Markham Pool Closing Service

Pool Closing Services: What to Expect 

When you want to protect your pool for the winter it is important to treat the areas that you can see, as well as the systems that are hard at work behind the scenes. It is common for pool owners to want to close their water systems down right after the September long weekend, which is normally seen as the kick off to the fall season, but this isn’t always the best time. 

Instead of focusing on a specific date it is best to shut your systems down when the average outdoor temperature reaches 15 degrees. Closing your pool too early can mean missing out on the last warm days of the summer while closing too early can mean being overrun with algae in no time at all. Instead of getting ready to open your pool in spring only to find it looking more like a swamp than a swim space, Puddle technicians break the closing down into a multi-step approach. 

Step 1: Proper pool closing should start with a thorough cleaning. Pulling a pool cover over leaves and debris for the season will lead to organics rotting and breaking apart, contaminating water. If there are sunken items sitting at the bottom of your pool for long periods, they will stain vinyl liners permanently leaving them looking awful. 

Step 2: Sub-zero temperatures make plastic brittle and can lead to internal components breaking down. Removing detachable components to be dried and stored for the winter can help to keep them in good condition until they can be used for the upcoming swim season. 

Step 3: Everyone knows that water freezes. It takes prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures for pool basins to ice over completely but for small amounts of water inside systems it happens much quicker. Frozen water expands up to 9% which can cause cracking in return lines or burst pipes, which can lead to flooded basements and drowned/icy yards and surrounding areas. Dropping the water level in your pool so it falls below the skimmer line means keeping water out of vulnerable areas where it can freeze and cause damage. Dropping the water level is important for an inground pool while installing air bags in an above ground pool will prevent freezing. 

Step 4: Winterizing drain plugs prevents water from seeping into sensitive areas. Flushing return lines also reduces the risk of damage caused by freezing. It is also a good idea to check up on filtration systems, examining (or even removing) cartridge filters and checking the pressure gauge on sand filters. 

Step 5: As much as you might focus on water chemistry during the swim season, owners often pay less attention to chlorine levels when the weather gets cold. When going into fall, ditch the basic test kit and opt for winterizing chemicals. A winter chemical treatment prevents algae growth and also reduces the risk of freezing. 

For the best in fall pool care call a local Puddle Pro for efficient and affordable closing services. With a wide range of services available, there is never a bad time to call Puddle for your seasonal treatments, routine cleaning program, service calls, inspections and even pool leak detection.