Advice Please

[Rubygrrl]

Hello everyone!

We recently bought a home in May 2021 with a vinyl pool. Our previous home had a vinyl pool as well, so we are not new to pools

Anyway, I wasn’t sure exactly where to post this, so I’m sorry if it isn’t in the right place, but we had someone come look at our pool because the liner is full of wrinkles which we assume are from ground water, poor install, or both.

The pool company/person had three recommendations for us:

1. Keep an eye on the liner for any bubbles/water underneath since the rainy season is coming up here in Texas. If that is an issue, he can install a sump pump into the pool deck with a lifetime warranty (this sounds awesome)

2. He also recommended we remove our SWG because we have brick coping. Ugh. I didn’t wanna hear this. What are your thoughts on this? We really don’t wanna give up the SWG.

3. Finally, he suggested we convert our pressure cleaner line to a suction line and purchase a suction cleaner. Our pool has a dedicated cleaner pump and we have a Polaris 280, which I know is old, but has done great! But the pool company guy said the wheels will eventually mess up the liner, especially with the wrinkles. Thoughts on this? We need to buy a new cleaner (the 280 is old and we need to replace it), and so I wanna make sure we buy the right one for our pool. We were considering just buying another 280

Thank you so much for any advice you can provide :0)

 

[Texas Splash]

I gotta say, I'm not hooked of most of the advice above. The wrinkles might just be from age, sure. In some cases, if the wrinkles are hard or brittle it could also be from poor water chemistry over a long period of time. In any case:
1 - Bubbles? Hummm, maybe if air can get under there. More than anything you'll get a leak and may never see bubbles.
2 - Nope. The SWG and additional salt content in your water, which is nominal by the way, will not ruin your brick. Even if you never had a SWG and used liquid chlorine for years, the salt content in liquid chlorine can add-up to the same amount as someone who uses an SWG.
3 - If the liner is really weak, it is possible any cleaner could find a weak spot, but I wouldn't say the Polaris is any more susceptible to tearing it than other cleaners. If you feel like upgrading to a different cleaner, that's fine, but I don't think it needs to happen based on that issue.

My 2-cents anyways. I'm sure others will reply. Enjoy the weekend.

 

[heikejohn]

How old is that liner?
Mine developed some wrinkles over time due to age.
I nursed it along as long as possible, fixing some small tears as they developed, and replacing it when it was absolutely necessary.
(Meaning: When we had the money saved up for it!)

 

[PoolBrews]

Any time I hear that a pool professional recommends a new pool without an SWG, or recommends removing an existing SWG, I tell folks to run far and fast from that professional. They are obviously not versed in all of the details of a salt water system and are operating on old here-say, preconceived opinions, or just bad information.

If this "professional" doesn't understand this technology, what else have they not researched properly?

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mdragger88]

Can u take pics of the wrinkles? Are they all over or just in places? That may help decipher the cause.
Also if u are in an area of high water table a well point with a sump is a great & important preventative investment so that would definitely be worth pursuing if you intend to always have this pool & to protect a new liner when u get one (just maybe not with that guy).
If it’s a runoff/drainage situation there are possibly other less expensive solutions.

Fwiw I have a dolphin robot & some fairly big wrinkles from ground heaving & so far no issues. It also only weighs 13.8lbs. & has tracks & brushes.
If your polaris is beyond repair (they are almost completely refurbishable) &/or your dedicated pump is older a self contained maytronics robot is a great choice & can save u $ on electricity ️ since it is standalone & doesn’t require a separate pump. They also perform better than most suction/pressure cleaners.
I don’t see how a suction side cleaner would be better than either the polaris or a bot. They all have wheels/tracks or worse - a mamba style suction cleaner can actually suck a hole in your liner if it gets stuck in one spot for too long.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ruby,

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate your "pool guy" a 2 or 3 at best.

Most of what he is saying is a total load of Bull Feathers.

I suggest that you take care of the pool yourself, or find a pool guy that has a clue what he is talking about.

No way I'd have a pool if it could not be a saltwater pool.

If the only choice is between a suction side cleaner and a pressure side cleaner, I'd go with the pressure side cleaner. That said, I am a big fan of "Robots" like this one..

dolphin s200 video - Search Videos

www.bing.com

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Rubygrrl]

I want to thank you all so much for your replies. I should have reached out to you all so much sooner!

Let me answer your questions the best I can:

First, the liner is about 7 years old. The pool guy said we should be able to get one or maybe two more seasons out of it.

We don’t mind the wrinkles and if we can get another season or two out of it that would be great, but we don’t wanna keep using this liner if it could potentially cause any major issues to the pool.

