wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. Ask your contractor if they have an engineering technician that they work well with. Lower temperatures are inhospitable to algae and can help the water stay clearer longer. Theyll also prevent any gaps along the edges of your pool. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. If you have a special winter closing kit or Winterpill, now is the time to add it. 3. Cover the pool Never skip winterizing steps ( it may cost you) Service your pool heater and filter pump BEFORE closing for a stress-free spring opening Clean the pool before cover Turn off (and clean) your saltwater generator Clean the filter Power down and winterize water features (fountains, waterfalls, sprinklers) If you live in a warm, dry climate, you can skip to the next step. If you were to replace the pool liner, or have the pool freshly plastered right before you shut it down for a year or two, you can fully anticipate that these new interior surfaces would need to be replaced again when the pool finally gets opened next. If youre using a solid cover, lower the water to six inches below the skimmer or tile line. Warning: Pool filling almost always requires a local municipal permit. If it isnt, ask for it to be added. Open the drains on each piece of equipment to release the water inside. Depending on where you live, it can cost $100 to $600 per month just to heat the pool. Check out: How To Balance Your Pool In 7 Easy Steps. Have you ever thought that you would like to own a mosquito farm in your backyardbecause leaving your pool to stagnate would be a keen way to get started towards this goal. This suspends any metals in the water, so they cant settle onto your pool surfaces, oxidize, and eventually cause stains. Well, your neighbors will, for one. If you saw any beginning algae blooms, add double or triple the amount of shock, depending on the type and severity of the algae problem. And you won't have to worry about removing all the green algae and other contaminants. Similar to a solid cover, but constructed from mesh that allows for drainage. Out of frustration, and with few decent options available, this is when some pool owners just "walk away" and cease all care and maintenance of the pool. Thanks Duane and Dean! If you live somewhere cold, you may need to use straight pressure plugs in the return lines. Otherwise, you can follow the steps below to do the job yourself: IMPORTANT: Now is also a good time to remove any pool accessories, like ladders or slides. - Swimming Pool Steve Install A New Pool Pros and Cons of Filling In A Pool Pool Demolition Cost Factors Permits & Engineer Materials & Debris Removal Remove Pool Deck or Enclosure Tools & Labor Frequently Asked Questions DIY Pool Removal How To Fill In A Pool Hiring A Pool Demolition Contractor HOMEGUIDE COST GUIDES POOL REMOVAL COST T Written by Tom Grupa It still needs to have water in it, and without filtration and chemical treatment the water is going to become a stinky, dark, mess. In many cases, the contractor will be able to walk you through the process. Make sure all of the water is drained from the pump and filters before disconnecting them. With your water balanced, its time to add your pool closing chemicals. Use water tubes or pool cover weights to keep it from sinking into your pool over time. Its a long list, huh? After the new sod grows for a few weeks, your yard will look like it never had a pool in the first place. So once youre seeing day after day with temperatures below 60, thats your cue. Protect your pool cover by keeping it clean, but dont use anything sharp like a shovel or rake. Choose one rated down to 10F (-12C). DIY Security Systems Closing your inground pool properly can really make a huge difference, especially when you reopen it in the spring season. Its the difference between unveiling a clean and clear, swim-ready pool, versus a green, murky, leaf-filledswamp. From there, clean the cartridges using a filter cleaner or soapy water. With your swimming pool clean and balanced, next is your pool equipment. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. In areas without freezing temperatures the concern is that the water within the plumbing lines and fixtures will become so gross and disgusting that you can actually require full replacement of the plumbing lines if you want to operate the pool one day in the future. This loosens buildup and algae spores, which makes them fall to thefloor for easy treatment and cleanup. 9. Awell-maintained pool heater and pump offer WAY better energy efficiency, which translates into hundreds in energy savings each pool season. With the drain plugs removed, its time to clear out your pool equipment. Make sure that the contractors are patting the soil and gravel down with their crane or excavator as they fill the pool. And each year, he continues to help more people with water chemistry, cleaning, and troubleshooting. Let it run for about a minute. Use a cleaner made for sand filters, or backwash it thoroughly. Related: 21 Pool Care Hacks That Make Pool Maintenance Easy. It is almost always less expensive in the long run to keep the pool open and minimally maintainedbut that is not what this article is about! But if your pool will spend the holidays buried in snow, youll need to blow the water out of the pump to prevent ice damage that can happen when even a small amount of water in the pipes freezes and expands. If your local temperatures typically stay below 65F (18C) during the off season, wait until the temperature falls below that point to close. Bring the water to one inch below your skimmer opening or tile line, whichever is lower. Read this complete guide to learn how to close inground pool for the season without any problems. Once the chlorine level is where it needs to be, add the other chemicals that will help prepare your pool for winter. Attach your air compressor or ShopVac to the pumps drain plug opening. Balancing the chemicals protects the pool from scale buildup that can over the winter months. Clean - Clean up any leaves, dirt, etc. Closing an Above Ground Pool: Five Easy Steps September 14, 2017 Labor Day signals the end of the summer season. Regardless of whether you handle every other aspect of pool care on your own, closing your pool for winter may be the one time of year you hire a pro. Blowing out the lines means you wont need to add antifreeze, either. Having a structural leak in a pool without the money to attend to the problem is a real issue. It takes a little extra effort, but thats nothing compared to how much work opening will be if you dont close your pool the right way. Your filter and heater may have more than one plug, so double check to be safe. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Before closing up your pool, it's important to ensure it's as clean as possible to prevent the growth of bacteria. 69 4.3K views 2 years ago #swimmingpool #poolclosing #poolmaintenance From http://www.swimmingpoolsteve.com/page. If you can afford to keep the pool running with minimal filtration and chemical maintenance then this is by far the preferential option. This article was co-authored by Sina Kamran and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure. For one thing, you need an excavator to break the concrete. And all of that couldve been avoided if youd just learned how to close your pool before winter hit. Most guides on closing your inground pool dont mention this, which is unfortunate. Other than being a big, dangerous hole in the ground, the main risk for draining pools is that all pools require water in them (to one degree or another) in order to maintain the structural integrity and hydrostatic balance within the ground. If you live in a warmer climate where the temperature doesnt get to freezing or below, and you want to avoid blowing out your lines, you can use antifreeze. Or maybe youd just rather take a quicker route. filters, or you can backwash the same way youd backwash a sand filter. Winterizing an Intex pool is similar to closing an above ground pool, with just a few minor but important differences. Well remind you about them throughout the post. Residential pool owners often follow the same schedule. Important: If you choose to use antifreeze, be sure to purchase the one designed for use in pools, not car antifreeze. Alternatively, you can also use a special sand filter cleaner. To avoid the damage that could cause, use products designed to be left in a closed pool, such as a WinterPill. Youll need fewer chemicals to make the water swimmable again. are properly balanced as this will help protect the pool from corrosion and scale build-up that can occur while its closed. Just be mindful of any chemicals that you may have already added in earlier steps. How much would it cost to close in my in-ground pool? Related: 7 Ways Pool Heater Maintenance Saves You Money. Complete Liquid Test Kit for Pools and Hot Tubs, Calcium Hypochlorite Pool Shock (Cal-Hypo Shock), Air Compressor Kit with Hose and Fittings, How to Winterize an Intex Pool in 12 Steps. Finally, perhaps the most obvious answer is complete removal of the pool. Having a permanently closed pool in your yard where people and animals can access the body of water is an extreme safety concern. This is no small project, involving demolishing the structure, removing the debris and filling the resulting hole with tons of compacted dirt. Then pull out and clean your skimmer baskets. Your pool plumbing is not built to withstand excess pressure, so purging the lines of water is a delicate process. This process typically takes 2-3 days since there are a lot of materials that need to be brought to your pool. 806 97K views 3 years ago PENNSYLVANIA Closing a saltwater pool. Especially when you go to reopen it in the spring. For servicing your pool heater, we recommend scheduling annual maintenance. This will require that you periodically pump out some rain water and snow melt to avoid constant overflowing. Plus youll need fewer chemicals to reopen as well, which is money saved. Make sure you winterize it correctly. But making sure you have everything on hand before you start will save you a last-minute trip to the pool store in the middle of the closing process. Were talking in a day or less. And youll need more chemicals to get the water back to its clean, clear, pristine condition. You can also close your pool permanently if you don't want it anymore. You may not need all of these winterizing chemicals, depending on where you live and what kind of water you have. 1 Fill in the pool with soil and gravel if you're looking for the least expensive option. Screws into the bottom of the skimmer to absorb the expansion of winter freeze-up and is perfect for big, deep skimmers. They may even have an engineering technician on their payroll that you can use. What do I backfill a semi inground pool with? If you have any symptoms of algae, use an algae brush and be especially thorough. The type made for pools is non-toxic, unlike the automotive version. Drain all water out of the pump, filter, and pool heater, if you have one. My guy is doing mine for $100 an hour, and he predicts 12 hours max. New pool owner guide The pump should be removed completely from the installation and stored indoors. Servicing your pool heater and pump extends their lifespans and keeps them running at peak performance. Balancing the water and putting in a few additives helps prevent complications from poor water chemistry. So if youre ready to close your pool, or preparing for it, keep reading. If this describes your situation then at least the best you can do is to learn more about what happens to a pool with a long term leak. Things like the interior surface of the pool (all types of pools including fiberglass, concrete and vinyl liner) are specifically prone to damage from sitting stagnant. Adding chlorine to the tune of a few liters (less than a gallon) every two weeks to a month is the absolute minimum that you should do. Insects - Part and parcel with stinky, stagnant pool water will be the insects that move in to take over the now chlorine free water. This will protect your pool from contaminants and keep all the chemistry work youve done nicely under wraps. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Chlorine tablets or floaters may not dissolve or distribute correctly when used for winterizing a pool, especially since the pump will be turned off most of the time, if not during the entire off season. Reasons to properly close your inground include: Figuring out the right time to close your pool, and how to do it, comes down to two factors: If you live in a colder climate with winters below 60 degrees, start closing your pool once temperatures steadily drop below that point. Lower temperatures are inhospitable to algae and can help the water stay clearer longer. You may need an adapter. Is the pool in decent shape or are you going to hire them to balance the water, clean the pool, or fix things? There are really no good answers as to how to do it well, and without any long term problems. Sina Kamran is a Hardscaping Specialist and the Owner of Design Scapes, Inc. in Santa Monica, California. Doing this will not guarantee that the pool avoids damage while "in storage" but at least this should minimize the risk to your pool and maximize the quality of life for anyone who needs to live in or around a dormant pool. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Regardless of your reasons to want to close the pool permanently, you need to consider that the pool will continue to deteriorate without regular maintenance. Add the pool shock per the manufacturers instructions. Be sure to flip the valve back to filter after backwashing. b. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. Stagnant water is not congruent with longevity of pool components. Related: 7 Ways To Extend Your Pool Season. First, dont panic. Quite often a pool that is left uncared for, even for a few years, will require extensive renovations and repairs which could have otherwise been avoided. Often the process follows a familiar path where the pool is mostly neglected for many years, during which time regular repairs and maintenance are not performed, which leads to a situation where all the "little things" have now added up to giant, expensive, repair bills. This will cost extra! If nothing else this should allow you to limit your concern for future damage to the pool structure itself. Empty and open the filter case to clean it and the filter very thoroughly. It should be 4-6 inches below the skimmer in vinyl-lined pools, and below the tile line in plaster pools. Both of which saves you money on energy costs, and expensive repairs. If your water has high levels of metals (if your water comes from a well, for example), add Metal sequestrant when closing. A thicker vinyl cover, safely secured by cover anchors, that protects your water and prevents hazard by supporting largeamounts of weight. The last thing you want to do is leave a bunch of nasty debris and bacteria sitting in your filter all winter. A lot of pool care relies on timing, and when to winterize your pool is as important as how. How To Close An Inground Pool - Part 1 - Introduction & Explaining Pool Winterizing Supplies - Poolandspa.com TV.Here are the links to view this entire 4 Par. Bacteria & Disease - In addition to the lovely diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, west nile virus, equine encephalitis and many more, stagnant pool water can also be a breeding ground for airborne diseases like Legionnaires disease as well as terrifying pathogens like flesh eating bacteria. Using a cover is only half the battle to protect your pool during winter. If you put a pool into long term storage there is a very real chance that you will need to do some serious repairs and renovations to open it again one day in the future. Be sure you have a pool cover pump to remove pooling water from the cover, both to protect the cover and any people or animals who could become trapped or drown in that pooled water. Use a pool brush attached to a telescoping pole to scrub your pool walls and floor, getting into the nooks and crannies as best you can. Depending on the climate where you live, the winterizing process will vary. STEP 1: Clear the pool of debris and pool scum. Up to this point, everything has been fairly straightforward. If you have a sand filter, set your filter valve to backwash and run your pump. Put a plug inside the pump in case the valve leaks. The cost to remove an inground pool that is small or standard with easy access can be as low as $6,000 but go as high as $25,000. Remove all the drain plugs from your filter system. Grab your telescopic pole and brush attachment, then scrub each wall of your pool from left to right. Now that everything is clean, it's time to clean the cleaner. Used for all pool openings and closings. In order to keep this resource about pools and spas available for free to all readers I earn commissions for purchases made through links on this page. Since then, his mission is to make pool and hot tub care easy for everyone. Empty and clean your filter, and remove all of the drain plugs in the filter tank and pump. What about shock or algaecide? For more information see the full disclaimer page. On the other hand, if your off-season sees several warm days of 65F (18C) or more, you can test and balance the water chemistry on those occasional warm days throughout the offseason to help keep your water cleaner until its time to open again. Actual costs will depend on job size, conditions, and options. Call the first company back and see if theyll waive their estimate fee after you tell them that you found other companies that do it for free. These are brands, products and services hand selected by Steve for endorsement. The permits for pool filling, abandonment, or demolition are typically a couple hundred dollars. Install rubber plugs in each return line as you see air bubbles escape from them. This breaks up the algae so it can be vacuumed up. Then, rinse them clean with a hose, and replace or store them once dry. Even though you dont need to clean your pool daily when its closed, its good to check on the cover regularly. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. The night beforeor even a few days beforeclosing and putting on the cover, shock your pool one last time. Drape the winter cover over the air pillow so it lays on the surface of the water all around the pillow. Just check out these five easy tips: Berms: What They Are and How to Add One to Your Landscaping, How to Close in an Unwanted In Ground Pool, https://www.annsentitledlife.com/library-reading/filling-in-an-in-ground-pool/, https://www.hometowndemolitioncontractors.com/blog/how-to-fill-in-a-pool, https://www.deckmagazine.com/outdoor-living/structures-features/pool-retirement-plans_o, https://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2016/05/31/how-to-hire-a-contractor/#50d248485526, https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/47778/POOL-SPA-DEMOLITION-PERMIT-Guide--v-10, https://dpw.lacounty.gov/bsd/lib/fp/Administrative%20Manuals/AM%20J103%20Art%201%20-%20Procedure%20for%20Backfilling%20an%20Existing%20Swimming%20Pool%20or%20Spa.pdf, https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/swimming-pools-hot-tubs-and-saunas/remove-and-fill-in-pool/, Einen