New to site

[Kdelrod]

New to site, had AGP for 4 years, I took it down every year for winter. Never had a problem until we had a new visitor in our outdoor shed. A PACK RAT!! I stored my pool in a very large heavy duty industrial tote. I’m talking very very durable! Until the dang visitor chewed through it and chewed a hole in the pool. I was devastated! Of everything in my shed he could have enjoyed with easy access, the turd chose my pool!
So I’m debating on whether to take down or leave up during the winter. I’ve never winterized.
Any advise would be very much appreciated!

 

[dBsooner]

New to site, had AGP for 4 years, I took it down every year for winter. Never had a problem until we had a new visitor in our outdoor shed. A PACK RAT!! I stored my pool in a very large heavy duty industrial tote. I’m talking very very durable! Until the dang visitor chewed through it and chewed a hole in the pool. I was devastated! Of everything in my shed he could have enjoyed with easy access, the turd chose my pool!
So I’m debating on whether to take down or leave up during the winter. I’ve never winterized.
Any advise would be very much appreciated!

Welcome to TFP! You've found a great home here! Those pesky rats sound terrible! I'm saddened to hear they chose your pool as their meal-o-choice.

I see you are in Oklahoma as well. I am in Broken Arrow. I didn't take mine down last year. Most everyone in my neighborhood didn't either. Most folks in this forum don't take them down as well. As long as you drop the water level below your inlet / outlets, pull all your equipment, including all ports, and store those out of the freezing weather, you should be fine. When you close down, you'll just dose it with your sanitizer like you normally do, slap the cover over it and call it a day (season). Then you can check on it throughout the winter. Maybe once every couple weeks? Check for chlorine levels and add some if you wish. Just make sure to stir it up very well after you do. I used my brush to move it around, but another member gave me a better idea for this coming winter. I'll use a sump pump and drop the water another inch or so if I need to, then just toss in the water hose and use it to circulate the water by adding some. Move the hose around in there to keep stratification from occurring (different chlorine levels at different depths). We get enough rain that I figure every time it rains and raises the water level enough to where I need to throw the pump in to drain some off will be when I do the check of chlorine levels and dose as needed (as well as throw that water hose in there to stir it up). Stirring is important.. don't want that concentration of chlorine sitting in one spot creating a tattoo. With the cover over the pool, you likely won't lose much chlorine, but if the rain goes through holes in the cover, then the water will still get dirty and use up chlorine.

Don't be scared to leave it up. Get a good cover, keep the leaves off it the best you can (if you need to) and let it ride.

Again, welcome to forums! Hope you have found the methods taught here to be beneficial to keeping your water crystal clear and keeping you out of the pool store.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP!