DIY Liner install 16x32' pool

[DIYliner]

I started this thread under "Introductions"
But since I'm moving into starting the renovations I'll start a new thread for my progress here

We've been living here for close to 9 years now with the current pool 16x32 IG
It was here when we moved in, one corner already pulling loose...other patches in the shallow end
It held water just fine, I resealed the patches after a few years just to be sure
Last year it started losing a lot of water, I'm a scuba diver so went all over the pool & patched everything I could
But by the end of the summer it was too much...over the winter it drained down & the shallow end was almost dry
This Spring we looked at having a new liner installed...only to find out the install cost would be close to $4k

I then researched DIY installation, after reviewing a lot of info it seemed doable
A friend was going to help me...then the wife got involved....telling me I couldn't do it....too hard, did not know how
Then to boot she tells me her "friend" says the pool has to be filled right away (by truck)...I ask what friend...she clams up
So ticked off I tell her to come up with the $4k if she wants to pay someone....so far no liner
So rather then leave the pool the way it is I'm once again back to DIY installing a new liner
I pumped the remaining water out of the deep end & removed the old liner & muck that was left....not fun

I have some patching to do on the sand packed (shallow end) & concrete bottom (deep end)
We have a high water table so its not going to be a walk in the park to get the new liner in
Based on shutting the pump off 4 hours ago I can tell ground water is seeping in, I'll know tomorrow how much

I'm also considering filling the deep end about 12" - originally had a diving board
I heat with solar so the less water the better

That's where I stand as of tonite
Thanks
-Dave

*UPDATE tonite*
After 4 days I have just over 30" of water in the deep end - not too bad, but not great
I plan on picking up 2" rigid this weekend for the deep end
Lay down the 2" rigid, then some 8x16 pavers on top to keep the rigid in place
Then some sand to fill in cracks etc
Then pour maybe 4" of concrete over top of the sand
That will raise the bottom about 8"....from 7" 6" Max depth (water to top of the skimmer) to about 6' 10"
I had planned on raising the bottom 18", but thought my depth was closer to 8' 6"

I could possibly raise it 12" total by adding about 6" of sand/fill, but that would be a lot of work
I guess I'll see how ambitious I am this weekend, I need to get the patching done on the side before the water causes more problems
I told the wife we can't leave the pool empty thru the winter & told her I am doing the liner
She once again stated that we had to fill the pool immediately with water by truck - according to the "pool guys" she has talked to:
"The water will flatten/straighten out the wrinkles out"
It must be miracle water....if so sign me up for a delivery

I'll also post some pics of the work I have done over the past 8 years to bring the pool area to its current status
Work is ongoing....
-Dave

 

[DIYliner]

Let start with some Before pics, everyone likes pics !
The old 10'x12' cabana, before its 1st renovation/addition --we bought the house in Nov 2003

The pool in 2005, the area at the back fence was overgrown - I cleared that out in 2004
You can see the trunk of the huge silver maple I had taken down - 54" straight across the trunk, hollow 15' up
1st & only time I used a Winter cover, too many leaves & muck

 

[jblizzle]

I am confused about raising the deep end.
I understand wanting less water so your can heat it a little easier (although I question how much volume you are actually changing so it is probably negligible). But it seems like you are going to end up with an odd depth. Too deep to stand, but too shallow to actually dive/jump ... and no option for a diving board int he future.

I guess in my mind I would either want about 5' so I could stand or 7.5'+ so I could have a slide/diving board. Just my $0.02 for your consideration.

Did a calc, if the deep end is 15' long x 16' wide, and you raise the bottom by 12" ... that only removes 1800 gallons of water (probably less than 10% of the total volume), so the easier heating logic to me does not sound worth the effort.

 

[DIYliner]

Some of the wood I had to cut up, there was a 2nd "smaller" maple (42" across the trunk) that was also taken down
This pic is of the wood from the 2 trees, does not show the other 4 trees I took down plus the vines & junk that was growing

Most of the wood is cut up, still more to go

 

[DIYliner]

I am confused about raising the deep end.
I understand wanting less water so your can heat it a little easier (although I question how much volume you are actually changing so it is probably negligible). But it seems like you are going to end up with an odd depth. Too deep to stand, but too shallow to actually dive/jump ... and no option for a diving board int he future.

I guess in my mind I would either want about 5' so I could stand or 7.5'+ so I could have a slide/diving board. Just my $0.02 for your consideration.

Did a calc, if the deep end is 15' long x 16' wide, and you raise the bottom by 12" ... that only removes 1800 gallons of water (probably less than 10% of the total volume), so the easier heating logic to me does not sound worth the effort.

