Winterizing Your Inground Swimming Pool

Closing your inground swimming pool

Swimming Pool Tips

Clean out the swimming pool. The first step is to clean out any leaves, insects, dirt and debris. Use your pool vacuum, or just fish them out with a net. Clean out the skimmer and the pump basket, too. Clean the tile line with tile cleaner. Easier now than next spring, when the scum has had all winter to set. Balance the water chemistry. This protects the pool from corrosion or scale buildup. Using a water test kit, adjust the water to the recommended levels of pH, total alkalinity, calcium (hardness) and chlorination.

If you want to add a winterization chemical kit, do it now. These kits put high levels of chlorine and algaecide in the water to prepare it for the winter months ahead. Your pool retailer offers ready-made kits for the purpose; use according to the maker's directions. In the case of larger pools, you may be directed to supplement the kit with additional quantities of some chemicals, too. Don't let your chemicals damage your pool. Don't add tablets or a floater that contains chlorine or bromine—they can damage the equipment nearest them. If you already have chlorine or bromine tablets in your feeder, let them run out so that none remain. If you're adding winterizing chemicals, pour them into a bucket and then into the pool. Some of these chemicals instruct you to turn on the pool filter while you add the chemicals. Make sure you do, especially if you have a vinyl liner pool—you don't want stains on your liner from un-dissolved granules or damage to your equipment from concentrations of chemicals in the water. The #1 enemy: freezing. When water freezes, it expands with enormous force. It's the force that breaks up highways, splits garden hoses, explodes beverage cans in your freezer, and it's the force that expands and cracks pool pipes, filters, pumps and skimmer baskets. If you are closing up your pool for the winter, you should always take precautions to protect from freeze damage no matter where you live—even pool owners in the South have learned, to their regret, that freezing temperatures are an ever-present risk. To start the process, drain the water down below the skimmer mouth. DO NOT EMPTY THE POOL! The expansion of the soil under the pool as the water in the soil freezes can jack the pool right out of the ground; it needs the weight of some water to keep it firmly in place. Be good to your pump and heater. Disconnect your pump and filter. Make sure all water is completely drained from the pump. For insurance, turn it upside down once and dump any excess water out. Remove the drain plugs from it (there may be one or two); they'd trap water inside, which is bad. Once you've drained the pump, turn it on for just a second or two (no more—the seal is vulnerable to damage) to expel any remaining water from the impeller. Store any small plugs or parts in the pump basket, so they're easy to find next year. If you have a heater, drain it and make sure there is no standing water inside. Blow it out with a compressor or shop vac. Drain the heater completely, remove any drain plugs, and stash those plugs too in the pump basket for next season. Remove all return jet fittings (the entire fitting!). If you crack a fitting while removing it, don't panic! You can get a replacement come spring. Remove all skimmer baskets. Put fittings and any other items that you remove in one of the skimmer baskets or the pump basket to avoid loss (this includes the dive board bolts too). No water in the pipes = no freeze damage. Unscrew and loosen any quick-disconnect fittings or unions at your pump and filter system, then blow out the pipes. A wet-dry shop vacuum or air compressor is ideal for this. Force the air from your pump down the skimmer and through the skimmer (or "suction side") pipes. Blow out the return plumbing by hooking up your compressor to the return lines at the filter system, or by screwing it into the pump's drain plug. Keep at it until you see air bubbles emerge from the return jets, then tightly plug the fitting below the water line. Close up all exposed pipes with plugs. Also blow out the main drain line (if any). No diving necessary to plug up the drain pipe—when you see bubbles coming out of the drain, plug the pipe on your end or close the gate valve. This will create an "air lock" in the line, ensuring that no more water can enter it from the pool side, which protects the main drain line. Clean the filter. Remove the filter hoses. Spray the cartridge filter elements and D.E. (diatomaceous earth) grids with Filter Cleaner, then rinse them clean with a garden hose. For D.E. filters, drain the filter tanks and leave the backwash valve open. If you have a sand filter, clean it by backwashing. Important: Don't acid wash a D.E. filter at pool closing time. Wait until spring, when you can conveniently run pool water through the system to rinse it out. Simply rinsing off the acid and putting away the filter will give the acid all winter to attack the filter components. Open the drain at the bottom of the filter to let out any water in the filter outlet; be sure to open the air relief valve on top if you have one. Put the multiport valve in the closed or "winter" position—blow the water out of it if necessary—and remove the pressure gauge. Stow the drain plug with the other removed items you're stashed in the pump basket. Your final freeze insurance: the flotation device. Before you put on the cover, you'll want to install a flotation device in the center of the pool. This device needn't be anything fancy—it can be a "pillow" sold at your local pool retailer or a truck innertube. The float balances the rainwater and ice sure to form on your pool's cover over the winter. Even more important, it eases pressure on the pool walls by allowing winter's ice to push in on the flotation device, not outward on the walls. Last step: The winter cover. The winter cover is important for both the pool and the people around it. It's stronger than a summer cover, both to withstand the weight of snow and ice, and to protect people or pets from accidentally falling through the cover into the water. If your cover has any rips, fix them. If they're beyond repair, replace the cover. Stretch the cover over the pool, black side down. If any sharp points are protruding from beneath, cushion them with cardboard or rags. Then stretch the cover very tightly across the pool (this can be a 2-3 person job). Run a strong wire through the holes around the perimeter of the cover, and snug it up using a wrench so the cover stays down in winter's winds and rains. Time for storage. Remove rope and floats from pool and put with the rest of the supplies. Store any dive board and ladders in the shed or garage, with your pump and filter. Store your dive bolts or ladder bumpers in the pump basket. If you have a sand filter, just leave it outside. You're done. Your pool is ready for winter's worst. Your investment is protected. And your spring pool opening should be an easy step to another season of swimming enjoyment! Submitted By: Splash Pools Splash Fiberglass Swimming Pools of Raleigh, North Carolina serves all of North Carolina, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, Lake Gaston, . We specialize in the installation of Viking Fiberglass Swimming Pools, Vinyl Liner and Concrete Swimming Pool Installations and Renovations including Tile and Coping, Natural Stone and Paver Decking, Pool Resurfacing with Pebble Tec outdoor fireplaces & kitchens, landscaping and more. Visit Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina at www.SplashPoolsNC.com

