Exposed top steps over night

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J

jimim

Bronze Supporter
Jun 20, 2016
3,566
NE/Pa
I have to drain down tomorrow to have my builder close me on Wednesday. Night temps suppose to be 42. I can leave the top steps exposed overnight right? I know u don’t want water to freeze on plaster cause it will mark it bit it’s not going to be freezing temps. Maybe some frost.

I should be ok right? I was going to drain down tomorrow night and add my poly 40. Then in the morning add mybluetec. Or should I do the reverse? I’m thinking it doesn’t matter.

thanks!
 
Not sure the question. When they drain down the pool for winterizing it's drained all winter and doesn't cause any issues. Mine's being closed Wednesday as well.
 
Ya ya I got cha. I'm Over thinking it. I was thinking the uncovered step without the pool cover on the pool could damage the plaster cause the step is wet and it’s cold out. But when it rains the step is wet and it’s cold in the winter. sorry.

how far do u usually drain down Slow ur tile. I have been going 8 inches to give me some rain wiggle room so I don’t have e to drain water as soon. That gives me enough room also to keep enough water on the second step so if the water freezes the water doesn’t freeze to the plaster top of the step.
 
I drain probably 12" total which is well below the tile line and just below the returns. My sun-shelf usually has only about an inch or 2 of water and my first step into the pool on the shelf is totally exposed. I have had as much as 4" or so of ice on the pool too. Never caused an issue.
 
PoolGate said:
I drain probably 12" total which is well below the tile line and just below the returns. My sun-shelf usually has only about an inch or 2 of water and my first step into the pool on the shelf is totally exposed. I have had as much as 4" or so of ice on the pool too. Never caused an issue.
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PoolGate - Since I'm just down the road from you I'm curious what type of cover you use in the winter. Solid? Mesh? When you say 4" of ice - was that the full water depth on your sunshelf frozen? Thanks!
 
I use a mesh safety cover. Basically a loop-lock. That's a good question about the freezing right to the shelf surface. I would assume that year it did, in fact, freeze hard down to the surface. But, it is possible the water level increased (from precipitation) before it actually froze. In either case it either froze to or very close to the top of the shelf.

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My second step which is just below my returns had 1 inch of water on it my first winter. Water deff froze to that step. In spring I had what looked like dirt on that step in various spots. I posted it on here. It wasn’t dirt. The frozen water affected the plaster. So onbalance And Brian helped me get it 80 percent better with a lot of brushes and some wet sanding. We didn’t want to really go nuts cause of taking plaster way but by the end of the next season I couldn’t tell. So ever since then I have worried about that. So now I don’t take my water below my returns to beep enough water on my step so if the water freezes it hopefully has enough water under the ice to protect the surface.

that’s just me being paranoid but I did have an issue. I would love to go below my returns so I don’t have to drain water with rainstorms but my luck we will get just enough rain to cover the step vs getting it back high enough so now I drainright to the top of the returns and we blow out and plug.
 
Thanks PG and Jim. Jim - that's interesting that you did have issues with your plaster after that winter and good to know for future reference.
 
Might be just me and very random but it happened and Brian and onbalance said that is what it was from.
@PoolGate u all drained down? Just got done. Got chlorine in, acid in, bluetec in. Tomorrow morning poly and then it’s up to them to finish. What’s ur water temp? Mine is still 56. I was at 45 this exact time last year.
 
I'm at 63. They're coming tomorrow morning. I just put in the polyquat. Chlorine at around 17.

I asked if they could put the cover on for another $50, which they used to do. But they said only with their package "a", which includes a bunch of bioguard bs. I told them no chance I'll do it myself.
 

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PoolGate said:
I'm at 63. They're coming tomorrow morning. I just put in the polyquat. Chlorine at around 17.

I asked if they could put the cover on for another $50, which they used to do. But they said only with their package "a", which includes a bunch of bioguard bs. I told them no chance I'll do it myself.
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what a joke. U serious. I’m thankful my builder Will do anything I want. They showed up and they said ok what’s left to do. I told them and that’s it. 1 hr done. cover has no holes thankfully. And that’s it. Done for another season.
 
So Jim - without going back to your build thread to look at your pool, I was just wondering if by draining to just above your returns you are leaving any step/bench/shelf area of your pool totally dry all winter. i.e is there no water at all on some horizontal plaster surfaces over the winter?
 
Here's my top step it's out of the water. Oh and I asked the guys if they'd do the cover for $50 cash but they were too lazy. Oh well I can do it in 1/2 an hour by myself anyway.

20201028_140908.jpg20201028_140855.jpg
 
Thank you for the response, PG. So leaving it dry doesn't seem to have any negative effects on your plaster - good to know. What type of plaster do you have? Thanks!
 
My one exposed top step gets some dirt/algae even by early April when I open. That step warms up quickly being out of the water and up high and it holds a bit of water from rain. I've found that timing my last pump out to allow pool water on the step in March keeps it cleaner. But if its dirty I pour some bleach on it and scrub with pool water. Comes mostly clean and cleans up the rest with exposure to my regular water.

Just scheduled closing. Closing Nov 10. Only chlorine for me at closure. Pool guy only blows out lines and adds antifreeze to pipes. I do the rest. I get a little printed certificate saying that if my pipes freeze and break, he will fix, and whatever he removes to do it, at his expense. He said he's never had even the request to check for a frozen pipe issue in his 20 years. It lets me sleep a little better even though I could certainly figure out my setup and buy the cyclone pump.
 
bmoreswim said:
My one exposed top step gets some dirt/algae even by early April when I open. That step warms up quickly being out of the water and up high and it holds a bit of water from rain. I've found that timing my last pump out to allow pool water on the step in March keeps it cleaner. But if its dirty I pour some bleach on it and scrub with pool water. Comes mostly clean and cleans up the rest with exposure to my regular water.

Just scheduled closing. Closing Nov 10. Only chlorine for me at closure. Pool guy only blows out lines and adds antifreeze to pipes. I do the rest. I get a little printed certificate saying that if my pipes freeze and break, he will fix, and whatever he removes to do it, at his expense. He said he's never had even the request to check for a frozen pipe issue in his 20 years. It lets me sleep a little better even though I could certainly figure out my setup and buy the cyclone pump.
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Who is your pool service? I wonder if they will do my area. If so I will use them next year.
 
My pool drained down looks exactly like Pool gates. Top steps exposed. My issue was step number 2 cause the water froze solid to thst step cause we had thinker ice that first winter and I have about 3 inches of water on that step. So now I make sure I go into the freeze with 4 plus inches to avoid that. We haven’t had a hard freeze over 3 inches since then. Last winter I had zero ice.
 
jimim said:
My pool drained down looks exactly like Pool gates. Top steps exposed. My issue was step number 2 cause the water froze solid to thst step cause we had thinker ice that first winter and I have about 3 inches of water on that step. So now I make sure I go into the freeze with 4 plus inches to avoid that. We haven’t had a hard freeze over 3 inches since then. Last winter I had zero ice.
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Can you please explain the reason why water freezing on that step caused the black "staining" you had in the spring? I paged through your build thread to find the picture you showed of the staining. I'm just trying to connect why the frozen water on that step would cause the black stain. Thank you!

Edit to Add - also just found this thread; the damage looks similar to what you saw

Ice damaged diamond brite plaster finish

First winter with pool. Didn’t winterize at first. Until New Years temps held near 0 for a few days. Covered equipment pad with tarp, 60W bulb overnight, kept pump running. Pool started freezing. Panicked. Had pool winterized by PB. After thawing, noted surface of my first step into pool had...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 

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