Vinyl Nightmare with Pic

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R

RamseyB

0
Jul 22, 2018
9
CERRITOS, CA
Longtime lurker, first time poster. I just want to thank everyone for the quality content on the forums here.

My old vinyl liner was 7 years old and after numerous small leaks and many patches, I decided to get a new liner cost $3700. Secard pools installed the liner on Friday and by Sunday morning there was a large 9 inch tear on the side of the pool. I am very surprised by this since I paid extra for the thicker liner ( about $400) since I was getting tired of fixing it and wanted something more durable.

This is my first vynil replacement liner. Is ripping normal? Is repair possible or does the liner have to be replaced?
I appreciate any insights you have.

Thank You,
Ramsey

 
Hi, welcome to TFP! Ripping is not normal, especially in a new liner. That is a pretty wide gap, I don't know if that can be patched. I would contact the installer if you haven't already and have them come look at it.
 
So I'm having the Pool installer come Monday. I can't imagine a critter was in the pool. I've had the pool for 6 years and never seen a rip this big overnight. We also don't have any pets.

The stretchmarks and non-straight rip makes me think it was stretched open.

Has anyone ever had to repair a rip this big? I only have experience patching up holes less than 1" big.
 
Ramsey:

Sorry for your troubles. I would definitely contact the builder who installed the liner. It does not look like a tear, but like someone used scissors and cut around it. Real strange looking for a cut/tear. Is it possible that the liner company damaged it during install and this happened? Also, do you see anywhere in the pool the actual liner piece? Should fit like a glove or the pieces should all match and I would assume they are in the water.

Has any one used the pool? Do you recall if this is the area where the vacuum was hooked up behind the liner? Maybe the hose caused this? Something strikes me strange on this one.
 
No one used a scissors and there is no piece left in the pool. If you look at the bottom square you can see the tear goes through the middle of it and it has the same color on both sides.


No one was home all of Saturday and the pool has a fence so no one goes into it. Also since the pool was just filled, the installer hasn't put in the pool light or any of the fittings yet. The pool pump has been shut off since Friday.


Also the pool vac is on the other side of the pool and it looks fine. it is possible that the liner got damaged in the install but I wouldn't know anything about it.
This is very strange since I researched the forums and saw nothing on this.

View attachment 83372
 
I wasn't expecting so many sabotage comments. So I looked through my surveillance footage and I found out that the tear happened between 8:10 and 8:58 am Sunday morning while the whole family was downstairs making our weekly Sunday pancake breakfast. I placed a red square around the tear so you can see it better on the before and after pictures.


I can't imagine a cat/dog/possum actually tearing a vinyl liner. And if a person went out to the pool area, I think someone in the family would have noticed.

The only possibility I can think of is a manufacturer's defect or installation defect.


Attached are pictures from my surveillance camera.
View attachment 83383View attachment 83384
 

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Unfortunately, my surveillance camera only triggers when something big enough walks past the camera and as you can see the rip looks very small from about 40ft away. I'll let you guys know what comes out of the meeting with the contractor tomorrow.

- - - Updated - - -

The reflection above it in the first pic is the early morning sun bouncing off the bedroom window on the second story and then shining back on that wall.
 
That is a very interesting point. I will go there in the morning tomorrow to see how hot it gets. But there was a liner there before and in the 6 years I had it, it never cut open like that.

The liner has only been there since Friday, and if it did get hot, it would reduce the lifespan a few years. But it shouldn't reduce the lifespan to 2 days total .
 
Ramsey:

I was referring to the vacuum the PB uses to remove air while water is filling up in the pool that is behind the liner. The end of the vac sometimes has sharp edges. Maybe when the PB removed it, it created stress on the liner and had a weird tear like what you have. By no means am I implying that scissors were used, it looks like it and I am NOT! leaning towards animals or critters, but either human error on the PB's part or a defect in the liner.

Although, PoolGuyCT knows best about defects, so only 2 options is the PB created enough stress during install that the liner just tore, or a critter. I am betting on the PB and not the critter. My pool is behind my office. I see most of the pool and there have been many rabbits, field mice, snakes, birds, and stray cats. Only the field mice wind up "terminated" in the pool probably from neighbors poison outside (or there would be more) and a bird in 5 years. Not a scratch on my liner.

My liner would up with a slight tear right above the stitching in the deep end after the first year (Betting on stress during install). The second was done by the PB with a screw driver as they had to fix something. Eventually, I will use someone else for a liner install. 28 mil liners, if measured and installed correctly are very sturdy, but again I know some homeowners who never had a tear and some that have over 20 patches from small, medium and large tears (another mystery).

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.amazon.com/Air-Supply-440456-High-Liner/dp/B01HHUF1ZE/ref=asc_df_B01HHUF1ZE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241974057337&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11210320230188366778&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003678&hvtargid=pla-450009424694&psc=1

The tube many use to remove air while filling up the pool. Maybe rough edges upon removal.
 
Check your surveillance video for when the liner was being installed. My guess is if this was done during the install that you'd see whomever was in that area looking closely at something they did hoping/trying to hide it. In either case, I think I would push for a new liner.
 
Catanzaro/duraleigh :

The vacuum , the installer used, is still there and you can see it in the surveillance footage, but it is on the other side and it hasn't ripped. I had a picture posted but I had to delete it since I ran over my quota.
But here it is:
https://www.troublefreepool.com/dbtgallery.php?do=view_image&id=1715&gal=gallery


RWJ:

There is nothing in that section. No pool inlet or return or anything. Just concrete. All the pool stuff is on the other side.

PoolGate:
I will check what the pool guy did on Friday later in the day. But this will be a lot of work since they were there all day(so I have 6 hrs of footage to look through) and I don't know exactly what I'm looking for.

Thank you everyone for the comments.

 

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