New Liner

[cschnurr]

During last fall's closing, lowered to pool water level just below the return jets. I noticed in the early spring that our 'elephant' cover was sagging quite a bit in the centre of the pool. I waited for the snow to thaw and today I removed a few cover hooks from their anchors to find that there is about 1" of water/ice in the shallow end, and the water is level across the entire pool. Our pool liner is 16yrs old, so I knew it would need replacement soon. I suppose the time is now.

I anticipate pool installs will be in high demand this spring due to COVID, and new liners may be difficult to get a decent delivery date.
I have the original information including dimensions, Liner#, and receipt from our initial pool install.
Since timing may be critical. I could manage installing it if that provided better delivery date. Is that even allowed?

I plan on fully removing the entire pool cover to get a better view of the pool.
Any suggestions or recommendations to expedite the process or avoid potential problems?
Is there anything to investigate before I order?

Thanks,
Carl

 

[zea3]

If you feel like you can handle the work, there is nothing wrong with ordering and installing your own liner. Having the original measurements is very helpful. You may want to watch a few installation videos and decide if this is a job you can handle. Its not a one man job so you will need to recruit some buddies to help.

The down side to this is there may be issues that need to be handled once the liner is removed. You will need to inspect the pool floor for damage and make any needed repairs before the new liner goes in. Also check the pool walls for rust and treat as necessary. Try not to remove the liner too early. The longer a pool is exposed the more likely damage will occur due to ground shifting and heavy rain.

It is important that you install the liner on a warm day (70 degrees or more, preferably sunny). Lay the liner in the sun to warm before installing. A warm liner will stretch easier during the installation process.

 

[Casey]

I agree with @zea3 on all points noted.

 

[cschnurr]

Thanks Casey and Zea3.
I called the pool company I trust, and as expected they are booking into August!
I also called the liner manufacturer and they only deal with pool distributors and would not tell me their lead time.

I removed the 'elephant' cover from the pool this morning.

There is about 1" of water/ice in the shallow end, and the water is level across the entire pool. The entire liner is submerged underwater. There is a thin film of ice in the shallow end (easily breakable by hand), and a thicker layer of ice in the deep end that thins out near the wall. When I strike the ice with a long handled shovel, it is not breakable 1 ft from the wall, but easily broken within 6".

There are no obvious signs of leaks and tears or other damage to the liner. Along the side walls and above the water line of the shallow end there is an air pocket behind the liner, but not in the deep end. Not sure why?

It doesn't make much sense to empty/refill the pool in August just to close in September. I've booked an appointment in mid April for a leak detection service to come and evaluate. Ideally, the pool is full and operable for this test. I need to fill up the pool ASAP to maintain water pressure on the pool walls so over the next couple days I plan on

a) pulling a small section of the liner from the channel in the coping to release any air pressure behind the liner,
b) breaking up the ice along the wall to eliminate risk of scraping the walls as the water level rises.
c) filling the pool
c) then essentially open early, monitor the water loss and keep it filled until the leak test can be completed.

Q1
Should I wait until ice melts totally before raising water level?
Is there any benefit monitoring the water level for a couple days before refilling or do I need to refill ASAP?

Q2
Is it necessary to remove liner from coping?

Q3
My plan is optimistically based on being able to fill the pool for the detection service to find a repairable leak in April.
If this fails, can I afford to wait. If the leak isn't repairable, will I need to right off the entire season? Can I wait until late April to investigate installing liner myself?

 

[Newdude]

Q1
Should I raise water now or wait until the ice thaws

Do *nothing* that disturbs the ice. The edges can be as sharp as razors and cause new and improved problems. Once it’s gone completely, fill away.

Q2
Should I pull a portion of the liner bead from the channel in the coping to release the air pressure behind the liner?

The water will probably do it for you but I’ll defer this one to @zea3

Q3
My plan is optimistically based on being able to fill the pool for the detection service to find a repairable leak in April.
If the leak isn't repairable, will I need to right off the entire season? Can I wait until late April to investigate installing liner myself

it depends on how quickly it’s leaking. If it needs 2-4 inches a week it won’t be bad to keep it topped off. 2-4 ft per week ?? Lol. Yeah. No.

 

[zea3]

Do not pull out the liner bead from the channel. It will not make the liner tight against the pool wall. If the liner can be patched you can find out if the liner needs to be reset or if filling the pool will do the job.

 

[crushkittykitty]

if you look threw my post. We installed ours. 16 years is a a long time. I think our liner was 700. You will want to measure the pool yourself. Get a good shop vac, before you put water in make sure the liner is were you want it. No wrinkles Me and the wife installed ours in one night 5-6pm till about 9pm. then in the morning I hooked up the shop vac moved the liner as needed added water till it was about knee deep cut in the drains filled the pool the water here was 800. Installing a liner is pretty easy. you will need to know what your base is sand concrete/mortor or vermiculite. all can be repaired once the liner is out, make sure before you drop that liner you clean everything out check it several times. You are in canada I am not sure if you could get the liner from were we got ours. at the end of our rebuild I broke down all costs and were I got different items from. When you get the cover of take a few pics. One thought I had was if you had a bottom drain, and if that is were its leaking, before filling pool do a leak test with a 5 gal bucket to see if it is leaking. plug the bottom drain, redo the test, if its still leaking with the bottom drain plugged you pretty much know its the liner. if not its the bottom drain. good luck.

 

[Casey]

You have a pocket of air in the shallow end because the water is only covering the floor of about 1". You have more water in the deep end that is pushing the liner up against the walls. Never break up ice in a vinyl lined pool as previously mentioned. Can you press the liner back to the wall with no issues? Does the liner still have give or does it feel very tight? If it still has give, I'd slowly add water to the pool. If it feels more like plastic (due to age) I'd hold off on refilling.

You can go off of your measurements and try to order a liner online n have it shipped to you. You can research liner placement and do it yourself or wait until a pool company can do it for you. You may waste a whole season doing the latter but it'll be professionally installed and you're going to pay top dollar for it.

 

[crushkittykitty]

You have a pocket of air in the shallow end because the water is only covering the floor of about 1". You have more water in the deep end that is pushing the liner up against the walls. Never break up ice in a vinyl lined pool as previously mentioned. Can you press the liner back to the wall with no issues? Does the liner still have give or does it feel very tight? If it still has give, I'd slowly add water to the pool. If it feels more like plastic (due to age) I'd hold off on refilling.

You can go off of your measurements and try to order a liner online n have it shipped to you. You can research liner placement and do it yourself or wait until a pool company can do it for you. You may waste a whole season doing the latter but it'll be professionally installed and you're going to pay top dollar for it.

picking a liner,,,, if you use tfp method the liner will look the same at all depths, We wasted a month looking threw different liners at different depths. I would measure the pool only takes a 1/2 hour.