Your vinyl pool can suffer with the weather getting a little rough during the winter season in Ohio. This makes winter pool care so important. Taking care of your pool during the off-season helps protect your investment, saves you money on repairs and replacement costs, as well as simplifies opening your pool again come spring. A few of the winter pool care tips that can better protect your vinyl pool is what we at Metropolitan Pools would like to share today.
What Do You Do with a Vinyl Pool in the Winter?
1) Confirm the pool cover is properly attached to your pool. You will want to check this multiple times throughout the winter season. Confirm your cover clips or cables are tight and tighten them if needed. You may also need to move or inflate your winter air pillow if you are using one, which we definitely recommend.
2) Periodically remove all snow, water, and debris from the cover. The excess weight from snow and debris can cause damage to your pool cover and your vinyl pool liner itself. Since it makes it more difficult to clear off your cover waiting overly long, shortly after it snows to avoid freezing or getting the snow packed down, it is best to use a broom and/or roof rake to clear off your pool cover shortly.
3) Perform pool chemistry tests regularly. Throughout the winter months, even when you’re not using your pool, you will want to keep an eye on your water chemistry. Algae and bacteria growth can come from an improperly balanced pool chemicals, it will not be fun to deal with come springtime. We recommend checking your pool chemistry once or twice a month during the winter or off-season.
4) Every so often, evaluate the condition of pool equipment, chemicals, and toys. Take some time to really give your pool a good once over after you close your pool for the season. Inventory anything broken or in need of repair, expired chemicals, as well as all pool toys that need to be cleaned and sanitized. You can write it down or purchase the replacement parts/equipment immediately once inventory is done. It is easy to forget during the winter months and your pool opening might be delayed the following summer otherwise.
5) Organize all your pool manuals, guides, etc. Even if you’ve closed your pool a million times before, the off-season is a great time to review all directions, manuals, and other materials that you’ve gotten with your pool and accessories. You can be sure you’re cleaning, maintaining, and storing all equipment properly; the off-season is a great time to review all directions, manuals, and other materials that you’ve gotten with your pool and accessories. You can be sure you’re cleaning, maintaining, and storing all equipment properly during the winter months. Organize them into a handy file system that’s easy to access once you’ve reviewed when you’re ready to open your pool in spring again.
6) Keep an eye the weather. Weather can be unpredictable, so to help you monitor the weather, downloading a weather app and setting up alerts is ideal. You can better be prepared of the big snowstorms and freezing temperatures that may otherwise damage the vinyl liner.
7) Monitor water levels. You will want to keep an eye on your water level throughout the season to keep your pump and other pool parts in working order. During the winter months in colder climates like ours, generally, you pool water should be about 4-6 inches below the skimmer.
Vinyl Pool Installation, Repair, Maintenance & More in Sandusky, Lorain, Elyria, Medina, Parma, Mentor, Akron & Greater Cleveland, Ohio
Metropolitan Pools can meet all your pool needs from vinyl pool installation and vinyl liner replacement to maintenance. Call us today!