Fiberglass Swimming Pool Myths

Fiberglass Swimming Pool Myths

Unfortunately, there are some serious fiberglass swimming pool myths regarding the potential drawbacks of owning a fiberglass swimming pool. We at Splash Pools of Raleigh, North Carolina will try to address and alleviate these so-called issues.

Fiberglass Pool Myth #1

Fiberglass Pools Will Float or Pop-Up:

This is one of the most amusing of the myths and misconceptions we've heard regarding fiberglass pools. If anyone (especially another pool dealer) tells you that fiberglass pools pop out of the ground, then they are simply being dishonest and trying to use fear as a means of motivating you to get another type of pool.
There is a local company (we will not mention any names here) that loves to tell homeowners that every time there is a hurricane or heavy rain in the area, fiberglass pools all over the place float up out of the ground. We personally called this company once and asked them to give us just one name of someone who had a pool float, and of course they were unable to give us such information.

During our years of swimming pool building in North Carolina, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Lake Gaston, Charlotte and the surrounding areas we have never had a pool float after installation. This is because not only are the pools always full of water, but the concrete deck engulfs the pool's outer lip, making it impossible for the pool to move unless the concrete deck moves with it. Additionally, Splash Pools installs a drainage system below every Viking Fiberglass Pool that we install making it impossible for the swimming pool to "float" under ANY condition. Please don't be fooled by anyone who uses this ploy as a means to push you in a different direction.

