Five Fantastic Tips to Close Your Fiberglass Pool Right

Close your pool right in the fall to have a great spring!

They say all good things must come to an end. In the Midwest, that’s a sad but true reality for inground pool season. It’s nearing time to close the pool. To ensure a quick and easy spring fiberglass pool opening, close it properly in the fall. So, here’s a list of five fantastic tips to close your fiberglass pool right.

1. Balance your water chemistry. We recommend having your water tested by a professional. If your pool maintenance schedule is a little out of whack because you’ve been in it less since school started, achieving a properly balanced pool can take a couple of days, so don’t wait until the day before closing to check levels. While test strips are good for a quick dip test, you should have a professional do a complete water analysis. A complete water analysis will check all important chemistry levels including, but not limited to, total alkalinity, pH, free chlorine, total chlorine, calcium hardness, salt, stabilizer, metals and total dissolved solids. Remember, clean and sparkling pool water does not always mean that your pool water is properly balanced. Looks can be deceiving. Some of the prettiest pool water can be the most destructive.
2. Wipe down the scum line (or tile line.) Body oils, suntan lotions, and airborne contaminants can sometimes build up on the pool surface along the water line. These can easily be wiped away. Microfiber cloths work great. If necessary, you can use a mild detergent, fiberglass or vinyl cleaner. Remember to never use abrasive cleaners, automatic dish detergent, steel wool, metal scrapers, or other brushes or tools because they can cause permanent damage to your beautiful gel coat finish.
3. Give it a final clean. A few days before your closing, give your pool a final clean. Skim off any debris floating on the top and vacuum any debris or leaves that may have settled on the bottom of the pool. This is also an excellent time to rinse off your pool deck and automatic safety cover tracks.
4. Add your winterizing chemicals. The day before your pool pros are scheduled to come, add in your winterization chemicals. They’ll need several hours to circulate before your pump is shut off. Clean out your skimmer basket and remove any remaining debris that may be in the pool.
5. Tidy up. Take the time now to organize and properly store your chemicals. Give your deck furniture and cushions a good cleaning (or you might want to leave them out for any warm and sunny days still to come). Sort through the pool toys, noodles and floats. Toss any that you plan to replace next year and tuck the rest away.

That’s it! Once you’ve zipped through this list, you’ll be prepared for your pool pros to come and finish the job so you can look forward to an easy spring opening.