Empty pool upon opening, time to replace the liner?

[The Raddish]

I knew I was losing water through the winter, but there really wasn't anything I could do until I got the cover off. Finally, off to a late start this year, the cover is indeed off. This is how I found the pool a few minutes ago:

Go here for more images.

 

[Casey]

OUCH! That hurts!

Is it a beaded liner? I like the print... Looks like it'll have to be replaced OR are you going to try and find the leak, repair it and then reset it?

 

[JasonLion]

If the liner is fairly young it is worth finding the leak, patching it, and resetting the liner. The older the liner the less likely it is to reset properly.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Did you find the hole?

 

[The Raddish]

I stuck my shop vac hose in the return and sucked out all the air between the liner and the pool wall. The result was HUGE wrinkles at the bottom, which means I'm going to have to pull the beauty ring and coping strips anyway to reseat the liner.

If I'm going to go through all that, I may as well replace the liner so that I *know* there won't be any holes. My wife wants a liner with fish on it, so I'm leaning toward this one:

It's not as obtrusive as some of the other aquarium liners I've seen, and it's less than $300 (though just barely).

What has happened to all the 25 mil liners? Does no one sell them any more? All I can find are more 20 mil.

Oh well, I'll likely be replacing the liner in the next couple of weeks. I'm not looking forward to the task.