Fiberglass Pool Myth #2

Fiberglass Pools Look Cheap:

Had someone said this 15 years ago, I would have agreed with such a statement. Now, however, this is just another fiberglass pool myth. Times have changed in the fiberglass industry, especially with the introduction of cantilever concrete coping, colored pool finishes, waterline tile, mosaic inlay tile, fiber-optic lighting, water features, etc, etc. With so many options and features to choose from, homes of all value ranges can easily find a pool that corresponds aesthetically with their appearance. When we show pictures of the pools we have installed to customers, we often get asked if they are seeing concrete pools. This is because fiberglass pools are now very beautiful and permanent looking. This is also why customers of all economic classes (we have installed many pools where the home value is well over 2 million dollars) are going with the fiberglass advantage.

Fiberglass Pool Myth #3

Fiberglass Pools Only Work in Warm Climates:

This fiberglass pool myth really makes no sense at all! It is an accepted fact in the swimming pool industry that fiberglass has the ability to "flex" due to its incredible tensile strength, much more so than any other type of permanent pool (i.e. concrete). Moreover, when people are concerned about freeze conditions having an adverse affect on fiberglass, they are forgetting that when the water in a pool freezes, it expands in an upward direction (where there are no barriers). But the simple fact is that we have never had even one customer sustain any damage to their fiberglass shell due to freezing weather conditions. Again, this statement is easily verifiable with our customer reference list.

Fiberglass Pool Myth #4

Fiberglass Pools are Much More Expensive than Vinyl Liner Pools:

The answer to this fiberglass pool myth is a little tricky, but hopefully we'll be clear here. Typically, if someone is comparing a fiberglass pool to a liner pool - apples to apples, features with features - they will find that a fiberglass unit typically runs 5-10k more, initially. We say initially, because when considering the cost of a pool there are two different ways to arrive at the number.

The first way is by solely looking at the initial cost of the project. The second, unlike the first method, takes the initial price but also adds the expenses of the pool over the course of its lifetime.

For example, let's say you spend $25,000 initially for a vinyl-lined pool. Considering the liner will typically last 8 years on average (this number can be more or less depending on a variety of factors) before it has to be replaced, and the average cost of a liner replacement is usually between 3-5k, a pool owner could easily spend 8-12k on liner replacements alone during the first 20 years of the pool. The same principle is applicable to concrete pools who have to be replastered (every 8-12 years), where the average cost for this service is well over 5k. This is one of the great beauties of a fiberglass pool.

There are almost never any large expenses down the road for a homeowner to worry about. When a potential pool buyer figures in the cost of long term repairs/expenses, as well as the year-to-year savings on chemicals, it is no wonder why so many consumers are willing to pay more initially for a fiberglass pool in order to pay less and have less headache in the long run.

I hope this aided you in sorting out the Myths from the Facts of Fiberglass Swimming Pools. Please feel free to let us know if you would like us to cover any additional subjects.



Submitted By: Frank Bowman

Frank is the Owner of Splash Pools based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Splash Pools specializes in Viking Fiberglass, Custom Concrete and Vinyl Liner Swimming Pools and Spas in North Carolina, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Greensboro, Apex, Wendell . Providing discussions about fiberglass swimming pool myths, Saltwater Chlorinators, Infinity Edge Pools, Fiberglass Pool Prices, Variable Drive Pumps, Pool Renovations and ceramic composit pools

Splash Fiberglass Pools of Raleigh and North Carolina Names as one of 6 Viking Pool Experts Nationwide

It's not often that we "toot our own horn" but Splash Pools is very proud of one of their own - Frank Bowman - who was just named as one of the 6 fiberglass pool experts nationwide for Viking Pools. You can check out the section on the Viking Website under the Ask the Experts tab. Frank has spent his career helping to elevate the swimming pool industry to new levels of quality, expertise and design. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions you would like us (or Frank) to answer about you new or existing pool.

Submitted By: Splash Pools

Splash Pools installs Viking Fiberglass, Vinyl Liner and Custom Concrete in ground swimming pools in Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Clayton, Chapel Hill, Holly Springs, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Southern Virginia. Additionally, we provide turn key installations including outdoor kitchens & fireplaces, paver & natural stone patios, landscaping, lighting, pool houses and cabanas. Contact us at www.SplashPoolsNC.com or Info@SplashPoolsNC.com or 919-291-8354