New homeowner with Pool

[Acesneights]

Hello,
We are purchasing a house with what I would call basically an inground pool. It is roughly 15x32 oval and has a deep end. The pool is roughly 1-2 ft above grade at the rim with a deck around it. The liner was about 4 yrs old. The problem is the pool was never closed propertly and all the pipes froze and there was a low return which cracked the ball valve in the filter area and basically drained the pool sometime between this Jan-March. I was able to plug the line. The deep end still has water upto about 2’ below the shallow end. The pool has a staircase in the shallow end and the liner appears to have shrunk and seems too small for the pool on one side. I called the pool guy who installed the liner and he said the pool is beyond repair and would need a new liner. The liner is not ripped yet but he said if I try to refill it it will rip. Is there no way to save the liner ? We cannot afford a new liner so we would have to bulldoze it. I was wondering if we putnthe shop vacs behind it and flilled it a little each day and let it strech back out ? Or is it a lost cause?

 

[Casey]

It is a lost cause. You can not save it with it being exposed to weather after holding water for who knows how long. The thing with these liner pools is this... once you drain them beyond a certain point, they shrink, become brittle and lose their elasticity. You can try to refill it but it will be a waste of time, effort and water. Not to mention that your busted pipes will need fixed too.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to the forum! Shame to hear about your rough start. Hopefully you'll find a way to resurrect that pool back to a fun playground.

 

[tatertot09]

With the liner being 4 years old, unfortunately it does sound like a new liner will be a must. As liners age, they lose their flexibility and with out know how well the water was maintained prior to your purchase, it is most likely shot. Take a look around online for expandable liners. A liner replacement can be done with out hiring it out and doesn't take too long, saving you tons of money. You can most likely get a liner for around 400 dollars and it be expandable.

 

[Acesneights]

Here’s some pics. It doesn’t feel brittle but it would have to stretch alot .

 

[Texas Splash]

This is right up @PoolguyinCT alley.

 

[Acesneights]

Well, to update this thread, two pool guys looked at the liner and said it’s not usable. It turns out I worked with someone who does pool work on the side. He came over to give me an estimate because he said he could do it alot cheaper than the bigger companies. Well....it was during that 100+ heatwave when he came over and he started playing with the liner and said you know, this thing is pretty stretchy. He hooked the liner back in where it pulled out. He said”I wouldnt put my name on it but this thing might stretch out. I ordered 6000 gals of water the next morning and that brought it up to about 2’ in the shallow end. I let it sit formthe weekend and in the meantime got the pump unseized and up and running. It took about 20 gals of hypo to clear up the murk that was already in the pool and I blindly in a sequence cleaned most of the gack out of the bottom. I put another 6000 in on Monday. We had to run the filter 24hrs and backwash every 20 mins for the first 10 hours but shes up and running...now if I can just find the leak. Loses an inch a day. Pretty sure its the piping. Just have not had time to replace the ball valves so I can isolate the leak.

 

[Acesneights]

Also we need a pool cover. ....mesh or non mesh ? Leaning towards a safety cover...

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to pool ownership!

We wouldn’t have recommended cal-hypo to clear the water but it worked for you.

How do you plan to chlorinate the pool? What test kit do you have?

I suggest you read ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

 

[Pv2]

wow, you may have lucked out! that is great. I echo ajw22, read this and everything in Pool School, TFP is the best way to care for your water. you may get a number of years out of that liner yet! congrats!

 

[Acesneights]

Actually believe it or not I am a Water Treatment Operator so water chemsitry is no prob. I had to save the water that was neglected in the pool because if I drained it I may have lost the depp end to cave in. It was a murky pond left uncovered for years. I had been dumping hypo in it to keep the mosquitos away even before we decided to save it.
It has an automatic feeder. I have been maintaining the water quality parameters with test strips formthe most part but I can test the water at work with a spectrophotometer and PH meter. Next big questions are, how do I winterize the bottom drain ? I am told to pump it with air until bubbling at deep end then close the valve. I just replaced the upstream valve on the suction side of the pump with the HD ones we use at work on the bulk tanks somthey seal much better than pool valves that were in there. Also my staircase is offset and the pool is oval. There are some used rectangular covers on CL . If the cover is big enough to encompass the staircase, any resson I cant use it ?

 

[Acesneights]

Just a quick valve repipe so I can isolate the skimmer and see if that is the leak.