Printable View
I just got my liner and have got to decide whether to install it myself or find someone to do it. Instructions look rather complicated. Since these liners are rather expensive I don't want to make a big mistake and have a ruined liner. Any suggestions would be appreciated. This is a beaded liner for a 27x52 above ground pool. Also noticed some rust spots on pool wall after removing liner. Should this issue be addressed before installing new liner? Thanks
Liners are relatively simple to install if you throw away the instructions that came with it and do things logically.
First off - address the rust - sand and prime with tremclad primer, let the primer cure before continuing. A coat of gloss overtop won't hurt either, it may well help protect it even better - color - your choice.
As for the liner, make sure you have a well prepared base of sand or whatever you will be using. Make sure your coves are done.
Make sure you have replaced the tape over the wall seam - several layers are a good idea here.
Place the liner in the center of the pool, unbox and unfold - go get those instructions from the garbage since they may actually have an unrolling proceedure in them.
Start to hang the liner from the wall - several pairs of hands come in handy here.
Make sure you do NOT have a vertical seam where the return or skimmer are located.
Make sure the liner hangs straight up down on the walls and seams are not skewed - if they are, adjust until straight.
Once you have hung the liner, cut out a piece of cardboard bigger than the return, tape it to cover on the outside wall - same goes for the skimmer but cut a shopvac hose sized hole into it before taping on.
Shove the vac hose about half way down the wall, turn on vac, liner should suck to wall and floor quite nicely, if everything sits well, turn off vac til you're ready to add water.
If you like the way it sits and there aren't many wrinkles start adding water, after a couple of inches of water, stop filling, get inside and start to push the wrinkles from center towards walls working in circular pattern outwards - reverse direction every 360 to avoid getting a twist which will cause a skew at the wall.
While adding water, cycle vac on/off (have someone do this) so it won't burn out, but keep it on long enough to keep the liner hugging the wall.
Once floor is smooth, readjust skew on walls if necessary by sliding the liner along the wall to whichever side it needs to go to get it hanging vertical.
continue filling and cycling vac until you're about 6" up the wall, you can then remove the vac and cardboard.
Once you're a few inches from return and skimmer, cut them in (a bit smaller than the holes in the wall), and mount your hardware, connect this up to your pump/filter and you're done.
About a 3 hour job if you fill by truck.