As a resident of Texas, you are very familiar with the hurricane season. Most residents in the southern states of America have June 1st, the start of hurricane season, marked on their calendars! This is generally the start of harsher weather conditions, as storms can quickly pop up throughout the summer. You also understand the importance of preparing your home and family for an impending storm, but have you ever thought of preparing your pool? One of the areas of your home that you have to focus some of your storm preparation on is your swimming pool. This is because flooding during a storm can cause serious damage to your swimming pool and bring contaminants such as silt, mud, dirt, and even microbes. Below are several tips you can use to prepare your swimming pool before a storm.
Keep the Pool Full
A lot of people wrongly think that they need to leave their swimming pools empty during heavy storms. However, it is imperative to remember that heavy rains lead to excessive groundwater, which might exert upward pressure on your pool and, consequently, cause the swimming pool to pop up or float. To prevent such a catastrophe, you need to keep your swimming pool full. Doing so will provide the necessary force to keep the pool’s sides and bottom in place. In other words, keeping your pool full will preserve its structural integrity during a storm.
Turn off the Power
Whether you are using propane, gas, or electricity to power your swimming pool, it is important for you to turn it off if a storm is brewing. If you are expecting floods, you will also have to unplug the pump motor and other electrical pool equipment and keep them in a high, dry place. This is because flood water might submerge them and, consequently, damage them.
Put Away Loose Items
Loose items, such as toys, tables, chairs, and pool cleaning tools around your swimming pool could become dangerous projectiles if strong winds hit your neighborhood. As a Texas resident, you know all too well about the dangers of a storm. However, an item many people forget to check is the skimmer lids. Make sure you secure those down or remove them if you can’t securely fasten them.
Leave the Pool Uncovered
When you learn that a storm is about to hit your area, your natural instinct might be to think of covering your pool. However, swimming pool experts disagree. This might sound counterintuitive, but yes, you should not cover your swimming pool if you are expecting a storm. This is because falling branches and other flying debris might land on your pool cover and damage it extensively. When the storm finally passes, it will be much easier and more economical for you to remove the debris from your pool than it would be to buy another pool cover.
Trim Trees
Strong winds during a storm can cause the overgrown or dead tree branches to break off and land on your swimming pool, leading to damages that could cost you a significant amount of money to fix. Although it is not easy to know what Mother Nature has in store for you, getting rid of such troublesome branches can go a long way. Cleaning up your trees helps you avoid the financial pain of having to undertake extensive swimming pool repairs from damaging tree debris after a storm.
Add Extra Chlorine to the Pool
If your property gets flooded during a storm, some of the floodwaters will end up in your swimming pool. This means that a lot of contaminants, including disease-causing microbes, might end up in your swimming pool. For you to prevent your swimming pool from becoming a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria and fungi, it is imperative for you to add extra chlorine to your swimming pool. Chlorine kills microorganisms, and having more of it in your pool will keep the pool water safe even during a storm. If you use Gold Medal’s pool maintenance service, give us a call, and we can help with this.
Include your Pool on Your Insurance
Storms expose us to some of the wildest weather conditions. Therefore, even with all the preparations and precautions, there is no guarantee that your pool will still be in one piece after the storm has passed. Therefore, it makes sense to ensure that your home insurance covers your swimming pool. This will make it possible to fix pool damage a storm might cause without paying excessively out of pocket.
If you have any questions concerning any of these points, please give us a call. Gold Medal Pools not only builds the very best custom pools, but we have an amazing service staff here to answer all of your questions. When you work with Gold Medal, you get the very best in service for the life of your pool!
