Large corner tear in vinyl Liner

[ethanhunteg]

Not sure if this is the best subforum but was going based on other threads I've found

I have a tear in the corner of my liner at the waterline (or i should say, its the waterline now )


After reading these
Hole in Vinyl Liner - How to repair it?
tear in liner above water line - 12
Tear in vinyl liner

I'm thinking my approach should be to try to patch and get me through and start saving up money for a replacement, perhaps covering the patch and the whole waterline border with an adhesive boardline for aesthetics. Does this seem like a sound approach?

I'm pretty frustrated about it. Many of the threads mention 'chemical abuse' as part of the problem. What is meant by that? I've feel like i'd been blessed to have found the advice here over the last 3 seasons and i'm hoping I've not missed something key.


Being its only 6 years old, is there any chance this would be covered under the manufacturer's warranty, home warranty, or homeowner's insurance?

 

[Casey]

I doubt you'll get that covered under any insurance. I don't even think you can feasibly patch that give how long that tear is. It's pretty large. It will more likely than not continue tearing.

As for chemical abuse, it can consist of not testing of daily chemicals, dumping of chemicals, using too much of one or more chemicals over recommended dosage, not properly adding chemicals to water. I'm sure others could think of more.

 

[Yev]

The typical life of a liner

Liner will fade over time, and appear almost whitish and bleached out. This is not due to chemicals, but the suns UV light causing the dye to fade.

The same UV light will cause the ultimate failure of a liner. Typically you get a large tear than runs parallel to the surface of the water, just above or right at the surface of the water. This tear is because the UV light has degraded the vinyl material, and it will just fail. More times than not, this tear will happen on the sunniest side of the pool, since it has the most horus with UV light shining on it, though it is not guaranteed to always be in that spot. Other factors can lead to the area such as wind.

To me, that tear is the classic liner fail. 6 years is a bit premature, but not unheard of. Here is some information for when you go to replace it. Traditionally liners have been 20mil thickness. Many companies now have thickness upgrades to 27 mil. Regardless of how thick the liner material is, the dye will fade at the same pace. But the thicker liner will last longer before you get the UV degradation. So if you get a thicker liner next time, be aware that the extra years you are getting are most likely to be faded liner years. For some people, they cant stand a faded liner, and will replace it just due to looking bad. One other note about thicker liners is that they tend to be harder to install because the thicker material does not stretch as well. This can lead to the "corners" of the liner not being very tight against teh wall corners. A good installer can measure properly and deal with this, but just be aware.

 

[dw9000]

When you replace the liner, keep an eye out for the manufacturer. I am going with a local Michigan company that makes the liner. It was slightly more than a competitors 'Chinese made' liner, but I'll pay it.

 

[ethanhunteg]

As for chemical abuse, it can consist of not testing of daily chemicals, dumping of chemicals, using too much of one or more chemicals over recommended dosage, not properly adding chemicals to water. I'm sure others could think of more.

So since I've been in the house for the last 3 years of the 6 year liner "life" I think I've done a pretty good job of keeping things in balance. I know my CH is very high, but from what I understand this isn't a big concern for vinyl. I know sometimes (during opening for example) I've been at slightly higher then normal shock levels. I.E. instead of 10, I might be at 15 or 20 a 0 CYA opening to start converting the green from the winter. I guess what i might be asking is -- what chemical levels being out of balance are hardest on the liner?

The same UV light will cause the ultimate failure of a liner. Typically you get a large tear than runs parallel to the surface of the water, just above or right at the surface of the water. This tear is because the UV light has degraded the vinyl material, and it will just fail. More times than not, this tear will happen on the sunniest side of the pool, since it has the most horus with UV light shining on it, though it is not guaranteed to always be in that spot. Other factors can lead to the area such as wind.

In the future, would it be better if the 'sun cover' would extend over the edges of the pool and coping to shade the liner above the water line instead of fitting inside of the edge of the pool as it does now? I'm thinking that might help reduce UV exposure to the liner.

 

[Yev]

In the future, would it be better if the 'sun cover' would extend over the edges of the pool and coping to shade the liner above the water line instead of fitting inside of the edge of the pool as it does now? I'm thinking that might help reduce UV exposure to the liner.

Just to be certain I understand, lets say you have a pool that is 16x36. Are you asking if you get a solar cover that was 20x40 so it covers not only the water but the walls?

I guess this would work, as long as your solar cover is not clear (as clear does not block UV). But really, it opens up a few other issues. If you have a solar cover reel, now the reel needs to be wider. Also, now as the wind blow it can catch the corner of the cover out of water and it might blow off the entire cover.

When I built my vinyl lined pool, my pool builder said this. A liner will typically last 7-10 years, but sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. The thicker the vinyl, the longer it will last (although it will be white towards the end of its life). And giong with a reputable liner company (like Garrett or Latham) is best, because you get a higher quality of vinyl used. He went on to say that its hard to predict the long time life, as there are too many factors.

Sadly this is just a factor of vinyl pools, that the liner is a part that WILL need to be changed.

If life is your number one focus, go to a reputable manufacturer and buy a thicker liner.

Now I am not a chemical expert, but when you say that the shock level should be 10, and you are "slightly higher" at 15 or 20, those numbers are not slightly. That means you added 1 to 2 gallons of chlorine more than your target amount. I am not an expert, but I think that having double shock amount of chlorine will be harsh on the liner. But, as I said above, the tear is typically right above the water line, so the high FC really didn't tear that pool liner shown above.

 

[Yev]

One other thing. Make sure that you do not allow your PH to get low. Low PH will be bad on the vinyl liner.