Another first time closing thread

[Swordfish]

Hello,

First I want to say thanks to the site... you have been a tremendous help with my first season of having a pool. It was rather easy... Opened pool (which was closed early last year by a pool company as the home was owned by a relocation company), cleared up the green in a few days with SLAM, and had a crystal clear pool all summer long. I was able to get the SWG dialed in perfect and all I had to do was add a bit of Muratic Acid every two weeks to keep the PH in check. It was really easy!

So, I plan to close the pool this year myself and have a couple of questions. I have read the sticky, and I dont think my questions were addressed there. So here it goes!

1) Installing the safety cover... Will this thing sink? It looks like the proper way is to lay it over the pool, and then anchor it up in the proper order. During opening we had a tough time getting it off with all the water on it, even though it is mesh. Next year I plan to lower the anchors and slide it off instead of un-latching it as we go.

2) Water level must be within 18" of the surface to support the snow load. What is the best way to maintain that with rain / snow melt? The closing company lowered the pool too far so many of my springs were ruined by the huge snow load this year. Then when it melted, water made it into the skimmer boxes and froze. The pool company had an inverted antifreeze bottle in the box so we didnt sustain damage, but I feel that was a close call. I have a submersable pump... should I put it in a bucket in the deep end and leave it there... pumping out when needed...obviously as long as the hose isnt frozen?

3) Instead of blowing the lines to skimmer boxes, can I just pump them out with pool pump? I would drain below the boxes with the main drain, then open the valve to each one while keeping the main drain open. Would this allow me evacuate enough of the water in the lines for winterization?

I appreciate your feedback!

 

[JVTrain]

The cover will sink if it hits the water, although the water will also go along way to supporting the cover. It will partially sink but be supported as well. The proper way to install the cover is using the fan (un)fold method. If your cover isn't fan folded, open it up and fold it about every 3 feet, with folds parallel to the shortest end. When you install, attach the corners on one short side and along that end. Then unfold one fold at a time, working your way along the long sides of the pool, attaching to anchors as you go.

I'd lower it to the 18" mark as long as that works for your skimmer/return locations. I wouldn't leave the pump in there over the winter as it will likely be useless once if freezes. If you need to drop the pool level after closing, drop it in and lower and take it back out. Your skimmers should have had antifreeze in the skimmer itself. Once the lines have been blown out and anti-freeze added to lines, half a gallon of antifreeze goes in the skimmer too. Then a jug/bottle weighed down in the skimmer to allow for expansion to squish the jug, not the skimmer sides.

You can pump them down to below the skimmer openings, but once you do, the pump will lose prime due to sucking air. You'll get some of the water out of the skimmers but not much more than just draining the whole time with main drain and you'll actually waste time getting pump to re-prime with the skimmer valves closed. You still need to blow them out manually with a blower or compressor.

 

[Swordfish]

The cover will sink if it hits the water, although the water will also go along way to supporting the cover. It will partially sink but be supported as well. The proper way to install the cover is using the fan (un)fold method. If your cover isn't fan folded, open it up and fold it about every 3 feet, with folds parallel to the shortest end. When you install, attach the corners on one short side and along that end. Then unfold one fold at a time, working your way along the long sides of the pool, attaching to anchors as you go.

With this method, it seems you are resting the bulk of the folded cover on the water at the beginning. (Which is pretty heavy.) I've searched for some videos to help me visualize, but didn't really find any except for how to install the anchors.

I'm sure I'm making this more complicated than it really is...

 

[zimm]

We just covered my pool. We unfolded the whole thing in the yard and drug it over the pool. With 3 people it went pretty well.

As for the pool level, I use one of these sitting on a step, which gets me to the right level. I plan to leave it in the pool all winter- it's actually out of the water when it pumps all the way down to the float.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EM6RMT1X2W658DVW1VX

 

[Swordfish]

We just covered my pool. We unfolded the whole thing in the yard and drug it over the pool. With 3 people it went pretty well.

As for the pool level, I use one of these sitting on a step, which gets me to the right level. I plan to leave it in the pool all winter- it's actually out of the water when it pumps all the way down to the float.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EM6RMT1X2W658DVW1VX

Interesting... I have a pump that is similar. However the surface of my pool will freeze. Thats why I was considering putting it in a bucket in the deep end as I dont think the pool will freeze solid.