pool liner - all the same?

[mcgeggy]

I have a 24' round (52"H) pool and I want to replace the liner and add a foam bottom underneath. The current liner, while only 7 years old, has a slow leak and has gotten very faded. Are there any liner sellers/manufacturers that are considered to be better than the others? I get coupons for poolsupplies.com and they have 25mil liners for around $250-$270. The brand is SmartLine.

Or should I consider another brand and which one? What is the best and most cost effective method to add foam panels under the liner for a smooth bottom? My wife and I installed this pool, it has a sandy base and we used a pool pad underneath, but the bottom was far from smooth - very lumpy. We could not figure out how to walk all around the pool interior while installing the liner and keep our feet from creating a beach look to the sand under the pad, lol.

 

[pkovo]

I just tore down my 15 year old Lomart, which is a sister company to Doughboy and that 15 year old liner was thick. I bought a new pool today, and I could tell the liner that comes with the new pool isn't as thick, despite it being listed as 25 gauge.

I have no idea if Doughboy liners are still of the same quality, but if so, it might be worth a look. I wasn't positive on the age of my pool since it was here when we moved in, but I found the original install permits in a box in my shed a few days ago, and they were from June of 2002, so my liner was technically almost 16 years old and not one leak. Pretty impressive.