above or below the skimmer to close?

[traceyb]

Since this will be my first year in closing.........can anyone simply list the steps in which to close one........or steer me in the right direction? I've heard both drain below the skimmer or buy a skimmer box cover???????????????
What do all you pro's do? Please fill me in..........

[denanbob]

I would like to know as well. Unfortunately, I bet this particular folder doesn't get read much since it's not time to close up yet and everyone is in peak swimming season. All I can say is that we'll drain to below the skimmer and return because we're going to unhook all of the hoses and equipment and store it in the garage for the winter. I saw somewhere where someone said it costs $275 to close a pool. I can't figure that out. I'm planning on closing for $0. LOL! I think we'll just shock the pool, drain the water about 4-5 inches, unhook the hoses and equipment (clean out the filter), put the winter cover on and anchor it with gallon jugs filled with sand or water. Hopefully someone will come along and correct me if I'm wrong. :o

[sevver]

I closed my pool last season for the first time with a closing kit, and amazingly enough, the opening of the pool this year was a breeze. Every other year I opened a nasty mess, and for a few years dumped tons of money and time into getting it back. The last two years before last, I drained the pool, and got in there and cleaned it all up and refilled.

So, with that said if I remember correctly, to close the pool, I put in a bunch of shock, a bottle of algecide, and some of the blue stuff, then there was the floating chlorine thing, which I think sunk to the bottom and bleached out my liner but I don't remember noticing it until after the water cleared up.

So, I have also been wondering about the BBB method for closing the pool, I figure that you would need to bring the Chlorine levels to shock level, put in some preventative algecide, and cover. I could be wrong though...

My thing is the winter cover, every year I have a hole in them, I plan on making another post about that sometime though.

[cleancloths]

I never drain at all. I install a screw in device called a Gizmo into the threaded hole in the bottom of the skimmers. These are plastic tubes that extend up above the water level and are about 3" wide in the middle. There is an opening at the top of the tube which you can use to blow the lines out, and then a small cap to close it with. The water stays in the skimmer and when it freezes this tube absorbs the expansion so there is no damage to the skimmer. They cost about $10 or $15.

[les_smith]

Here was a good post.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=2364&highlight=closing
This will BBB my first year to close using BBB. I'm going to do it the way this link says, at least that's how I feel right now.
We have a AG pool and this is what we use to secure our cover:
http://www.wintercover.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?T1=WNA+GLA+CLJ36&FNM=92&UID=2003101416021017
http://www.wintercover.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?T1=WNA+DTO+WCS600&FNM=92&GEN1=Winter%20Cover%20Seal&UID=2003101416021017
The plastic wrap I buy at a mail packaging/delivery type of store. It is a lot cheaper that way. Half the price. The stuff I get doesn't have the UV protection, but it last long enough for me.

[sevver]

I use those clips too, I like them, they seem to keep the whip down alot. And funny you brought it up, I have some shrink wrap that I was going to use this year, I know a guy who did it to his last year and he said it worked well.

[les_smith]

The trick is to get it tight. Also, don't use the 6 inch stuff. You need to use the 12 inch so you can get plenty of over lap top and bottom of the coping. Otherwise, the wind will eventually blow off the plastic wrap.

[matt4x4]

I shock using bleach, 24 hours later, drain below the skimmer/return, leave both open so accumulated rain and snow water just falls out (AG pool), drain and take equipment (not filter) inside. DONE.
I hook up my equipment early in spring, catch all that rain to get the pool filled, turn it on and add bleach and throw in the vac - DONE.
If you open early enough, there's no mess since algae needs relatively warm temps to form.