Bought a house...with an old pool..that same old story.

[1oh2]

Ok, not even sure where to start, but here goes. I just bought a house with an in-ground, sand floor, concrete walled, vinyl lined pool that is 18’x40’. The pool was reportedly fine last year, but the liner is spent and prior to selling the property, it pretty much junked itself.
The sellers gave me a quote of $5.5k from the pool service company they used in the past. The quote induced, draining (it’s half full now), replacement of the sand floor, replacement of gaskets and replacement of the liner.
I have never owned a pool, so I’ve been reading and reading and reading and searching about pools and all the pro/cons of liners, fiberglass, salt water...you get it. In reading, I came across companies that install a coating called Fibreliner as a conversion from vinyl to fiberglass. I can’t seem to find much on the subject, but from what limited info I found, it seems like a good alternative to vinyl. So, where I stand is do I go back with vinyl, talk to these in-place fiberglass lining people or just tear it all out? Just based on what I read, it seems like vinyl liners wear out fast and are the bottom tier of pooling linings. I don’t want to wait too long, because I feel like the longer I wait, the more expensive this will get and my little piece of Louisiana swampland up here in Massachusetts wont help my resale value. Right now the water line is just below the liner tears and it hasn’t gone down in over 3 weeks, so it seems to not leak into the ground under the pool. I guess that’s a plus.
Any help, insight, advice or anything will be great.

 

[frogabog]

What is the quote for fiberglass replacement?

Many people do quite fine with liners. With TFP water care methods, and some care/attention on your part, a new liner will last a very long time.

You can always get other quotes. But for $5k, that's not out of the ballpark for a liner that should last a very long time as long as it's cared for properly.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'm leery of any conversions or hybrid pool alterations because we've read too many instances of the pool later needing repairs and no one is sure what to do with this unusual pool. What you speak of is unusual which makes me nervous.

Personally I'd stick with a good liner and call it a day.

Otherwise- welcome to TFP!! Glad to have ya here

Maddie

 

[Shirker]

do I go back with vinyl, talk to these in-place fiberglass lining people or just tear it all out?

Replace the liner.

 

[Fuldo]

I suspect that refurbishing the pool and keeping with a vinyl liner is by far the least expensive option and perhaps the most problem free solution going forward assuming the repair work is done properly. I care for a neighbor's pool in NH. That pool is on its second liner in 40 years and the second one still looks good and appears to have much life left. The vinyl pools seem to hold up well in the northeast. My daughter had a similar vinyl pool installed in NH last year and it looks brand new after the first winter. The ground and water freezes and shifts in the northeast, I'd be reluctant to use any rigid pool in the northeast except for perhaps a sturdy concrete one. I grew-up with a concrete pool in MA and it stood up extremely well.

 

[sktn77a]

Replacing the liner is probably the least expensive and least risky way to go - liners are a known quantity. Anything else requires a leap of faith in the person doing the repairs/conversion - that's where the horror stories can begin! Get plenty of references for the person who replaces the liner. If they are good, you should be fine.

 

[1oh2]

After talking to a few contractors and reading the responses (and other posts here), I’m going to just pursue the liner replacement. The other option just seems to risky for the amount they wanted (estimated to be 10-12k).
With the liner option, I can move funds toward the pool area to make it more inviting. Already cleared out an additional 3000sf of area around it, so the potential is there to have a good spot. The previous owner had it lined with all sorts of plants and whatnot. Total mess.

 

[Shirker]

I have no idea how much it would cost to retro fit... but if you want to invest in the aesthetics, I really like the cantilevered copings. Gives the pool a cleaner modern look.

 

[borjis]

Good choice to stick with a liner. Those other options as you found out usually cost 2x-3x more.