Wrinkles in Vinyl Liner

Hello All,

New to this forum and looking for assistance. We have had our vinyl liner pool for about 6 years now and it has been running as well as it can....could be better but builders did not do a great job on plumbing. Anyway...my issue is that this winter was quite harsh in the Central New Jersey area and as a result I seem to have lost a lot of water...not all of it...but a lot of it. We have also developed a few wrinkles in our liner at the shallow end. I am trying to figure out how to remove the wrinkles....will filling up the pool stretch the linker back into position or do I have to do something to smooth them out?

The usual cause of new wrinkles in an in-ground pool liner, is that the water level in the ground surrounding the liner got higher than the water level in the pool. There are 2 ways to prevent this problem:
1. Lower the water in the ground around the pool with drains and/or pumps.
2. Keep the water level in the pool higher.

Once wrinkles have formed, the only way to remove them is to lower the water level, and than work them out. This YouTube video illustrates that process:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stTv2gKxpTw

Please note ALL of the following points:
1. The water has been drained to the point of leaving only a few inches in the shallow end. (Wrinkles can only be moved if there is little or no water hold them in place.)
2. The liner is held in place with a high capacity vacuum. This can be done with multiple shop vacs, or with one or more pool vacs. Failing to do this properly will damage or destroy the liner!
3. Suction is continuous over the steps, due to a support and cover fabricated for that purpose.
4. The shiny texture of the liner suggests that the video shows a NEW liner installation. In older liners, the chance of permanent damage to the liner, and the difficulty of moving wrinkles, is greater.

All in all, it's a tough situation. Generally, refilling the pool will NOT remove the wrinkles.

Sorry I couldn't offer a more pleasant answer.

. . . membership updated.

I had the same problem this winter. With all the snow and heavy rain I now have multiple bubbles and the liner pulled away from my steps. I had the pool company who installed it (it's only 2 years this summer) come out they gave me the same advice. They will empty the water out of the low end and fix the problem. The soil in my area is clay so I'm hoping this isn't a longer term problem with the drainage in my backyard. If so I'm sure it will be big bucks to install a drainage system. BTW the quote I got was under $500 for the fix. Not happy about it but what can you do with a winter like we had.