Opening weeks run April through June. The crew pulls the cover, reassembles the pad, starts the system and gets the chemistry moving, so the first warm Saturday is a swim day, not a work day. Hot tub start-ups too.
Water that sat cold under a cover all winter comes up clear and cheap to balance. Every warm week after that, the water under the cover warms with it, and once it climbs into the sixties algae starts growing in the dark. An April opening is a start-up; a late-June opening is a cleanup. Earlier openings mean cleaner water and fewer chemicals, which is why we recommend April.
Olympic Pool & Spa has opened pools across the metro for more than twenty years, and the same crew that builds and services them does the start-ups, so a pump that will not prime or a heater that cracked over winter is diagnosed on the spot instead of discovered in July. Hot tubs get the same spring treatment with a spa start-up.
The closing in reverse. Each step is checked before the next one starts.
Water and debris pumped off a solid cover, the cover pulled, hosed and folded for storage. A safety cover comes off its anchors and the anchors are screwed down flush.
Winter plugs and gizmos come out of the skimmer and returns, drain plugs go back into the pump, filter, heater and chlorinator, and the lines are reconnected.
The pump is primed and started, the filter is set to the right position, the pad is checked for drips, and the heater and timer are set for the season if you have them. If the pump will not catch prime, the suction-side checklist is in our pump guide.
Start-up chemicals go in and the system is left running. Bring a water sample to the store in a few days for a free test and the exact doses for the first weeks.
The most common opening: safety cover removed and folded, equipment reassembled, lines reconnected, system started and start-up chemicals added, for inground pools under a mesh or solid safety cover.
The full open for pools under a solid or tarp cover, with the extra hands, pumping and cleanup those covers need before they can come off without dumping the winter into the pool.
Equipment reassembly and system start-up for straightforward pools, above-ground or inground. Above-ground pools →
Hot tub drained, vacuumed, wiped and sanitized, electrical safety-tested, pumps assembled, filters cleaned, refilled and restarted. Hot tub service →
Old sand out, filter cleaned and inspected, fresh sand in. Recommended every two years, and cheapest bundled with the opening while the crew is already on the pad.
Mention the heater when you book. A heater that held water over winter is the classic spring repair; the crew looks on start-up and the service department quotes the fix. Pool heater repair →
Water level. Fill the pool to mid-skimmer before your week. The pump cannot prime on a low pool, and filling takes longer than people expect.
The equipment. Everything that came off at closing, out where the crew can find it: drain plugs, pressure gauge, pump and skimmer baskets, ladders, rails and the diving board hardware.
Access. Gates unlocked, dogs inside, the equipment pad reachable. You do not need to be home for most openings; we confirm the week by email and text when the crew is on the way.
Repairs and replacements are not part of an opening and are scheduled separately. Large pools, extra jets and skimmers, waterfalls, deck jets, slides, spas tied into the pool and commercial pools are quoted; addresses outside the city of Omaha carry a trip charge. A pool that lost water last season gets leak detection once it is running, and what a wet spring does to the fresh water is on the heavy rain guide.
Opening weeks run from the first week of April through the end of June. Where your pool lands depends on how clear you want the water and how much you want to spend on chemicals.
Cold, clear water and the easiest openings of the year. Safety-cover pools open first; the heater goes on and the pool is swimmable by the first warm weekend. Book these first.
The busy month. The water under the cover is warming, the pool is still clear if the cover held, and Memorial Day weekend is the deadline many families aim at. Book by March for a May week.
Late openers and new owners. Expect more chlorine demand and a cloudy first week; the solid-cover open and the algae charge earn their keep here. The pool still opens; it just takes more.
What was done at closing decides how the opening goes. Lines blown out and the heater drained in the fall mean a one-visit start-up in spring: pool closing & winterization.
Pool opening routes run through Omaha, Papillion, La Vista, Bellevue, Elkhorn, Gretna, Bennington, Ralston, Millard, Springfield, Waterloo and Council Bluffs; out-of-town addresses carry a trip charge. We open pools of any builder, inground or above-ground, vinyl, gunite or fiberglass. Everything else the pool needs through the season is on the pool repair & service page, and routine care is on pool service plans.
As soon as the risk of a hard freeze has passed, which in Omaha usually means April. The earlier the better: cold water under a cover stays clear, and an April opening needs fewer chemicals than a June one, when the water has warmed under the cover for weeks. Opening weeks run April through June and the spring slots fill by March, so book early.
The cover comes off and gets folded, the plugs come out, the pump, filter, heater and chlorinator are reassembled, the lines are reconnected, the system is started and primed, and the start-up chemicals go in. The full open covers safety-cover pools; the solid or tarp-cover open adds the pumping and cleanup those covers need; the basic open handles straightforward above-ground and inground pools.
Fill the pool to mid-skimmer, set the equipment out where the crew can reach it (anything you stored over winter: drain plugs, pressure gauge, pump baskets, ladders and rails), and leave the gate unlocked. Plugs, O-rings and caps on the equipment pad that have to be replaced to start the system are charged on top of the plan.
Not usually. We need the gate open, the water at mid-skimmer and the equipment out. We confirm the week by email, and the crew leaves the system running when they go.
We open it anyway. A green or cloudy pool needs extra chlorine to break the algae and meet the chlorine demand, and that extra is quoted at the time of the opening. Tell us when you book if the water was green at closing or the cover let a lot of light in, and bring a sample to the store a few days after the opening for a free test.
The full open is for inground pools under a safety cover: cover removed and folded, equipment reassembled, lines reconnected, system started, start-up chemicals added. The basic open is equipment reassembly and start-up for straightforward above-ground and inground pools. Pools under a solid or tarp cover take the solid-cover open, which includes the pumping and cleanup those covers need. All three are on the booking page.
Mention the heater when you book and the crew looks at it on start-up. A heater that still held water over winter is the classic spring repair; heater repairs are handled by the service department and billed separately from the opening. More on the pool heater repair page.
Yes. The basic open covers above-ground and inground pools: equipment reassembled, system started and primed, start-up chemicals added. A new liner for an above-ground pool is installed in spring too: liner replacement.
Yes. The spa start-up (drain and clean) is on the opening form: shell vacuumed, wiped and sanitized, electrical safety-tested, pumps assembled, filters cleaned, refilled and restarted. Year-round hot tub care is on the hot tub service page.
Yes — Omaha, Papillion, La Vista, Bellevue, Elkhorn, Gretna, Bennington, Ralston, Millard, Springfield, Waterloo and Council Bluffs and beyond. Addresses outside the city of Omaha carry a trip charge, quoted when you book.
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