New Liner not "clocking" and it's crooked maybe?

[Elaine_A]

That is very encouraging Mdragger88. Thank you. I'll keep you posted. Five hours till sunset. I'm pretty happy, all things considered.

Two pics attached

Looking good! I know I could live with those wrinkles. Sadly, we have to take the water out of our pool (1/3 already full) to correct our liner. But I have given up and have a guy coming to help. Just happy to stop stressing about it and soooo looking forward to swimming. We are coming up to Ottawa this weekend to move my daughter and it is supposed to be HOT. I think you picked a good weekend to fill it up!

 

[Elaine_A]

Pushing the wrinkles/ excess up the wall really won’t help unless u have an overlap liner- the excess liner doesn’t have anywhere to go. Getting the air out of them will help them look less noticeable though.
W/ a beaded liner The whole thing is like the world’s worst fitted sheet
All things considered, I think u have it looking great
A soft shop broom may help massage some of the wrinkles. I wish my liner looked 1/2 as great as yours!
As the pool fills with the weight of the water the sand will compress & i bet those wrinkles will be a thing of the past.
That said - only fill when the sun is shining. Turn the water off at dusk. You want the vinyl good & stretchy while filling.

Worst fitted sheet is right!

 

[Piteasee]

looks great! guess i get more sun in toronto lol

Thanks Koffey. We get whatever weather you send us Weather looks a little cloudy for the weekend though.

 

[Piteasee]

Okay, pool liner is now "clocked", ie. centered, and we have about 15" of water in.

No wrinkles in the bottom
Removed most ripples in the bottom with a rolling pin - ask your grandmother how to get even pie crust

Newest concern.... Wrinkles on the side.
I'm going to start a new post. I'm hoping @cj133 and @koffey and @Elaina_b and @Mdragger88 will follow me there for advice and support. I'll call it something like Filling new liner, getting wrinkles on the walls of our above ground, steel-walled pool.

 

[Mdragger88]

Okay, pool liner is now "clocked", ie. centered, and we have about 15" of water in.

No wrinkles in the bottom
Removed most ripples in the bottom with a rolling pin - ask your grandmother how to get even pie crust

Newest concern.... Wrinkles on the side.
I'm going to start a new post. I'm hoping @cj133 and @koffey and @Elaina_b and @Mdragger88 will follow me there for advice and support. I'll call it something like Filling new liner, getting wrinkles on the walls of our above ground, steel-walled pool.

No need to start a new thread as it’s related to this one . U can attempt using a soft pool brush or soft squeegee to sweep them in an upward motion towards the top of the liner since it’s really not an issue of excess liner now so much as it is air that is trapped.
As @Casey says, wrinkles only hurt the eyes .
Most people who swim in your pool won’t ever notice them.

 

[Piteasee]

No need to start a new thread as it’s related to this one . U can attempt using a soft pool brush or soft squeegee to sweep them in an upward motion towards the top of the liner since it’s really not an issue of excess liner now so much as it is air that is trapped.
As @Casey says, wrinkles only hurt the eyes .
Most people who swim in your pool won’t ever notice them.

Thanks @Mdragger88. With a j-beaded liner, will the wrinkle end up on the top (which I would rather just push it down, out of sight) or could the sun and the space between the liner and the wall absorb the excess?

Note: I turned off the shop vac to give myself more play room with the liner.

 

[Mdragger88]

Thanks @Mdragger88. With a j-beaded liner, will the wrinkle end up on the top (which I would rather just push it down, out of sight) or could the sun and the space between the liner and the wall absorb the excess?

Note: I turned off the shop vac to give myself more play room with the liner.

If u have space there & the water weight isn’t too much already give it a shot.
They don’t look large at this point so the weight of the water will likely pull them out & fill any voids without too much intervention from u.

 

[Piteasee]

If u have space there & the water weight isn’t too much already give it a shot.
They don’t look large at this point so the weight of the water will likely pull them out & fill any voids without too much intervention from u.

Thanks @Mdragger88. I'm attaching a photo. I'm not worried about #1 in the photo, but the wrinkles at #2 are under the water and bigger. I can't see them moving without intervention. I am using a plunger to move them around a bit, but really not getting the desired look. Would you touch these? Thank you

 

[Piteasee]

Thanks @Mdragger88. I'm attaching a photo. I'm not worried about #1 in the photo, but the wrinkles at #2 are under the water and bigger. I can't see them moving without intervention. I am using a plunger to move them around a bit, but really not getting the desired look. Would you touch these? Thank you

Oops. Forgot the pic. Can't find it. It's going to be one of these days...

