Winterizing an above-ground pool is simple but unforgiving.

Yes, you can do it yourself, but miss one step and you’ll be patching a liner or replacing a pump come spring.

The basics are the same every year: balance the water, lower it below the skimmer, drain the pump and filter, blow out the lines, plug everything, cover it. The order matters. If you drain the pump before lowering the water level, you risk the liner popping out. If you don’t plug the return line, water seeps back and freezes.

The expensive mistakes are usually from two things: forgetting to drain the pump (it cracks) and not putting a winter plug in the skimmer (ice expands, skimmer splits). Both are cheap fixes if you catch them, but a cracked pump housing means replacement.

You don’t need a pro for this. Just buy a winterizing kit, watch the pump’s drain plugs carefully, and don’t skip the air pillow under the cover. The cover itself doesn’t matter much — weighted or not — as long as it’s tight enough to keep leaves and critters out.

Your future self will thank you when you open it in May and just need to pump and balance instead of troubleshoot.