DIY guidePool

Close the pool before the frost

Balance and clean the water, lower it below the skimmer, drain and blow out the equipment and lines, plug them, and cover the pool tight.

9 steps

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A few days ahead, balance the water, brush and vacuum, and empty the baskets.
Pump the water down below the skimmer's mouth, or as far as your cover's maker says.
Switch the pump and the heater off at their switch or breaker before you drain anything.
Take the drain plugs out of the pump, the filter and the heater and let them empty. Keep the plugs in the pump's basket.
Blow air through each line from the pump end, with a shop vac or a compressor set low, until it bubbles out in the pool. Then plug that end.
Keep the air pressure low and wear eye protection.
Plug the skimmer's hole and set a foam float or skimmer guard in it, so ice can't crack it.
Add the winter chemicals as their label says, poured round the pool.
Fit the cover snug, with water bags or its anchors all the way round, so wind can't lift it.
Keep children and pets off the cover.
A line that won't clear, a cracked pump or filter, or a heater that won't drain: ask Handyman for a pool pro before the hard frost.

Handyman says: Lines won't clear? I'll find a pool pro.

Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.