How big of a patch can be used?

[Zwrickers]

Hi. I just opened today, 2nd year. We inherited a pool with a very old liner. Last year, upon opening there were two horizontal tears in the vinyl liner along the waterline, about 3 ft. and another 4 ft. long, in the same area. I was able to patch them using "liner samples" from the pool store. It worked great all summer.

BUT, now these two have torn again, but bigger. One is about 4 feet, and the other about 6 ft long, again along the waterline. I have no money to replace the liner right now.

1. Is it possible to try to patch this again? Or, not worth it and just not going to work and just accept it.
2. Do I risk the pool integrity if I tried to patch, it ripped again, and the water sunk out between the liner and pool wall? The walls are actually in good shape and I don't want to damage anything.
3. Why is the water level so low? I closed with it 6 in. below the return, which was under the tear/patch line, so I have no idea where the water went. I'd assume if there were a hole somewhere on the bottom, the water would be all gone by now?

I used TFP all summer last year and it was a great experience. I appreciate all the help in advance. This is really hard.

Thanks,
Kristin



Thanks,
Kristin

 

[zea3]

I think that liner is pretty much shot. You can try to patch it but I don't think it will hold. Did you have a lot of ice and snow over the winter? They can weigh down the winter cover and force water out through the open skimmer and return lines. I don't know what your budget is but sometimes you can find a plain overlap liner for less than $300 online.

If patching is unsuccessful and you cannot replace the liner, try and keep the pool at least 1/2 full until you can change liners. If you empty the pool the walls could collapse in a strong wind.

 

[Zwrickers]

Thank you so much. I looked at pricing again and it's not as bad as I thought so I am trying to replace the liner ASAP - no easy feat in my area. No, we did not have much ice and snow at all this year, and there wasn't much water built up on the cover. I really don't understand what happened.

In the meantime, if I do patch it up (with combined kits as big as I can find), is there any risk to damaging the pool frame if it does end up leaking/tearing?

Also, should I re-cover it tonight, or is it OK to leave it open to the environment till tomorrow until I have a good plan in place for what to do?

Thanks in advance.

 

[zea3]

I would only recover tonight if you are expecting a lot of rain in the next couple of days. I think the liner will tear before any harm comes to the pool walls. Like anything made of metal you don't want it to sit in a lot of wet that could cause rust. When you replace the liner you can check the inside of the pool wall and treat any rust you see at that time.