Tag Archives: winterizing

An Essential Pool Winterizing Accessory

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.

How Will You Secure Your Winter Pool Cover?

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

Preparing Your Above Ground Pool for Winter

Above Ground Winter Pool Cover

The end of swimming season is near, and it’s time to begin preparing for winterizing the above ground swimming pool.  Here is a handy guide for preparing your pool for the winter season:

Step 1
Before closing your pool, make sure the water is chemically balanced. Adjust the chemical levels if necessary. Chemically balanced water protects the pool from corrosion or scale buildup that can occur while the pool is not in use. Your chemical levels should be as follows:

  • pH: 7.2 – 7.6
  • Alkalinity: 80 – 120 parts per million
  • Calcium Hardness: 175 – 250 parts per million
  • Chlorine: 1 – 3 parts per million

Step 2
Remove all deck equipment, including ladders, stairs, etc.

Step 3
Brush down the sides and floor of your pool and then vacuum.  This step prevents staining, which can occur if any dirt or debris is left to sit in the pool.

Step 4
Add winterizing chemicals by broadcasting them into the deep end of the pool.  These chemicals help protect water quality during the off season months.

Step 5
Clean the filter, skimmer, and pump basket. Remove all unused chlorine product from the chlorinator. Cartridge filter elements and D.E. grids should be cleaned and stored. If you have a sand filter, backwash it.

Step 6
Some people insert a skimmer guard into the skimmer and plug the return line. Others lower the water in the pool below the returns (where the water jets into the pool) and the skimmer. Either method is fine — the choice made is based on personal preference. NEVER COMPLETELY DRAIN A POOL! This can cause your above ground pool to collapse.

Step 7
If your pool is plumbed with detachable, flexible hoses, remove them and store for the winter. Remove all drain plugs from the pump, filter tank, and any other pool equipment. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your specific equipment. Place all drain plugs in the pump basket for storage.

If your pool is hard plumbed, use an air compressor or shop vac (attached to the blower side of the vac) to blow water out of the system by forcing air down the skimmer and through the plumbing.

Step 8
If you are using an air pillow, inflate it by using a shop vac. Tie the air pillow at two places and position it in the center of the pool. Tie strings to the pool wall so the pillow will not move during installation of the pool cover. Air pillows are commonly used, but not absolutely necessary. They are a good idea in colder climates in case the water freezes and expands. The water will freeze inwards on the pillow instead of outwards which can potentially damage the pool wall. Pillows are NOT used to create a dome-like effect to keep rain off of the cover.  Rain water will always settle around the pillow.

Step 9
Place an above ground pool winter cover over the pool surface, black side down.  Some homeowners who have children or pets prefer to cover the pool with a safety cover over the winter.

If covering your pool with a winter cover, place the cover over the pool, then thread the cable through the loops or grommets. Use the winch provided with the cover to tighten the cable.

If your above ground pool has a deck, place wall bags end to end around the edge of the pool. Fill the bags 3/4 full with water.  Do not over-fill because the bags could burst when the water inside freezes.  Never use bricks, concrete blocks, etc. to secure the cover because they can damage your pool cover or your pool.

Step 10
Place a cover pump in the center of your pool cover to drain excess water accumulation.  Too much water on top of the cover can cause the cover to rip, or it can pull the cover and wall bags into the pool.  Either way, you’re in for a messy cleanup effort.

Planning now for winterizing will help make the process go faster and easier once the time to winterize has arrived.  Until then, though, enjoy the remaining days of summer warmth in the refreshing comfort of your above ground pool.

Keep Your Winter Cover Firmly In Place

Cover Clips
If you have an above ground pool, you probably have a winter cover. Now is the time to start thinking about the best possible ways to hold your cover in place this winter to ensure that your pool stays clean and protected. There are several methods available to hold your cover securely in place. Here are the tools that we suggest:

  • Cover Clips – These handy fasteners are tough! They grip your top rail like a clothes pin and hold your cover on tightly. Cover clips keep your above ground pool’s cover in place and helps reduce the wear and tear on a winter cover from wind damage. Use two clips per upright or approximately every 16 to 18 inches.
  • Cover Loc Jr. – If you are looking for a stronger hold that regular cover clips can offer, you should consider the Cover Loc Jr. system. It offers deluxe two-part cover locks that will not pull off in the strongest winter winds. Just snap together the 5″ male and female clips and your cover will stay firmly secured. They are perfect for high wind areas.
  • Winter Cover Seal – In addition to cover clips, winter cover seal is a great option for keeping your cover in place. It offers a very simple solution to keep the wind from getting under your winter cover and causing damage and premature wear and tear. Its unique blend of tough poly-blend film wraps around your pool to seal out gusty winds. The secret to Cover Seal is a special blend of resins that enables this unique material to stretch and hold tightly over a long period of time, even during extreme cold weather. Cover Seal is also packed with U.V. inhibitors so that the sun will not weaken it.

Not Too Soon to Prepare for Winterizing

Yes, summer is still with us, and thinking about winterizing the pool right now probably seems premature.  But, now is actually the best time to make sure that your winter pool cover is in good shape and that you have all the necessary accessories to keep your above ground pool properly protected over the winter months.

Once the pool water has been prepared properly for winter and you are ready to top it all off with a winter pool cover, there are really only three winterizing accessories about which you should be concerned.

Air Pillows

If you live in a climate where winter air temperatures drop below freezing, the first accessory you’ll need 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 to tie it to two sides of your pool wall.

Cover Pumps

Next, you’ll want a pool cover pump to drain the water that collects on your pool cover throughout the winter 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 have a messy situation to clean up. 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 and turn off automatically once the water has been drained.

Bags, Seal, or Clips

Finally, you’ll want to consider how to keep your winter pool cover from being blown around on breezy days, exposing your pool to the elements and ruining the hard work you put into winterizing. There are many options available for keeping a winter pool cover in place, including 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.

Are you all set for winter?  Then, go out and enjoy the rest of those hot summer days in the pool!