Seasonal openings and closings for in-ground pools, itemised so you can see exactly what the visit covers. From $495 plus chemicals, across Twinsburg, Solon, Hudson, Chagrin Falls and the Route 91 corridor.
We charge from $495 plus chemicals for an opening and from $495 plus chemicals for a close. That is above what some outfits charge, so here is precisely what it buys, step by step.
Brush off, remove and fold the winter cover for storage on the property, and lower the cover anchors flush.
Remove the winterizing plugs and reinstall all skimmer baskets and return eyeballs.
Reassemble all pool equipment — everything pulled or drained at closing goes back.
Initial vacuum to waste (pulling debris straight out of the system rather than through the filter) or net the pool, depending on what is in it.
Prime the pump so it draws water rather than air, start the systems and check every component for proper operation.
Add the initial dose of chemicals — shock the water to clear the winter's organic load, then chlorinate and balance to spec.
Both figures are starting prices. What moves them is the pool: size, what is on the pad, how much is in the water when we arrive, and access.
Spot-vac or leaf net the pool to remove debris as needed.
Lower the water to the proper winterizing level.
Chemically treat the water with winterizing chemicals.
Winterize all plumbing lines and equipment — blow out the lines, drain and purge the equipment, antifreeze the runs that need it.
Cover the pool.
Open early to mid April. Earlier than most people expect, and the reason is not comfort — it is that an early opening prevents algae taking hold, and it surfaces any equipment problem while there is still time to fix it before the season. A heater that will not fire is a very different problem in April than in the first week of July.
Close after Labor Day at the earliest, and there is genuine latitude here. Some of our customers leave pools open into November.
The reason there is no single date is that the trigger is water temperature, not the calendar. Below roughly 65°F the biological activity that drives algae growth slows sharply, which is what makes a pool safe to leave for months. Close while the water is still warm and you are shutting down a pool that is still biologically active; leave it too late and you are gambling on the first hard freeze.
An in-ground pool still open in late September
The practical guidance. Watch the water rather than the date. If you want the season, a cover and a heater will buy you October safely. If you want it closed and forgotten, mid-October is the comfortable window in this part of Ohio.
This is the part worth understanding before choosing on price, and it is why we itemise.
A cracked return or suction line. These are underground, usually under a concrete deck. The repair is not a plumbing repair, it is an excavation — the deck comes up to reach the pipe, and then the deck has to be made good. That is the expensive one, and it is expensive because of the concrete rather than the pipe.
A split heat exchanger. Not repairable. The heater is replaced.
A cracked pump housing or a fractured filter tank. Both replacements.
A failed multiport valve. Replacement, and it takes the closing with it.
Winterizing is not about the water in the pool. It is about the water in everything else — the pump, the filter tank, the heater, and the buried plumbing between them. Water expands when it freezes. Anything rigid that is full of water and gets cold enough will freeze-crack — and a freeze-crack is almost never a repair.
What that looks like in practice:
Note the pattern: almost nothing on that list is a repair. Freeze damage tends to destroy components rather than injure them, and it shows up in thaw — you find out in April, five months after the mistake, when the season is starting.
There is a second, quieter cost. Freeze damage of this kind is a consequence of how the pool was closed, not a fault in the equipment, so it is not a warranty matter. The manufacturer's warranty on a heater does not cover an exchanger that split because water was left in it.
That is the whole argument for a professional close, and it is why the step list above has a step for blow out and a step for antifreeze rather than one line saying "winterize".
There are two schools here and the difference is worth knowing, because "we winterize your pool" covers both.
Blow-out only clears the lines with compressed air and plugs them. Done properly it works, and it is how most of a well-executed close is achieved.
Antifreeze — pool-grade, non-toxic antifreeze, not automotive — goes into the line after the air, covering the water that air alone cannot always shift. Long runs, lines that do not drain back toward the pool, and plumbing with low spots are where air alone can leave a slug of water behind.
We do both. We blow out every line, and we antifreeze the runs where the geometry says air is not enough. It is a small material cost against the failure mode described above, and treating it as optional is where most freeze damage originates.
Pool lines being cleared at a closing
One thing, and it matters: the water needs to be at the appropriate level before we arrive.
For an opening that means topped up. A pump that runs dry is a pump that fails, and we cannot prime a system that has no water to draw. If we arrive and the level is short, we cannot start the pool, and the visit has to be rescheduled.
Beyond that, clear access to the equipment pad and the pool surround, and pets indoors while we work. That is all.
Because the amount is not knowable in advance, and building an average into the price would mean overcharging most people.
The chemical demand at an opening depends entirely on what the winter did to the water — how the pool was closed, what the cover let through, how warm the spring was, and how much organic load is sitting in there. Two identical pools on the same street can need materially different amounts.
So the service is priced and the chemicals are billed for what the pool actually takes. You pay for what goes in.
This is also why our chemical and equipment checks are priced the same way — see chemical and equipment checks, from $72 per visit plus chemicals.
“After having different companies open and close our pools, and then having M & G Pools, I would never have anyone else! They are extremely professional, kind, efficient, and knowledgeable. They definitely go out of their way to help their customers.”
The spring startup and the winterisation are different visits with different step lists. Each has its own page.
Tell us about your pool and we will get you on the schedule.
An opening and a close are the two visits a year where every component gets handled, which makes them the natural time to catch things.
At an opening we are starting every piece of equipment and watching it run. That is when a seal weeping at the pump, a pump beginning to cavitate, a filter that needs a backwash before it will hold pressure, or a heater that fires and cuts out get found. At a close we have the equipment open and drained, which is when corrosion and scale are visible — and when the electrical bond at each lug can actually be inspected, which is both a safety check and a common source of intermittent faults that look like control problems.
If we find something, we tell you what it is and what we think it needs. Diagnosis on a component we are already standing at does not need a separate visit — see pool equipment repair for how repairs are handled.
A hairline crack in a pool pump volute
M & G Pools services in-ground pools exclusively. We do not service, repair or supply equipment for above-ground pools, and we do not service hot tubs or spas.
Spring and autumn are the heavy weeks of our year and the schedule fills in order. Booking early is worth doing.
Openings and closings start at $495 plus chemicals. The full step list for each is itemised above so you can see what that covers. What moves the figure is pool size, what is on the equipment pad, how much debris is in the water when we arrive, and access.
Early to mid April. Opening early prevents algae taking hold and surfaces any equipment problem while there is still time to resolve it before the heavy part of the season.
Most people start after Labor Day, though we have customers who leave their pools open through November. The real trigger is water temperature rather than the date — below roughly 65°F the activity that drives algae growth slows sharply, which is what makes a pool safe to leave for months.
Because the amount is not knowable in advance. Chemical demand at an opening depends on how the pool was closed, what the cover let through and how warm the spring was — two identical pools on the same street can need very different amounts. Pricing an average in would mean overcharging most customers.
Both. We blow out every line with air, and we add pool-grade non-toxic antifreeze to the runs where the plumbing geometry means air alone may leave water behind — long runs, lines that do not drain back toward the pool, and plumbing with low spots. Treating that as optional is where most freeze damage starts.
Have the water at the appropriate level. A pump that runs dry is a pump that fails, and we cannot prime a system with nothing to draw. Also clear access to the equipment pad and the pool surround, and pets indoors while we work.
Water left in the plumbing or equipment expands when it freezes and splits it. A cracked underground return line means lifting the deck to reach the pipe; a split heat exchanger, a cracked pump housing or a fractured filter tank are replacements rather than repairs. It also is not a warranty matter, because it is a consequence of how the pool was closed rather than a fault in the equipment — and you find out in spring, months after the mistake.
