Help! didnt winterize before first hard freeze!

[cableguy1]

I delayed, way to long, blowing the lines, adding antifreeze and winterizing the skimmer. We have hard lots of snow and a hard freeze. I just re-did the entire pool this past summer, but have had lots of personal things going on that delayed the closing. Please help me save the lines we just dug and the skimmer I just replaced! We are in Indiana, so its all downhill weather wise from here. Any advice on how to accomplish this closing would be very much appreciated.

[CarlD]

I'm not an expert on this but the obvious step is to act NOW!, TODAY! If the lines haven't frozen, blow them out and add the anti-freeze. If your skimmer has frozen but hasn't broken you'll want to pour warm water (not hot, certainly not boiling or it will crack) into it to melt the ice, then, if you have nothing else, stuff it with foam. If you have a kid's "noodle" float, sacrifice it for the skimmer.

Any pipes and hoses that can be disconnected, should be...I use quick connects EVERYWHERE so I can get rid of all the plumbing.

You'll want to drain your pool below the returns and skimmer. My rule is one inch below the return's bushing, not just the return itself. You can do this even if it's frozen--the water below shouldn't be.

For the buried pipes, the question is are they frozen or not? If they are, you'll have to get them unfrozen--and hope and pray they haven't cracked. But buried pipes take far longer to freeze, so there's hope, depending on how frozen and for how long it's been--is the ground that far down frozen?

You may want to buy a full-coverage wet suit--a thick one, with gloves, booties and a hood, just to be able to to the bottom where you need to, especially if you have a bottom drain. But do NOT go under ice--your pool isn't worth your life. Your pool's repairs will not compare to hurting yourself in personal cost.

Now let's hope the IG pool experts kick in with their ideas...I'm an AG guy.

[waste]

Carl has pretty much covered it. How much iced is on the surface? - this will be a good indicator as to the rest of the system. Open the pump and see if there is ice in it, if there is you'll need to cover the whole system and apply some heat to defrost it. As you just reran the lines, how deep did you run them? are they below the frost level?

If you remembered to run the pump when the temps were below 30* - the water should still be liquid.

You've gotta do as much as you still can NOW! to protect the pool for the winter. If you need any more tips I'll check in every few hours to see if you've posted an update.

Good luck with this and the other stuff going on in your life

[Poconos]

Haven't been on in a couple days but I mention this for anyone. Careful draining the pool when it is frozen with any significant ice thickness. The surface is a big block of ice and lowering the water level could put a tremendous strain on the stairs and even the skimmer if the ice is frozen into the opening. I have periodically had to drain mine during the winter with ice many inches think, in fact I've had 17" of ice once. The skimmer opening has a foam block in it to keep the ice out and I use a backup pump and a stream of water to clear ice from around the return opening plugs and cut the block over the stairs loose from the main ice block. I've now got a large block of ice, free floating, and not catching on anything. To give me access to liquid water for the pump suction line I partially sink a couple 5 gallon pails in places. I use a 5 gallon pail with an inner bucket loaded with crushed stone to sink the big one. Obviously cover it to keep out rain and snow. Pull out the inner pail and then pull out the 5 gallon and you have an ice fishing hole. If the big one is frozen in just pour some warm water in and wait a few minutes and it will come out.
Hope all went well with no damage and please let us know what happened.
Happy Turkey Day.
Al

[cableguy1]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information, I thought I would be out of luck since its so late in the posting season
Over the holiday, we were blessed with 2 days of 40 degree weather which allowed the skimmer to thaw and the surface ice to become paper thin. The return lines are about 36" buried, so I think I may be in luck as far as the freezing of those. I was able to disconnect the filter and pump, winterize both and drop the water level about 36 inches. I was trying, amatuer, I know, to avoid dropping the water below the returns, that was my initial plan, to save water. Does anyone have any opinions on the 1 way valves that are sold for the returns? Or should I just hurry, drop the water line and quit dilly dallying around?