't get out. Love to know how to get the blooming thing clean...
We just took ours down this past weekend. I started on Thursday night by vacuuming to waste to get the dirt off the bottom and start lowering the water. Then I backwashed and rinsed the sand filter good, which also took some water off. Then I let the pump run to waste until the water was down to the intake. Then hooked up the hose to the drain in the bottom of the pool and let it go. By Saturday morning it was empty aside from the little bit of water that was below the drain plug. Then we hooked up a portable sump pump type thing to pump the rest out. We lifted the bottom of the liner to try to get the water to pool in one specific area for the pump to get. Then I went in with the shop vac and sucked up all remaining dirt/water. Then sprinkled the inside liberally with baby powder (especially at the seam where the sides meet the bottom since water tends to stay in there), then took down the frame and laid the sides in, being sure to sprinkle the baby powder where the sides overlapped. Then I folded 4 sides in to make it a square, cleaned the bottom and let it sit for a while to dry out good. Then folded 2 sides in, cleaned the bottom, let dry, sprinkle, fold. Kept doing that until it was all folded up. It's a bit of a slow process, but it's what I did last year as well and we had zero issues setting up this year. While the bottom was drying I cleaned other things to pack away. We store ours on shelf in our basement and have a large Rubbermaid bin that we store all of the hoses, plungers, toys, etc in. I also throw in one of those things you can put in a closet to absorb moisture.
Like the other posters said I had about 2 inches left in the bottom, in order to get that out we grabbed one side of the liner and pulled it over on itself, removing the remaining water. So now we are looking at the bottom of the liner, with the help of a neighbor we hoisted the liner up onto the frame that we rebuilt next to the liner. This enabled the inside of the liner to dry while I cleaned the outside of the liner. The bottom was very dirty. Folding the liner takes some skill. Try to follow the directions in your manual and it is a two person job in my opinion. Try to eliminate creases as much as possible.