The reason I was trying to rule out a ground water issue is because We don’t want this same thing happening when we replace this liner with a new one, which I know will be happening sooner than later.

The pool guy said it looks like we live on the top of a hill. So he wasn’t convinced it was ground water, but he said it is certainly possible. We have a cement draining ditch behind our home (it literally runs right behind our fence line).

And when when we moved in to the home last May, the backyard was completely saturated. It was like the previous owners ran their backyard sprinklers constantly, even when it rained. We just invested in gutters to try to move as much water away from the house and pool as possible. And we bought a new rain sensor thingy for the sprinklers (the one the previous owners used was broken).

When I said bubbles, what I meant is that we actually observed water under the liner last summer (only one time in the shallow end), and it looked like a bubble under the liner! I actually took a picture of it! I’ll attach it to this post.

I don’t know how to tell if we have a high water table where we live!!? I’ve tried researching it and finding maps but can’t.

I know we observed water under the liner once, but we are kind of hoping it’s because the previous owners kept things so saturated! The pool guy estimated a sump pump to cost $3500, and if we need it, that’s fine, but I hate to throw down that much money if the problem was the previous owners over watering the lawn!!

I will also attach some pics of the wrinkles in our liner to this post. They are terrible!

Last thing, it’s hard to find good pool companies in our area, we are a fairly small city

Any other advice or suggestions are welcomed! Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[Texas Splash]

The wrinkles are certainly obvious and perhaps not pleasing to the eye. But you know what? When it's 100 degrees this summer you won't care and the water will feel the same. Big issue is the apparent water under the liner. That would explain the bubble appearance. ID'ing the reason for the moisture is important for the future of your pool and yard. Could it be related to the culvert next to the fence? Who knows. If so the city should assist. On a hill with a high water table? I would reach out to your local county Environmental Office. They should have good data on your location or perhaps even be able to send someone over for an examination. If there are no man-made reasons for the saturation (i.e. broken plumbing, then you'll want to consider a French Drain or sump pump collection under or around the pool to relieve it of that rising water under the liner.

 

[Rubygrrl]

The wrinkles are certainly obvious and perhaps not pleasing to the eye. But you know what? When it's 100 degrees this summer you won't care and the water will feel the same. Big issue is the apparent water under the liner. That would explain the bubble appearance. ID'ing the reason for the moisture is important for the future of your pool and yard. Could it be related to the culvert next to the fence? Who knows. If so the city should assist. On a hill with a high water table? I would reach out to your local county Environmental Office. They should have good data on your location or perhaps even be able to send someone over for an examination. If there are no man-made reasons for the saturation (i.e. broken plumbing, then you'll want to consider a French Drain or sump pump collection under or around the pool to relieve it of that rising water under the liner.

Yes, the wrinkles are an eye sore, but we are willing to live with them another season or two. I agree with you, the water will feel the same regardless I think our plan will be to buy a new pool cleaner (either another Polaris 280 or a dolphin robot) and keep an eye on the ground water issue. I am really hoping it was due to the previous owners over water the pool; I guess time will tell! At least we know what to look for and if we notice any more water under the liner we will definitely have a sump pump installed (or possible the French Drain) before installing a new liner.

I didn't think to reach out to our Environment Office; I will look into that as well! Thanks for that tip!

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[Mdragger88]

I have a feeling some/most of those wrinkles are from install especially since the liner is quite worn in those places which means they have been around a while. They don’t look like they are from a chemical/balance issue.
Do your best to keep em clean which will require manually brushing them to disrupt the biofilms along with running the automatic cleaner. I have a big crevice type wrinkle & really have to be sure to hit it w/ the brush weekly.
Hopefully with your new gutters & sprinkler repairs you’ll avoid anymore issues.
Knowing that your liner is 7yrs old & probably had most of those wrinkles it’s whole life gives me hope that mine will hold out for quite a while longer.
As they say “wrinkles only hurt the eyes “. There can be a little premature wear as u can see with the fading but liners are pretty tough.
Stay salty

 

[DMS2014]

Ruby,

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate your "pool guy" a 2 or 3 at best.

Most of what he is saying is a total load of Bull Feathers.

I suggest that you take care of the pool yourself, or find a pool guy that has a clue what he is talking about.

No way I'd have a pool if it could not be a saltwater pool.

If the only choice is between a suction side cleaner and a pressure side cleaner, I'd go with the pressure side cleaner. That said, I am a big fan of "Robots" like this one..

dolphin s200 video - Search Videos

www.bing.com

Thanks,

Jim R.

bull feathers. I like that LOL. the guy at the pool store also recommended getting rid of our SWG....i was only there to buy supplies - not his advice!