Late August is when the phone starts ringing. The water is still warm, school is back in session, and the pool is getting used a little less every week. Closing your pool properly is the single best thing you can do to protect it through a Tennessee winter, and doing it in the right order matters more than doing it early.
Here is how we approach a closing, what you can handle yourself, and where it pays to bring in a technician.
When should you close your pool in East Tennessee?
The honest answer is later than most people think. You want water temperatures holding steady below 60 degrees before you close. In Johnson City and Kingsport that usually lands somewhere between mid October and the first week of November, depending on the year.
Close too early and you are asking algae to grow in warm, unfiltered water for six weeks before the cold shuts it down. You will pay for that in the spring. Close too late and you risk a hard freeze reaching water that is still sitting in your plumbing lines. Watching the water thermometer beats watching the calendar.
The pool closing checklist
Work through these in order. Skipping ahead is where most winter damage comes from.
- Balance the water three to five days before closing so the chemicals have time to circulate and settle
- Brush and vacuum the walls, floor, steps, and any dead spots behind ladders
- Clean the skimmer baskets and backwash or clean the filter
- Lower the water level below the skimmer and return lines
- Blow out the return lines, skimmer lines, and main drain, then plug them
- Drain the pump, filter, heater, and chlorinator completely
- Add your winterizing chemical kit and circulate briefly before shutting down
- Remove ladders, rails, and diving boards, then install the cover and secure every anchor
Closing an above ground pool is a different job
Above ground pools follow the same chemistry steps, but the structure changes the rules. Do not drain the pool. The water is what holds the walls in position, so you lower it a few inches below the skimmer and stop there. A fully drained above ground pool can buckle over a single hard winter.
You also want an air pillow under the cover. It gives the ice somewhere to expand into instead of pushing outward against your walls. Center it, inflate it about two thirds full so it has room to flex, and run a cable and winch around the perimeter to keep the cover tight.
What it costs to skip a step
Water left in a return line freezes, expands, and cracks the fitting. You do not find out until you open in April and watch the level drop three inches overnight. A heater that was not fully drained can crack its heat exchanger, which is one of the most expensive single repairs on a residential pool.
The cheaper failures still sting. An unbalanced closing means staining and scale on the surface. A loose cover means leaves, silt, and organic material breaking down in your water all winter, which turns a two hour spring opening into a full week of chasing chemistry.
Let our service team close it for you
Our service crew closes pools across Johnson City, Kingsport, and the surrounding Tri-Cities area, and closings book up fast once temperatures start dropping. If you want your pool on the schedule this season, reach out now rather than in late October.
Not sure whether you are ready to close yet? Give us a call or stop by either showroom and bring a water sample. We will test it, tell you honestly whether it is time, and get you on the calendar when it is.
