Taking the pool down without ruining it

First: should it come down?

Not every above-ground pool is a take-down pool, and getting this wrong in either direction is expensive. Inflatable and soft-side pools come down, always — there is nothing about them built to survive a freeze standing. Small and mid-size metal-frame pools are designed to be dismantled and re-erected, which is a large part of their appeal.

Heavier steel-wall pools generally stay up. Nearly 7,000 gallons and a galvanized frame is not something you casually take apart each autumn, and those pools are built to overwinter with a proper close: lowered water, a winter cover, an air pillow to absorb ice expansion. That is a different procedure and it is covered in our winterizing guide. If you are unsure which category your pool is in, our types of backyard pool page sorts them out.

The take-down sequence

1. 1

   Let the chlorine fall before you drain

   Stop adding tablets and let the level drop over several days. Heavily chlorinated water is not something to send onto planting, into a watercourse or down a storm drain in one go. Check what your local rules are — they vary, and we cannot look yours up for you.
2. 2

   Drain slowly, and think about where it goes

   Use the drain plug and a hose rather than tipping the wall. Several thousand gallons arriving at one spot will saturate ground, undermine a path or find its way into a basement. Spread it out, move the hose, and direct it away from the ground you intend to reuse next season.
3. 3

   Clean while the wall is still supported

   Wipe the liner down while there is still enough water to hold the shape. Cleaning a standing wall is a fraction of the work of cleaning a heap of vinyl on wet grass, and anything you leave on the surface has all winter to work on it.
4. 4

   Dry it completely, then turn it and dry it again

   Open the liner out in shade — not direct sun, which is hard on vinyl — and leave it until genuinely dry. Then lift it and dry the underside, which is the side that has been sitting on damp ground all summer. This step is not optional and it is the one people rush.
5. 5

   Repair before you fold

   Any puncture, however small, gets patched now. Vinyl repair kits work on liners, floats and air beds, and they need a clean, completely dry surface plus hours of cure. October has both. The first hot Saturday in May has neither.
6. 6

   Fold warm, fold loosely

   Pick a mild day. Fold along broad curves rather than pressing sharp creases, and do not force the package smaller than it wants to be. If the weather has already turned, bring the liner indoors and let it come up to room temperature first.
7. 7

   Store sealed, dark and dry

   A sealed plastic tub, indoors or in a dry garage. Dark, because UV degrades vinyl even through a window. Sealed, because mice nest in folded liners and a chewed liner cannot be repaired. Keep frame poles and fittings dry and together in a labeled box — a missing pin in May is its own kind of misery.

Looking after the ground, not just the pool

The patch under the pool has spent a summer under several thousand pounds of water with no light. It will be compacted, and it will be dead. Lift the ground cloth, let the ground dry and recover, and keep the cloth itself — rinse it, dry it and store it with the liner, because it is the item that protects against punctures from underneath next year.

If you intend to put the pool back in the same place next season, this is also the moment to notice whether the ground moved. A hollow or a lean that developed over the summer will be worse next year, and it is far easier to correct on bare, dry ground in autumn than on setup day in June. Our setup guide covers leveling.

When it is not worth storing

Be honest about this one. If the liner is brittle at the water line, if there are multiple repairs from the same season, or if the frame has corroded through at the joints, storing it carefully is postponing a decision rather than making one. A replacement liner on a cheap pool can approach the price of a new pool, and the liner types are not interchangeable — our liner replacement guide works through that comparison and how to measure so you order the right one.

If the pool is sound, though, the hour you spend in October is what makes the difference between reopening in May and re-buying in May. Our how long they last guide covers what decides lifespan across the whole category, and the opening guide is what to read when it comes back out.