in den Boden eingelassenen Pool abbauen. If you close your pool properly. It takes thousands of pounds worth of gravel and soil to even fill in a smaller in-ground pool. All that debrisand probably moreis still ending up in your pool. I like to close as neat and clean as possible. Before you do anything else, clean your pool. Remove it, wash it with pool filter cleaner or muriatic acid, then rinse it and allow it to dry thoroughly before you store it. Add one dose to prevent spore growth throughout the offseason. This step is fairly simple. To protect your pool from frostbite during freezing temperatures, lower the water level. Test your water the following day to make sure its balanced. When it comes to ordering pool and spa supplies online in Canada www.PoolSuppliesCanada.ca is by far the best option. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. Having a contractor fill in a pool with concrete typically costs $8,000-30,000, depending on the size of your pool. When it rains or snows, the water can accumulate in the pool under your deck or structure. Big mistake. You probably have to disclose the pool filling if you ever want to sell your home. If you're getting ready to close or winterize your pool, you may be asking a few common questions: Should you add antifreeze to your water? After brushing, grab your skimmer attachment and skim out everything you can see on the surface. Brush and Vacuum to Remove All Debris. "This article provided me the first grand picture of my project to convert my pool to my veggie garden.". Over time this will allow for bacteria and insects to take over the pool, and given enough time the pool will eventually become a swamp. Your city code enforcement office may also be able to point you in the right direction regarding local pool wastewater regulations. The cost is largely dependent upon the size of your pool and the cost of insurance for contractors in your state or country. All too often pool owners in these situations pool owners simply "walk away" and neglect the pool entirely. Swimming pools are not really meant to sit unused for extended periods of time. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Amazon Disclosure Statement - As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Pool and spa chemistry crash course A copper-free algaecide to help prevent your pool from turning green. You may even extend the life of pool surfaces and accessories by taking preventive measures. Filling in an unwanted in-ground pool requires experienced help from a contractor. Anything longer than a single year for a dormant pool begins to risk that the pool will need to be rebuilt from the ground up should you ever want to open it again. This is usually around August to November. Turn the pump valve back to the skimmer line, then shut off your air compressor. -Larry Pietrantonio | Satellite Beach, FL, -Chris Rogers | Falmouth, ME/Kissimme, FL, 21 Pool Care Hacks That Make Pool Maintenance Easy, we recommend scheduling annual maintenance, 7 Ways Pool Heater Maintenance Saves You Money, Balance Your Swimming Pool Water In 7 Steps, A Guide To Basic Pool Heat Pump Troubleshooting, Pool Heat Pumps & Solar Pool Heating: The Perfect Match, Pool Heat Pump Repair | Pool Heater Repair, Energy Saving Tips For Your Swimming Pool, Do it before it gets too cold (32 degrees), Never skip winterizing steps ( it may cost you), Service your pool heater and filter pump BEFORE closing for a stress-free spring opening, Turn off (and clean) your saltwater generator, Power down and winterize water features (fountains, waterfalls, sprinklers), Avoid expensive freeze damage to pipes and pool equipment, Spend less money on pool opening chemicals, Prevent excessive debris and buildup during offseason (less cleanup later), Avoid wasting time reopening in the spring (get back in the water faster), Reduce stress knowing everything will work the day you reopen, Chlorine (or pool sanitizer of your choice), Prevents organic staining and fights buildups, Captures loose metals in the water and prevents staining, Add sanitizer (chlorine, bromine, or biguanide), Open up your skimmer lid and clean out the basket, Clean out your pool pump basket (turn it off first before opening it), Attach a shop vac to pool pumps drainage port (where the drain plug was), Note: You may need a special attachment for this, Turn on the vac to begin blowing out the water inside of the pump, heater, and filter, You should see water flowing out of the different drain holes on your filter and heater. Unless you diligently cover the pool after . This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc.
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