Hey Everyone...just a quick question about a liner installation. We are about to start a 12x24x42 grecian true L. Our neighbors have the same pool and it is finished as of this afternoon. I noticed at all of the inside corners, the liner was "puffed out" from the wall above the water line. In other words, it is not even close to being up against the wall. I am concerned that increases the possibility of liner damage without the support. The PB told me that was normal. Since I have never had a pool, I thought that I would ask some of you guys how your pools turned out or if you know how one should turn out. Just trying to keep the PB honest. Thank you in advance!
liner question
- Thread starter rockyboy
- Start date
A little is normal since the weight of the water is what pushes it into the corners.
It is 'normal', however, that doesn't necessarily make it right. (or for that matter wrong)
Though I've installed, 1000 + liners, - I can only speak of the 6 or so manufacturers that I've used, but I would imagine they are all pretty similar.
When they make a liner, they cut it a little short, if they didn't you'd have wrinkles, the liner needs to stretch into the corners to fit correctly. How much smaller they make the liner depends on what the expected temp and sunlight will be when it's installed - a warmer day with full sun will make the liner stretch more. The company we use has a 'summer' and a 'winter' cut, the former being (~) cut 6" short and the latter being cut (~)2 -3" short (I'm guestimating the shortage - it's only as an example). Putting a winter cut in in full July heat will cause wrinkles because it has much more stretch in 90 deg weather, oppositely - trying to put a summer cut in on a 50 deg cloudy Oct day might not even work, if you get it in, the corners are going to be 'tight as bowstrings' (it sounds like your neighbor's corners aren't that bad
)
An installer may be able to alleviate some of the tightness in the corners, I'm assuming it's the deep end ones and not the shallow end, by pulling a little extra liner down the side walls into the deep end corners, but if you do too much the tile pattern will no longer be perpendicular to the deck.
In short, it's not a problem, and won't hurt the liner to have a little tightness in the corners above the water - it's the water pressure that keeps it tight to the corners - if ~6" down into the water the liner isn't tight to the corner, you have undo stress on that corner and the liner's life will be shortened by the strain.
I hope I explained this well enough, if you have more questions on it, please ask :-D
Though I've installed, 1000 + liners, - I can only speak of the 6 or so manufacturers that I've used, but I would imagine they are all pretty similar.
When they make a liner, they cut it a little short, if they didn't you'd have wrinkles, the liner needs to stretch into the corners to fit correctly. How much smaller they make the liner depends on what the expected temp and sunlight will be when it's installed - a warmer day with full sun will make the liner stretch more. The company we use has a 'summer' and a 'winter' cut, the former being (~) cut 6" short and the latter being cut (~)2 -3" short (I'm guestimating the shortage - it's only as an example). Putting a winter cut in in full July heat will cause wrinkles because it has much more stretch in 90 deg weather, oppositely - trying to put a summer cut in on a 50 deg cloudy Oct day might not even work, if you get it in, the corners are going to be 'tight as bowstrings' (it sounds like your neighbor's corners aren't that bad
) An installer may be able to alleviate some of the tightness in the corners, I'm assuming it's the deep end ones and not the shallow end, by pulling a little extra liner down the side walls into the deep end corners, but if you do too much the tile pattern will no longer be perpendicular to the deck.
In short, it's not a problem, and won't hurt the liner to have a little tightness in the corners above the water - it's the water pressure that keeps it tight to the corners - if ~6" down into the water the liner isn't tight to the corner, you have undo stress on that corner and the liner's life will be shortened by the strain.
I hope I explained this well enough, if you have more questions on it, please ask :-D
Since posting, I went by a local pool store and spoke to those guys. They agree that the corners are nearly impossible. They actually have plastamyd cut liners for their shapes so they have a seam in the corner that gets rid of that problem.
I would say that there is probably a good 1-2 inches that you can push in like a balloon. I don't like it, but there doesn't appear to be any easy solutions. Thanks for the help.
I would say that there is probably a good 1-2 inches that you can push in like a balloon. I don't like it, but there doesn't appear to be any easy solutions. Thanks for the help.
I'm as much asking Waste as I'm suggesting this.....don't they make a curved stryofoam fill that goes behind the liner so it fits snug up against something?
You know what makes me mad? When you have all kinds of these problems, you measure yourself, and find your pool isn't quite standard (self install by previous apparantly drunk homeowners), so when you need a new liner, you do an internet search and find out you can measure your pool EXACTLY and for a few hundred more pay to have a liner made to those EXACT specs, try to keep your business in a small town local, give the pool guy your measurements, ask him to reaffirm them, he says he does and your pool is standard, doubt your measurements, he orders a standard liner and it doesn't fit snug at all, seams don't line up, corners are pulled out and he uses pennies to keep the liner in place when you specifically requested no pennies used.
Then you find out he never even bothered to come by and measure...
Insert bad word here...
Then you find out he never even bothered to come by and measure...
Insert bad word here...
RB, which bad word? also can I use multiple words? (If I can use multiple words, I'll get a drill sergeant blushing 
)
Dave, yes they make a foam wedge that will fill a 90 deg corner,but it's a straight triangle- instead of being curved - most often used as the cove in an AG pool, they also make a curved steel piece that converts a 90 to a 6" radius. I've never seen a piece that will fill a 45 deg corner, which is not to say that they don't exist.
Rockeyboy, if you seam the corners, they should fit perfectly, however, if the liner is cut winter/ summer there could well be problems with the fit . All our liners are custom made to the pool we build, we just don't do 'standard pools', most of ours are 'sport' pools and the depth is determined by the height of each family member - if nothing else we truly customize our pools 
)Dave, yes they make a foam wedge that will fill a 90 deg corner,but it's a straight triangle- instead of being curved - most often used as the cove in an AG pool, they also make a curved steel piece that converts a 90 to a 6" radius. I've never seen a piece that will fill a 45 deg corner, which is not to say that they don't exist.
Rockeyboy, if you seam the corners, they should fit perfectly, however, if the liner is cut winter/ summer there could well be problems with the fit
. All our liners are custom made to the pool we build, we just don't do 'standard pools', most of ours are 'sport' pools and the depth is determined by the height of each family member - if nothing else we truly customize our pools