 

[Mdragger88]

You can do your best to spread them out so they are multiple small wrinkles vs a couple big ones. The only way to go is likely up or over if there’s no void behind the liner down low. Whats below the water is done. U can’t really compete with the roughly 37,000 lbs. of water that’s currently in the pool.
A cheap soft squeegee or a flat soft broom is your friend here. Nothing sharp.
Think about bubbles in window tint or a vinyl decal. Do your best to get the air out but don’t agonize over it - the water will pull down on the liner as it fills.

 

[Piteasee]

Thanks @Mdragger88 . I appreciate att your input.

Water is going in slowly with two garden hoses. The slowness allows for me to manipulate the liner over time.

Unfortunately, our most annoying spot is now in the shade but the outside, steel wall is in the sun, so there is still heating being transferred in.

I used a hack I found on YouTube to shift the liner left and right away from the upright that was not allowing the excess vinyl to spread out (our uprights haven't moved in the 20+ years since installation but the stell bows out).

Now I'm just "encouraging" the liner to stretch left and right as it fills in the hopes that this last wrinkle goes away.

Now we are starting to think about the return valve and the skimmer. I read that we shouldn't cut the skimmer till the water is 2" below the bottom, however our return valve is 4½" below the skimmer.

What's the best way to proceed?

Thank you

Picture of last annoying wrinkle.

 

[Mdragger88]

I would cut the return in when the water gets close to it then wait the next inch or 2 for the skimmer.
Probably be pretty close not long after u get the return all done. U can either plug the return or go ahead & hook it up If u are ready. The reason for waiting until the water is pretty close is that the water pulls the liner down so if u do it early on in the fill process the liner may pull or stretch more than the holes u cut & be pulling on those penetrations forevermore. When the water is a few inches from the bottom of the skimmer the liner is pretty much where it’s gonna stay. If u are getting close to turning the water off for the night when the water reaches the skimmer level wait until tomorrow to cut it in - incase shrinkage occurs overnight.
On another note - since it takes days to fill a large pool you need some chlorine in the water asap. You can use trichlor in a floater if u tie it off to ensure it doesn’t ever rest on the liner.
Fresh fill contains no cya so any liquid chlorine u put in won’t last long in the sun. U can use the hose stream to mix some liquid chlorine in for the night , brush the area well . 2-3 ppm should be plenty. Replenish this daily until the pool is running & u can add 30ppm cya via the sock method.
Use PoolMath to calculate amounts based on current fill volume.
Do u have a test kit yet?
Test Kits Compared
If not, here’s info on how to get one in Canada Someone recently mentioned being able to get the Taylor k2006 on Amazon.ca

Pool Test Kits - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Piteasee]

I would cut the return in when the water gets close to it then wait the next inch or 2 for the skimmer.
Probably be pretty close not long after u get the return all done. U can either plug the return or go ahead & hook it up If u are ready. The reason for waiting until the water is pretty close is that the water pulls the liner down so if u do it early on in the fill process the liner may pull or stretch more than the holes u cut & be pulling on those penetrations forevermore. When the water is a few inches from the bottom of the skimmer the liner is pretty much where it’s gonna stay. If u are getting close to turning the water off for the night when the water reaches the skimmer level wait until tomorrow to cut it in - incase shrinkage occurs overnight.
On another note - since it takes days to fill a large pool you need some chlorine in the water asap. You can use trichlor in a floater if u tie it off to ensure it doesn’t ever rest on the liner.
Fresh fill contains no cya so any liquid chlorine u put in won’t last long in the sun. U can use the hose stream to mix some liquid chlorine in for the night , brush the area well . 2-3 ppm should be plenty. Replenish this daily until the pool is running & u can add 30ppm cya via the sock method.
Use PoolMath to calculate amounts based on current fill volume.
Do u have a test kit yet?
Test Kits Compared
If not, here’s info on how to get one in Canada Someone recently mentioned being able to get the Taylor k2006 on Amazon.ca

Pool Test Kits - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks @Mdragger88 for this great info. We followed your suggestions and cut in the return valve when it was 2" away from the water line. Then we waited to install the skimmer opening till it was 2" above the waterline and we didn't cut the skimmer till it was up even a bit more. No leaks and it looks good. Picked up a new pump today and will be putting in the chemicals soon. Thanks for all you help. We are so pleased this is working out.

 

[Mdragger88]

 

[Elaine_A]

I hope your pool project is still going well and that you are almost ready to swim again!

 

[koffey]

Awesome!