Vinyl Liner Replacement Wrinkle

[SargassoC]

Greetings--

So I have an in-ground pool, about 25K gallons, with a roman end. We had our liner replaced 9 years ago and it's showing its age. When we ordered that liner, our pool contractor arrived with it, but quickly realized that the manufacturer had made it, according to the contractor, an inch too large. He expedited a new liner for us, and told us to keep this liner as he couldn't do anything with it anyway. It has been sitting in our indoor pool utility room, still rolled. Granted we have had two small water incursions in there in the past nine years (but water does not affect vinyl the way it did, say, our dry wall), but otherwise, it hasn't been bothered.

Here's the question: without knowing WHERE the measurement is off, what's the harm in trying to use this liner as our replacement? If it is, in fact, in an inch off, how big will the wrinkle be? Can the wrinkle be pushed to the floor by the wall? Will the liner, in fact, still be supple and flexible if it's been rolled for nine years?

Is it worth it to try, anyway? Or just get over it and order a new one?

Thanks

[CarlD]

Interesting question! I'm not sure I know the answer to it, as I'm replacing my liner in the spring (I see no point in doing it now, and I suspect you should wait as well). I've got my new liner boxed and dry, and ready.

But I'm not the liner install expert. Here's what I'm thinking: Which way is it too long? If it's an inch too long on the sides--goes down too deep--you could remove an inch of the sand base and it may be fine. If it's an inch too long or too wide, you may be able to distribute the extra length/width around the pool, and get any extra on the bottom moved to a more innocuous area. The wrinkles WILL be a persistent pain in the neck for vacuuming as detritus WILL get caught in them. My old liner was installed with lots of wrinkles and I may put up some pics of it later, along with its fading over 12 summers' of swimming. The original liner failed after 10 days and the replacement team who did the warranty re-install did a dreadful job. I WILL fix that in the spring when I do it. But the liner STILL held up for 12 seasons.

IF you can make it work, you'll save yourself the cost of a new liner (and they can be expensive when custom-made, as mine is), but you'll see the wrinkles for years to come--think of how many thousands of $$$ each wrinkle saved you!

[Watermom]

I would definitely try it if it were me. You have nothing to lose. Besides, I've never seen a vinyl pool yet that had a perfect bottom. So, even if there is a wrinkle, it isn't the end of the world. The cost savings is definitely something to consider. You may end up with a wrinkle even if you buy a different liner. Just my $0.02.

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