Skimmer Faceplate Leaking at Closing

[Sierra54]

Had the pool closed and they found a leak behind one of the skimmer's faceplate. They dye tested to find this leak. In order to finish the closing, they dropped the water level to below the skimmer, blew out the lines, added antifreeze and installed the gizzmos. One skimmer has its aquador and gizzmo in place, the other only has the gizzmo.

Since the closing it has rained quite a bit and the water level has risen and water has entered the one skimmer. I put the mesh cover on to keep the leaves out of the pool.

I'm having difficulty find anyone to come out to replace the gaskets behind the skimmer faceplate. One company said not to touch it until Spring when it's warmer and the liner is more pliable. Another company is still backed up closing pools and said they won't be available to nearly Thanksgiving.

Is this something that can be left until Spring and will the gizzmo suffice to keep water out of that return line? Should I have the company that closed the pool come back around Thanksgiving to try to fix this? Is there anything more I can do to prevent further damage to this?

Thank you,

 

[Texas Splash]

The return line itself should be fine with the Gizmo. They have a valid concern about the liner being more pliable in warmer weather. How old is the liner? Age plays a factor as well. Does your water generally develop an ice shelf? If not, then you could periodically lower the water with a separate pump as needed, but I wouldn't do that if ice is a factor.

 

[Newdude]

+1. If you have steel walls, and the skimmer is allowed to leak all winter, you may shave years off the life of the pool.

Drain it as needed but also before any big freezes so that it has room to fill again in case it stays cold that time.

 

[Sierra54]

The pool is about 8 years old with the original liner. The walls are not metal, but plastic. There is a sun deck so we normally do not drain any water at closing. I have several sand bags on the sun deck to help keep the liner against the wall when the water was lowered. I'm sure the water will freeze sometime over the winter. I've never pulled the cover back to see what it looks like though. We were told to always leave water over the sun deck to keep the liner compressed against the wall above it. I've always used sand bags also to help keep the liner against the wall in the winter.