Tips for having pool installer close my pool

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BlueWRXPride

Well-known member
Jun 18, 2020
128
Syracuse, NY
This was my first full season with my pool, and (sadly) I'm starting to plan for the closing of the pool this season. I've been incredibly happy with this site to help me with summer maintenance, as it's been a breeze this summer! I want to have the pool company close my pool since I don't trust myself to get the water fully out of the lines and I'm not going to risk damaging the plumbing over the summer. To keep with the TFP mentality, should I prep the water myself, and ensure that the pool company doesn't put any additional chemicals in the pool? Or just let them do their usual closing treatment? I was reading in Pool School and saw the note about bringing FC up to shock level and then drift down, and putting in some antifreeze. Just wanted to see what the general recommendation was for this. Thanks!

(I anticipate that some will try to convince me to do the full closing myself, and while I appreciate that advice, at this point it's worth my time and peace of mind to let them handle this part of the job)
 
BlueWRXPride said:
I anticipate that some will try to convince me to do the full closing myself, and while I appreciate that advice, at this point it's worth my time and peace of mind to let them handle this part of the job)
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Hire them and it’s a small price to pay to save the next 10+ years. Don’t look at it that you spent $300. Look at it that you saved $2700 on years 2-10. Tip whoever comes $20 each and shadow them. Take notes and lots of pics to remember how they worked your setup and the order it was all done. The pre-tipping will help them want to teach you what needs to be done.
 
I agree to let them do it & take notes (especially w/ the mechanical parts) if you are uncomfortable.
You still want to wait until the water temp lowers to 60-65 degree range consistently to prevent a swamp in the spring. Opening with the water temp in this range is also recommended.
This can be hard to arrange when you need to schedule your closings/openings in advance so you are on the list. Remember, closing is not set it & forget it. You need to peek under the cover occasionally & grab a sample to be sure u have fc & add liquid chlorine as necessary.
Especially if u close when the weather is still warm as the fc won’t last.
Here’s the article on closing 👇
www.troublefreepool.com

Closing an In Ground Pool

Winterizing a pool is essential for keeping your in-ground pool protected during cold-weather months. This Pool Repair guide will show you how to do it.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
You can still use / have them follow many of the tips even if u don’t do the work.
 
Thanks. Definitely agree on waiting until 60ish degrees. Probably mid-october for me. I guess the root of my question is, will the pool company put in some cocktail of chemicals as part of their standard closing that I would be better off asking them to not add and handle any chemical additions myself?
 
BlueWRXPride said:
I guess the root of my question is, will the pool company put in some cocktail of chemicals as part of their standard closing that I would be better off asking them to not add and handle any chemical additions myself?
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Yes most companies have their own ‘blend’ of what works for them. If they aren’t adding anything necessarily harmful, you can let them, or probably buy the same stuff cheaper yourself.

Ask what they add as part of the package and go from there. See if they’ll credit you, etc.
 
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Here's what my installer told me:
We decided to change our recipe this year. Shock aka liquid or powdered chlorine has a short half-life. So, instead of overdoing with shock, we plan to 2-3 lbs of cal hypo powdered shock along with a strong copper based algicide and lastly an enzyme. This will be our first year adding enzymes at closing and from all my research I think it will be a huge help.
 

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The best chemical cocktail for pool closing is a combination of Polyquat 60 algaecide and chlorine. Beyond that you get into chemicals that are not good for your pool like copper or unproven magic potions like enzymes.

Algaecide - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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BlueWRXPride said:
(I anticipate that some will try to convince me to do the full closing myself, and while I appreciate that advice, at this point it's worth my time and peace of mind to let them handle this part of the job)
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Really like the conviction there! I am with you, I maintain every aspect of my pool.... water, chemistry, maintenance, etc. during the year, but really want a pro to close it up right for me. The small cost in my opinion is insurance everything opens up with no issues next spring, and I can not be 100% sure I would do that. Not that I couldn't if I really wanted to, just do not want that job.

Newdude said:
most companies have their own ‘blend’ of what works for them
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No doubt, they probably use what they feel has worked for them, and I'm guessing almost all of them do not follow the TFP methods, so I would check to be sure what it is they plan to add. They may not have any issues, and their customers do not have issues, but we all know, adding things we shouldn't to the pool could cause unintended consequences down the road and make the spring chemical balancing more difficult.

mknauss said:
The best is you do the chemistry, they do the mechanics.
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That would seem like the best of both worlds. We know how to maintain the chemistry, the articles quoted above, as well as the advice posted above will insure you have the chemistry right, and the closer has the mechanics right. Then you know in the spring how to get back to the TFP method, and everything works because the chemistry and mechanics were both done correctly.
 
FYI -- the forum has a very good wiki and historical threads on closing a pool. We also plan to have an Expert Discussion on the subject later this month. Even if you plan to hire someone to do the process, knowing how the process should be carried out is knowledge that can be very useful.

Closing Pool for Winter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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BlueWRXPride said:
I think i'll ask them to leave the chemicals to me, and I'll add chlorine and Polyquat 60, but I'll still ask them to add the antifreeze. Antifreeze is an accepted thing to add for winter, right?
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This is exactly what I did last season and they were OK with that. They didn't drain our water below the returns which I thought was weird so this year, I'll make sure we have that done but I'm also trying to lower an elevated CYA.
 
Yeah, when they closed my pool last fall, after being recently installed, they didn't drain the pool either. They instead put a gizmo in the skimmer to plug it up. Is that something that pool companies usually don't do just because it takes more time? Is it critical to do so?
 
BlueWRXPride said:
Yeah, when they closed my pool last fall, after being recently installed, they didn't drain the pool either. They instead put a gizmo in the skimmer to plug it up. Is that something that pool companies usually don't do just because it takes more time? Is it critical to do so?
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They should blow out the lines and plug them with the gizmo. Mine would also put a little antifreeze in the lines, though I’m not sure it gets cold enough to need that here.

Don’t just put antifreeze in the pool water itself!
 

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