first post--liner problems, help please!

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Yakiman

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Apr 16, 2012
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Yakima, WA
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Hi Everyone,

Just bought a house with a pool. The last few days I have been poring over this great site. Help me get this dang thing full of water please!

I am going to try to send you pictures of the liner. The guy from the pool store came out to take a look at it because I told him that there was no water in the pool when we bought the house (I didn't know this was a problem). I don't know why there was no water in the pool.

There are wrinkles in the bottom of the liner and it does not lay flat against the walls of the pool. It also has damage from the outflow to the bottom (vinyl faded and has wrinkly) from improper chemicals according to the guy from the pool store. The liner is seven or eight years old. I also found one fairly small (1 to 2") rip in the liner. Sounds like that will be easy to repair.

As a result the pool store says it is not worth doing the vacuum thing because they think the liner would spilt because it's dried out, old and damaged. They gave me an estimate of $3,000 to install a new one. The guy that came out did say that I could try waiting for a hot sunny day, filling it with water, and trying to smooth the wrinkles out.

My question: is this worth a try? Is there a downside to it. Having just bought a house we don't have $3K laying around right now. But I don't want my kids staring at an empty pool all summer. I am just hoping I can get through one more summer with this liner.

Sorry, can't get the photos to upload, I think they're too big.

Thanks!!!!!!
 
Hi, welcome to tfp! It sounds like the liner is not in very good shape. You can try to patch it and see if it holds water, but usually when a liner has been sitting in the sun, it shrinks and becomes brittle. Try hosting your picture on photobucket.com if you need to resize it?
 
Well, it's in pretty bad shape. If the pool store didn't want to mess with it, it's not clear to me what you could do differently to make it work.

Like they said, you could patch it up and try but I don't see any way anybody here can predict the outcome.
 
The chemical damage is pretty obvious. It looks like chlorine came out of the return and flowed down to the main drain. It there a tab feeder?

What does the liner feel like? Is it soft and pliable, or hard and brittle?

If it is reasonably soft and pliable, you can patch the holes and try putting a vacuum on it to see if it will work. You might be able to rent or borrow a liner vacuum from a pool company. If the liner vac pulls the liner in and it looks good, then it just might work. If the liner vac does not get a good set on the liner, then it probably won't work.
 
sorry I don't know what a tab feeder is. I don't even know if there's a drain under the liner there.

But, yes, the liner does feel soft and pliable to me. How hard is it to use the liner van DYI?
 

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How hard is it to use the liner van DYI?
Click to expand...

I assume you are talking about reinstalling the liner yourself and using a vacuum to pull it tight against the wall. That's impossible to say how hard it is. Easy for some, impossible for someone else. Having done it twice DIY with a NEW liner, I would say you can do it if you get it completely patched, get plenty of help, and take your time.

What have you got to lose except your time? I'd say give it a try.

It's a lot like brain surgery, it's actually pretty simple if you know exactly how to do it!! :lol:
 
I seem to recall that manufactures state that liner life is from 7 to 10 years so even if you get it fixed for this year your looking at a replacement soon. Depending on how much of a DIY guy you are, you and some freinds could put a new liner in for much less than the pool stores. I ordered mine online for a 20 x 40 10' deep pool and it was under $1500 but that was 5 years ago.
 
Zea, just took the photos and put them on photobucket http://photobucket.com/Yakimanpoolliner

Jason, I am not too much of a DIY guy. Scares me to try to to install the liner myself because it could be costly if I screwed up.

But maybe I will look into renting a liner vac. Doesn't look like they cost that much to buy so renting one can't be too bad. Do you just take the liner out of the track and stick the vac hose back there? How do you get it sealed?
 
I have a plan now. It doesn't look like installing a new liner is complicated or difficult, but that it will take some patience. Measuring for a new liner scares me though because I have a kidney shaped pool.

I'm going to rent a vacuum and try to reset my old liner. If that doesn't work I'll take the old liner out and prep the pool for a new liner. I'll have the pool store measure the pool for me and order from them. I can get some other quotes too.

Then I'll try to install it. If it doesn't work out I can always pay the pool store or someone else to do it. This way I can at least save paying for the labor of taking out the old liner and prepping the pool. And I can negotiate the cost of the liner separately. The quote the pool store gave me didn't even itemize the parts and labor.

Any thoughts?
 
The equipment pad is the area where the pump, filter, and any other system for the pool attaches to the plumbing. From what you have posted so far, I see a 200lb sand filter and a 3/4 hp pump. It looks like there may be a chlorine tab feeder in the plumbing between the filter and the pump area. If you take a picture from further back so we can see all the exposed plumbing it would help.
 

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