winterizing a vinyl pool

Michelle I
by Michelle I
I live about a half house south of Macon, Ga, and have a new vinyl inground pool, I hear of talk about winterizing the pool, since I have only lived in Ga for a couple of years and have come from FL prior can anyone tell me what that entails exactly. thanks for all comments
  5 answers
  • Jan P Jan P on Sep 03, 2012
    Being in New England and sadly having to close up my pool....curious as to why in GA you wouldn't keep your open all year?? I am sure there are pool companies that could come out and do that for you....if you really need to!! Good luck!!
  • Michelle I Michelle I on Sep 03, 2012
    First let me say I don't live a half of a house south of Macon, I meant a half an hour. Kind of funny. Jan I am not sure I need to winterise the pool, i am hoping to get that answer and if I do, if its something I could do. The leaves are just starting to fall here and I want to buy a cover or what ever I need to do to be ready.
  • Your local pool supply company should be able to provide you with the winterizing chemicals that you will need. The most important thing you need to know is to lower the water level to below the skimmer height and blow out the pipes with air. Put plugs in the pipes so water when it rains does not fill the pool and enter into the skimmer pipes. Also be sure that the pool is really clean. Very important. The next thing that is important is the cover. Choose a good quality one. Depending upon if you have built in screws that are placed in the cement walkway around the pool or not, you will fasten the cover to these. If you do not, you will purchase water holders. They are simply a large vinyl balloon that is about four feet long and about six inches around. you fill them with water and they are placed on the cover surrounding the pool to keep the cover in place. Ideally the screw fasteners are the safest as they prevent the collapse of the liner should someone walk on it during the winter. A good quality liner should prevent any leaves and light from getting to the water. If it is sealed properly when you remove the cover in the spring, the water should be just as clean and clear as it was when you covered it. We had a pool cover on at a farm we used to manage before I was married. The farm was a horse farm. One of the horses got loose and popped over the small fence he had surrounding the pool, You heard of the saying the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence? Well the liner was green of all colors, the horse walked onto it and its legs fell through suspending it in the air with its legs in which I found out later was very cold water. We ended up, or should I say I ended up using a razor knife cutting the horse free and walking out the shallow end and up the stairs. This liner had the screw mounts in the cement walkway around the pool, had the liner not been fastened in this manner, the horse would have drowned because it would have pulled the liner in with its weight. So purchase the best you can get. For safety and for better results in the spring when you open it up,
  • I'm not sure if you need to winterize your pool if it will not freeze over the winter. If you do want to or need to, I would recommend using a pool professional. You can find one on the APSP website (association of pool and spa professionals). This is the link to the member locator http://www.apsp.org/Public/ConsumerSearch/index.cfm just add your location get professionals in your area. Basically winterizing is blowing out all plumbing lines or adding antifreeze to those lines, plugging inlets and outlets in the pool, covering to pool, and removing equipment and storing it in a warm place. Let me know if you need additional help. Video for winterizing your pool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4_26opIdwM
  • Michelle I Michelle I on Sep 11, 2012
    I think from what I have heard that there isn't a need to winterize thank you everyone