I want to add the 2" rigid foam for insulation, I'd rather have that under a layer of concrete to keep it in place due to ground water
No diving board will ever be re-installed while we live here, no intention of moving
As far as jumping in people are still jumping in the shallow end & that is less then 40" water depth
I do not want to raise the deep end to 5', too much work/fill & not needed IMO, not what I want
As far as a slide I'll have no problem installing a slide in the deep end if I want to - doubt that will happen, unless I find a tube slide

Removing 1800 gallons of water that I no longer need to solar heat is well worth it based on my experience from the 6 years I have been heating with solar
Insulating the bottom will make the most difference, with ground water the pool is constantly cooled
We have a stream on the property not too far from the pool, keeps the ground at 7' deep pretty cool
1st year we lived here without solar we did not use the pool that much - I like 80-84 degree water

Pool cabana gets a 10x10 addition, double door facing a new 10' bar, new concrete along the bottom 3' of the cabana to replace rotting T1-11
A huge jalousie window, plus a smaller jalousie window on the North side - windows were free
A new pump & filter are temp setup pool side until the moving into the cabana
18 cu ft fridge moves out to the cabana

Trench on the North side for a new 60a sub panel I will run

 

[jblizzle]

OK. I am glad to hear you have fully thought it through. I can see the ground water causing cooling and never considered that. I can only imagine having a tube slide ... too funny.

Pool cabana gets a 10x10 addition, double door facing a new 10' bar, new concrete along the bottom 3' of the cabana to replace rotting T1-11

I am curious to see where this goes. I have a shed that is all rotted out at the bottom ... looks like the same material ... that I am trying to decide what to do with it. Did you cut out the rotted part and add a new backing for the concrete or just put the concrete over the T1-11? How are you going to blend the final product between the siding and concrete (maybe the pictures are already forthcoming)?

This has me thinking about maybe stuccoing my shed, since it gets hit by all the water coming off the house (the few times it actually does rain here )

 

[DIYliner]

That was about it for 2005.....pic of the solar heat I setup temp around the side of the pool we did not use
(5) 2'x20' panels, I think running off a stand alone 520 gph pump
Water was pulled from the deep end & dumped in the shallow end
As a result the shallow end was really warm, especially the top 6-8" until the pump was turned on
You can see in the back ground I am dormering the back of the house, house construction took over until 2007
After my son's 1st birthday party in 2007 we realized we needed more room around the pool for people
I used solar heated water to fill the kiddie pool with 90 degree water

 

[DIYliner]

Another weird reason for removal of the diving board - the insurance company, new company would not cover us with a diving board
1st Insurance company when we moved in did not care about the diving board, did not want a slide
2nd insurance company does not care about a slide, but no diving board - so a tube slide is in the plans somewhere down the road

I cut the T1-11 36" up & attached the cement board to the studs, ideally you want sheathing behind it
But my main purpose was to stop rot, to put sheathing behind the cement board would continue the cycle IMO
I did "stucco" the cement, not the best job, but it came out OK

I picked out the colors....the wife was with me...but I won the choice....the darker orange did not look so glow in the dark in the store
I also redid the bottom of the door & the trim, repainted the window shutters, added some decorations (pic from 2009)
Notice that dark edge on the top of the cabana roof, that's a 4x12 solar heater....for a hot tub

In 2008 I start the new patio, replacing the old patio block & adding more patio area
Plus a round circular design on the other side of the bar
Yes that's a solar heated hot tub you see on the left in the 1st pic upper left

The tub

 

[DIYliner]

New seating area (right side) & a raised planter (left), more jalousie window frames/screens to give the area the feeling of a room
I twisted my knee by the pool, so work had slowed down on the patio
Fire pit & skeeter eater - which actually works nicely

A small path of the new pavers leads across the back of the pool to the play area
More pavers went in to widen the path after I took the pic, plus a fence/gate at the far end to keep the pool area secure
While I was extending the patio I ran across someone taking down their deck, I used it to build a 12x12 deck off the patio
Yes, that is an outside pool table, more accurately a pool table outside....free...it lasted 2 years with a cover...leg sagged & slate broke

 

[DIYliner]

The area behind the planter becomes a large veggie garden, with a high water table my tomatoes grow 8' + tall

I build an 8' picanic table to go on the deck
Yes a buried hot tub as part of a future pond - I had to fill in the area behind the pool

We bought a 12x20 screen-house in 2007 for the lawn, that gets moved over the picanic table for 2008
I've also added gardens along the pool fence & small trees for some privacy

 

[DIYliner]

