small tear in vinyl liner corner

[packerfan]

hello i started putting more water in my pool and walked outside and saw a 4inch rip in my liner in the corner. will i be able to patch this,and should it be patched on both sides? this tear is below where the liner goes into the holding track and above the border of the liner. so it will be above the water level. thanks for any advice. Randy

[aylad]

You should be able to patch it, but be prepared for a new liner next year, because once the first rip appears above the waterline, it won't be long before the next one.

Last summer in July I found a 3 inch horizontal rip in my liner above the waterline. I actually patched it with just a piece of duct tape (it blended in well with my liner color at the time) and it held just fine throughout that summer, although I developed a pretty significant water leak in August. In fact, when the sun hit it and softened up the tape, it almost melded completely into the liner. We swam through the season,replacing water daily, but this past November there appeared a much longer horizontal rip on the same wall that was not patchable. We decided to let the pool drain itself and replace the liner. When replacement time came, we discovered 2 more rips in the deep end floor and two smaller holes in the floor of the shallow, hence the water leak. Long story short, the installer was able to pretty much tell me the timeline of the rips without me telling him anything, and the first rip above the waterline seems to be the "1-year warning" of impending liner failure.

Janet

[packerfan]

thanks for the reply Janet. i believe i'll try to milk it through this year and then replace the liner and skimmer housing all at once next year. :-(