A Couple of Rocks Sticking Up Under Liner

We have a 25k gal 2 1/2 year old inground vinyl liner pool over a Poolkrete bottom/sides. Late last season we had the liner replaced and shortly thereafter closed the pool.

This season I have found two little rocks sticking up under the liner, both in the shallow end, close together. The contractor says this is not uncommon; sometimes, usually with poor drainage, rocks are caused to move around. He said our drainage is good so we should not have too much problem with this.

He suggests partially draining, splitting the seam and removing the rock(s). He said this can cause more leaks in the reglued liner and no guarantee that more rocks won't "pop up". He said the "real world" solution is to push the rock back in with the end of a 2x4 and hope it won't cut the liner.

We never had any rocks "popping up" before the liner was replaced. This is not a bulge in the poolkrete, but two loose rocks. Has anybody ever heard of individual rocks popping up out of poolkrete?

Thanks all.
PAT

I have a similar pool and similar problem. Here's my story and a trick for you to try.

First my story: Last year after opening our 3 year vinyl IG with a poolcrete (sand and cement mixture) bottom I noticed that about 4 inches from where the side of the pool meets the hopper sides there was a line of what felt like rocks that had suddenly 'popped up'. I was worried that these could hurt the liner, and called the builder to come out and have a look.

He looked it over, and felt the bumps. He suggested that the high water table over the winter (it stays wet where I live) probably caused the liner to lift slightly because of the reduced water pressure caused by lowering the pool water level for winter. When the liner lifted it allowed tiny grains of poolcrete to fall from top edge that meets the steel walls.

His suggestion was not to worry.

The trick that make me feel better:

The builder suggested taking a piece of the liner and place it on the kitchen counter, then take a small grain of sand or very small piece of dirt and place between the liner and the counter. (I had a big piece left from where they cut the liner out around the steps). This tiny grain of sand no bigger than the head of a pin felt HUGE! I looked under my little 'test' to make sure it was just one grain of sand, and felt again. It felt like it was the size of a BB or even a little larger. The bumps in my pool were all about the same size or smaller.

I no longer worry about the bumps.

Your builder is right - draining and cutting your liner will expose you to a huge risk of leaks. The seams on most liners are 'heat welded' together. If they slice your liner they will use glue, and you are very prone to having future leaks. I wouldn't risk it.

By the way - I'm curious why you had to replace the liner in a 2 1/2 year old pool. I'm assuming some kind of accident or damage since most liners last 10-25 years.

Thanks for sharing your story; I feel better now.

We had a very bad storm last August. I was in such a hurry to pick up my daughter that I left without putting the umbrellas down. You can guess the rest. The wind snapped a wooden umbrella pole in two and drove it through the bottom of the pool. The other umbrellas ended up several acres away. My husband has had weather training and is pretty sure we had a tornado.

We thought about just having the liner patched, but since we had other damage and were filing an insurance claim anyway, we had it replaced.

Thanks again.
PAT

Sorry to head about the storm. I always worry about our umbrella and glass table. They are on the deck, and usually sheilded from the wind of storms by the house, so we haven't had any hairy situations yet.

Enjoy the water!

this info is very important to me and raises a few concerns, I have a 16x32 IG and it was covered for many years, the liner is ripped everywhere there has been wood(decaying), bathroom tile and asphalt roofing material along with other unknown debris dumped in there. I uncovered the wooden cover.I removed debris, dirty sand and can see that the saftey ledge walls caved. I plan on screening the sand walls with homemade screen box but need to know what process it takes to build the saftey ledges, the question is should i compact all the sand and then add and rebuild walls with new so that no splinters, rocks cut my new liner. I am ready to order liner and dont want t o make mistakes with measurements?
Any help with experiences would be appreciated!

CableGuy - I would delete that post and start your own thread under Pool Construction. I think you will get more replies off of your own post with a more applicable title.

Thanks. I have alot of issues and that would be best.Thanks again