I'm sort of moving thru what I did at a fast pace, if you have any questions by all means ask
I have never done any stucco work, usually you use chicken wire & other materials
I had planned on putting a trim board up over the cement board/siding junction - so far has not happened
My plans change as time goes on....in 2007 I built a 16x16 sunroom off the back of the house...then opened it up to the kitchen
In 2006 I had the foundation poured for a 24x36 garage/same size great room over, & a walk up attic...so pool in late 2008 takes the back burner again

I just used the cement board & my own "mix"...partly cement, partly sanded grout (for the sand & texture)
I used oil based primer over the stucco......then just reg paint over that
Doing the texture work I used a "small" cement knife to just randomly create a texture

The solar heated hot tub - we call it the cool pool, it gets up over 104 degrees
But I then cycle water to/from the pool to cool it off...since my son swims in it my wife wants it under 102
And in 2004 I installed a hot tub up by the house

That was not the final setup to fill the hot tub :lol:

 

[DIYliner]

Jump forward to 2010...back to the pool & cabana
The reason for the 2 years stop ? Notice the 3 story blue building...look back at the old pics...wasn't there
I built it mostly solo...wife helped raise a few walls...had to fire her after she dropped a wall on me

I end up with some old kitchen cabinets, so decide to redo inside the cabana
BEFORE: (60a sub has been run)

AFTER:

Still need to put on 2 cabinet doors

I installed a microwave on that small shelf in the middle of pic under cabinet

 

[DIYliner]

I also ended up with a bunch of 16x16 pavers....so I decide to add another patio area off the back of the pool

This area had become quite overgrown, the "before" pics are after I spent a LOT of time cleaning it out

BEFORE:

I ran a circuit (under 8x8 beams) to the far side for an outside outlet

Put some pavers down to size out how big I can make it

And...a new patio...

 

[DIYliner]

I built the patio in early Spring, finished by early May
Now as it gets warmer, about mid-June...it gets hot & that patio gets REAL HOT....I need some shade
The 12x20 screenhouse collapsed after a rainstorm, those alum poles were just not meant to hold up tons of rain
So I measure it....then off to the lumber store

Before I finish all the fasteners (last pic)

 

[DIYliner]

Guess what ? Its still hot under there...so lets add a misting fan & some misters
Seems I do not have a picture of the misting fan in action, but it works great - 30% or more off at HD
Misting system is a cheap system as a trial ($30), eventually I will run a nice system

 

[DIYliner]

For use at nite I add lights all around, I use a mix of LED & reg lights
In the screen house are LED lights

And also reg rope lights when brighter light is needed
The cabana is outlined in LED rope lights, blue LED rope light under the bar, red jalapeno lights along the "windows" & seating

Some reg rope light on the fence on the far side of the pool

 

[DIYliner]

That was it for 2010, some nice improvements....not too much work in 2011
I also knew mid-way thru 2011 I was starting to lose a lot of water
I redirected water from the gutters to help fill the pool, for every inch of rain that falls I can fill the pool almost 3"
I move the hot tub solar off the cabana roof onto a new support over the bar
This helps shade the bar area & cuts down on the distance to pump the water
On the far left is another smaller pool table....not slate & did not last long

We had some REALLY HOT weather in 2011, one day was 104 out by the pool
Pool temps soared up to 92 for a while....really too warm, but I knew it would dip quickly over-nite

 

[DIYliner]

That brings us up to 2012....and the catastrophic liner failure
If I had my way the liner would have been installed in late June, wife was dead set against DIY liner
So what to do ? Hey let's rip the roof off the cabana !!!

My Christmas decorations are left up there
I build a new "floor" 14' 3" across the lower walls...2' overhang front & back...long 28' sloping roof facing South for solar heat
.....Lowes had a clearance on 2x4 x14' .......... $1.08 EACH....I bought 60, saved about $500

Then start laying out 2x4's & rope to see how I want the roof to go
It will extend all the way out 2' beyond the bar...shade !!!

Let's git er done !!! That tarp will stop any water from getting into the cabana....NOT
**NOTE****Photobucket is down....to be continued tomorrow

 

[DIYliner]

Well I guess today is tomorrow
I did not take as many pics as I thought
I have more....but you get the idea

I'm re-using the old skylight, brings in a lot of light into the "attic"

Rafters extended across the bar...this area will not have a sheathed/shingled roof

This area will have a recessed wall leaving a big shelf, which will hold a 27" wide screen Sony CRT TV

 

[DIYliner]

I go with a polycarbonate (sp?) roof over the bar area. It blocks quite a bit of light & keeps it cool in the bar area
But at the same time leaves it bright enough that you do not feel closed in

The roof steps in on the back side from the 13" 6" needed for the solar panels down to t he ~12" bar area support
On the right side of the addition is the 16x16' sunroom
On the right side of the sunroom - out of site - is the hot tub for the house - also solar heated
Temp Intex pool on the left, frog pond on the right