When should I close my pool?

Swimming weather usually lasts through September in our area, and often into October. There is usually no real risk of freezing until after Thanksgiving, so there is no reason to hurry up and close your pool. You can wait as long as you like, but many pools are closed immediately after the kids return to school with the remainder of them being closed by the end of November.

The biggest factors in determining when to close your pool are how many trees you have and which type of cover you have. If you have very many trees in your yard, once the leaves start falling, you may find that you may have to clean out your skimmers baskets and your automatic cleaner as much as 2-3 times a day. If you cannot keep up with this, you may want to close earlier instead of later.

If you have a mesh cover, remember to "close late and open early" to minimize the algae growth that can occur because sunlight passes through the mesh. Some folks that have a mesh cover will put the cover on as soon as the leaves start falling, but will leave the pool operating underneath. That way, if we have a nice weekend, they can pull off the cover and enjoy the pool again.

If you have a solid cover, you can close earlier. Some folks with solid covers wait until most of the leaves have fallen before they close because they find it easier to keep the pool clean than to scoop the leaves off the top of the cover.

Regardless of what type of cover you have, the less time that your pool is dormant, the fewer problems that you will have during the rest of the year. Plus, the pool looks so much better when it is running. So why not try and extend your poolside season. If we are lucky, we'll have a couple of nice evenings where you can sit out next to the pool and enjoy a drink or have dinner with the family. And an Indian summer could mean that the kids can keep swimming into October.