Wondering how to save money when I replace my liner

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Player1

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Aug 25, 2018
9
Missouri
I think my liner is close to needing replaced. It is 10-12 years old and it is completely white in several places now. It started off a pretty dark blue from what I can tell above the water line. I have only owned the house for a couple of years so I am still new to this. I can also see that it is beginning to pull out and apply pressure to the coping track. Maybe I'm wrong about needing to replace it soon and if I am, please tell me.

I am not looking forward to the cost of replacing the liner. I have been told it will cost around $4,000 and my pool isn't very large (around 18,000 gallons). I am trying to think of ways to lessen the cost without sacrificing the quality of the liner or the install. I don't think I would be comfortable doing it myself without having done one with someone helping me.

I know the local pool company will charge me an outrageous amount for the liner so I am wondering if I could order the liner myself and then hire the pool company to install it. Has anyone taken this approach before? Do you have any other suggestions to save money? My pool is an irregular shape so I am also wonder how to determine what to order.

Thank you in advance for your help. I am still learning and I appreciate all of the wisdom on these forums.
 
Its my understanding that liner companies perfer not to sell to individuals. They do this to protect their dealers. But you can try.

Of course, you'll have to measure your pool dimensions in order to get it size correctly. That itself is not exactly easy to do, but with some though, and good directions, it can be done.

Once you obtain the liner, and you want to explore installing it yourself, you might try posting online for some help. Maybe craigslist or a local online marketplace. Im sure there a a few folks running around out there who used to work for pool companies and might need a few extra $$.

I saw on Facebook someone doing this.

Anyway, thats my thoughts about it.
 
My liner installed was about $4,500. If you really want to do this I'd measure the pool and get a liner quote. Then decide if the money you save is worth the risk of it not fitting. I've seen a number of posts where DYI went well and some where an installer (DYI and/or a Pool Company) ended up replacing the liner.
 
Knowing how to do the measurements correctly is the art when it comes to replacing a liner. I had mine replaced last year for about $3500 and my installer took about 100 measurements over the course of two hours, double/triple checking himself. Latham Liners even called him back two weeks after submitting the order to have him come back out to verify a couple dimensions. There is no such thing as standard dimensions when it comes to in-ground pools and every liner is "custom". Being an inch off +/- on a certain dimension can cause lots of problems, which would be your fault instead of the installer's responsibility.

The installation didn't seem terribly complicated if you have a crew to help you and multiple large shop-vacs. I would highly recommend you invest in several bags of new pool crete to smooth out the floor/base instead of just using whatever was there before. I actually found old pieces of carpet under my old liner which the previous owners put there for some reason. Make sure any inclines are tamped down after smoothing as I had critter tunnels cave in after the weight of the water pushed down. The installer came back a few months later, drained the pool, and then fixed the tunnels.

Not sure about your deep end drains but we had them install dual drains connected to T-pipe configuration to meet up with code. Replacing your liner is a good time to do things like this. I would also go ahead and lock down an installer to replace it in September as this is a good time to replace it and they will all be super busy April-June. If you do it yourself, just do it during a time of year when the tap water is still very warm, increasing the flexibility of the liner when filling it up.
 
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AndyTN said:
Also, here are before and after pictures of my liner getting replaced. If your liner is very faded, replacing it will change the whole look of your pool.
Click to expand...
Wow, thank you for the great information. It sounds like it is well worth the money to hire it out.

Can I ask a few follow up questions? First, how did you know when it was time to replace your liner? I see yours was about as faded as mine is now. Secondly, how long did your liner last and what should I expect the life of my liner to be?
 
Player1 said:
Wow, thank you for the great information. It sounds like it is well worth the money to hire it out.

Can I ask a few follow up questions? First, how did you know when it was time to replace your liner? I see yours was about as faded as mine is now. Secondly, how long did your liner last and what should I expect the life of my liner to be?
Click to expand...

For us we were having to patch it pretty regularly last summer/fall. We had only been in this house for a year at that time. Can't say for sure how old the liner was, but I suspect it was original to the pool (which was built in 1989). It was very old at any rate. It also didn't look all that attractive with all the big patches in the corner above the water line.

We got the new liner installed this year. There is no standard amount of time they last. I will feel happy enough if we get 10 years out of it. Sometimes they last less than that and sometimes more.
 

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