Category Archives: Pool Closing and Winterizing

Pool Accessories, Pool Closing and Winterizing

An Essential Pool Winterizing Accessory

Comment

Air Pillow for Swimming Pools

If you live in a climate where winter air temperatures drop below freezing, the first accessory you’ll need before covering your swimming pool with the winter pool cover is an air pillow. Air pillows absorb the pressure created by freezing water and protect your pool’s walls and liner. As the water in the pool freezes and expands, it will freeze inward on the air pillow rather than outward on your pool walls.

Air pillows are placed under the winter pool cover on top of the water in the center of the pool. To ensure that the air pillow doesn’t move out of place over the course of the winter, you’ll want to use durable string, cord, or twine to tie it to two sides of your pool wall.

Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Closing and Winterizing

The Importance of Cover Pumps for Winter

Comment

Be sure to make the swimming pool cover pump a priority when you winterize your swimming pool this year. A swimming pool cover pump drains the water that collects on your winter pool cover over the off-season months. If accumulated water is not regularly removed by a cover pump, the weight of that excess water can damage your winter pool cover or pull the cover into the water below. Either way, you’ll be in for a messy clean up when spring rolls around again.

Cover pumps are available in manual models and automatic models. Manual cover pumps require that you monitor the pump’s progress and unplug it when the water is drained. Automatic cover pumps, often preferred by pool owners, sense and automatically start when water is detected on the cover.  They also turn off automatically once the water has been drained.

By simply adding a cover pump to your regular winterizing procedure, you can extend the life of your winter pool cover and save yourself money and effort at the same time.

Pool Closing and Winterizing

How Will You Secure Your Winter Pool Cover?

3 Comments

Winter Pool Cover Accessories

Winter is coming, and pool season is at an end for a majority of the country.  Once you’ve winterized your above ground swimming pool, how do you plan to keep your winter pool cover in place for the duration of the off-season months?  If not secured well, a winter pool cover can be easily blown around on breezy days, exposing your pool to the elements and ruining the hard work you put into winterizing.  Three of the available options include pool cover wall bags, winter cover seal, and cover clips.

Pool cover wall bags are designed especially for above ground pools and are positioned around the inside perimeter of your pool, fastened to your pool cover’s cable. Wall bags should be filled only three quarters full with water to make room for the water to expand should it freeze.

Winter cover seal is another way to keep your pool cover in place, and while it looks very much like a large roll of plastic wrap, it’s really a tough poly blend film packed with UV inhibitors. Winter cover seal is wrapped around the covered pool several times to create a tight seal, which prevents wind as well as dirt from getting under the cover and causing damage and premature wear and tear.

Cover clips are a third option for securing your winter pool cover. Cover clips are exactly that — handy fasteners that hold your pool cover in place. They grip your top rail like a clothes pin and hold securely throughout the winter season.

However you choose to secure your winter pool cover, be sure to use something that will keep your cover in place through the entire winter season.  Doing so will protect your cover and your above ground pool from possible damage and exposure to the elements.

Pool Cover Wall Bags Winter Cover Seal Winter Pool Cover Clips

Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool and Spa Safety, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Preventing Mosquitoes Around Your Home and Pool

Comment

No Mosquitos

Late summer and early fall are the prime time of year for mosquito breeding. With West Nile Virus being carried by these insects, it is very important to safe guard your home and family. All mosquitoes need water to pass through their life stages. Did you know that your swimming pool can turn into a breeding ground for mosquitoes? It is very important to keep your pool chemicals at their proper levels even when the pool is covered. Proper chlorination prevents stagnation that cause draw mosquitoes in. Mosquitoes will develop in any puddle that lasts more than four days. Even water that pools on top of your winter cover can provide the right conditions. Using an automatic cover pumps to keep pooling water off your cover is a great way to prevent this. Below are more tips on protecting your family against mosquitoes and West Nile Virus during the early fall months.

  • Remove tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots, discarded tires,  or similar water-holding containers and areas that may have accumulated on your property.
  • Drill holes in the bottom and elevate recycling containers, garbage bins, etc. that are left out of doors to prevent pooling water.
  • Turn over wheelbarrows and do not allow water to stagnate in bird baths, ornamental ponds, or other water features around your home.
  • Clean clogged roof gutters. Gutters are easily overlooked but can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
  • Repair leaky pipes and septic systems or outside faucets. Do not let air conditioner run off water collect in shady areas.
Hot Tubs and Saunas, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Don’t Put Away Your Bathing Suit Yet

Comment

Dips in the backyard swimming pool may be getting chillier by the day, but there’s no reason to stow away your bathing suit yet when you can still enjoy soaking in the luxurious warmth of a hot tub.  My preference is the portable variety.  Portable hot tubs and spas offer a number of advantages over more permanent hot tubs.  Here are just a few…

Two of the most significant advantages of portable hot tubs and spas are their size and easy set up. They are generally smaller than traditional spas and can fit into tighter spaces. There’s no need to clear a significant area in the yard or on the deck in order to house the structure. Because of their smaller size and clever construction, most set up in only a few minutes — some are inflatable and come equipped with their own inflating device, while others have insulated panels that connect together. Setting up and transporting portable spas is so easy that you can even take them along on vacations and even to the homes of friends and family.

One of my favorite advantages of the portable hot tub is also the most practical one.  Portable hot tubs and spas plug into a standard household outlet. Traditional varieties operate on hard wired, GFCI-protected 220-240 volt 50 amp circuits. These circuits need to be installed by a qualified electrician. Portable spas, on the other hand, have a GFCI built into the end of the cord, so they can plug directly into a standard 110-120 volt outlet.

Thanks to the humble portable hot tub, you can winterize your swimming pool without mourning the passage of another summer season.  Keep your bathing suit handy throughout the winter, and enjoy a bubbly soak whenever you wish.