The swimming season may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean you’re totally done maintaining your pool. If you want your little piece of paradise to be ready to go the moment the next swimming season rolls around, you’ll need to take good care of it over the colder months.
To help you do that, here is an easy guide to off-season pool maintenance and care. Follow these tips, and you’ll be thanking yourself next summer.
Tips for Closing Your Pool
At the season’s end, you’ll need to close your pool properly to keep it as safe as possible throughout the winter. Follow these simple tips, and you can do just that.
Remove All Debris
A nice, clean pool doesn’t just look great — it can also help prevent algae growth while it’s closed. Make sure to vacuum, brush, and skim your pool thoroughly, and clean out all of your skimmer baskets in preparation for closing.
Properly Drain the Water
You can’t simply drain all of the water out of your pool at the end of the season, or you’ll risk costly damage to the liner. Not only that but refilling your pool next season will be a far bigger hassle. Instead, you want to drain the water down to around five inches below the skimmer. This will keep water from freezing in your pool’s pump system over the winter while also protecting your liner.
Winterize Your Pool
You don’t want to reopen your pool next season to find that the water is in awful shape. To avoid this, you’ll want to make sure your water is balanced and then add some winterizing chemicals to keep it in good condition throughout the colder months.
Before you add anything to your pool, grab a test strip or test kit and check your pool water. Use this as your guide to balancing the water. Once you’ve got it where it needs to be, you can add winter algaecide, chlorine-free shock, stain and scale preventer, and more. Do this, and you’ll find that your pool is nearly ready to go from the moment you open it up next summer.
Tips for Off-Season Care
Your responsibilities as a pool owner are drastically reduced once the cold months roll around, but there are still some things you’ll need to do if you want to protect your pool until summer returns. Take a look at these off-season care tips to get a better idea of what those things are.
Check on Your System When Temperatures Dip Below Freezing
When the weather gets frigid, your pool’s pump system can be at risk of freezing over and causing catastrophic damage. Not only is this a serious hassle, but it could be a costly problem. If you want to avoid these issues, keep an eye on your pool’s pump system in freezing temperatures.
To prevent freezing, you can run your pool’s pump all during cold snaps. This will keep the water moving, the temperature up, and your pipes as safe as possible.
Keep Your Pool Cover Clean
Debris and rainwater can build up on top of your pool’s cover during the off-season and cause several issues with your pool when it is time to open it back up for the summer. Aside from the fact that debris can cause damage to your expensive cover, it could wind up in your pool when you reopen it for the session.
Keeping your pool cover clean during the colder months will make re-opening your pool a much easier process when the time comes.
Don’t Wait to Open Your Pool
You can take far better care of your pool when you can see what’s going on with it. Waiting to open up for too long can result in some ugly surprises. Aside from potential damage, not checking your pool water during the winter also allows algae to grow once the weather starts warming up.
Open up early, and you can prevent unseen issues while also allowing yourself some extra swim time for the next season.
Pool Care From Royal Pools & Spas
If you need help caring for your pool, reach out to Royal Pools & Spas today, and we’ll be happy to help.
