12'x20'x4' inground pool vinyl liner replacement

Hi all :) the liner is ordered (turns out it was a standard bead) and is (hopefully) being manufactured this week. Another question to you awesome people out there...I have to do some major sanding (and spray painting) to these steel walls and repair/leveling of the sand bottom. How far in advance can I prepare the walls/floor and is there a particular sand I should get for the floor? I anticipate the linier arriving within the next 2 weeks. Thanks for your wonderful and informative site! :) Kath

Hi everyone...not sure if this will be a double post...if so sorry about that. Just sending an update, the liner is ordered and hopefully being manufactured this week. As I mentioned, I sent a sample of the old liner bead and my salesman said it was a standard bead. I need to do a lot of prep work before this liner can go in...removing the old liner, sanding and spray painting the walls as well as filling in holes and leveling the sand bottom. I have 2 more questions for you awesome pool folk...how far in advance can I start this prep-work (I anticipate receiving the liner in 10 days or so) and is there any special sand I need to get for the floor? I'm assuming children's sandbox type sand because there are no pebbles etc. Thank you for this wonderful and informative site! :) Kath

Hey Kath!

You can address the wall issues at any time, sand them down and Rustolium *TM* spray paint them, to keep the rust at bay. I'd wait until the liner is delivered to fix the floor, any rain or strong winds will effect the floor, so you want to only have to retrowel it once, just prior to putting the liner in. I can give some tips on retrowling sand, but it will take me some time to type it and I'm not sure when my next day off is.

I wouldn't use 'play sand' it's too expensive - go to a building supply place or quarry and get 'dead sand' or 'mason's sand' @ ~ $.10/ pound. You can use 5 gallon buckets or the plastic tote bins to put it in. If you need a lot of sand, you can line a pickup truck bed with plastic and have them use a bobcat to toss a scoop in the back (a bobcat scoop is ~ 2000 lbs.).

Ted :D Thank you my friend...APPRECIATE ALL YOUR tips :)...this site is a Godsend :) I'll update you on my progress. Thanks again to Watermom and Jim too..advice well appreciated! :)

Hi everyone :) Tomorrow is the big day...wallls are sanded, rust-free and spraypainted, coping repainted and sand added to the floor. My first liner installation tomorrow. Wish me luck! Thank you for this forum...awesome! Kath

Hope you'll find 2 minutes to report in! Good luck.

I hope all is going well with the install!

Don't forget to take pics!:)

Hi everyone! The liner is in and starting to hold water! YEAH! There are a few wrinkles due to the very unique set up this pool (basically a shoebox in the ground with a customized filtering system my Pop came up with years ago) but I can live with them having saved my folks a few grand . Anyway...it's being filled right now and I'm reading everything you experts have to say about the BBB system. Not quite sure what I should put in chemically because the filtering system will not work until the pool is almost full (late tomorrow at the rate it is filling now). I've always used the HTH chemicals my folks buy and never had to start up a "fresh" pool. Should I use the bags of shock they bought or start with bleach? This is a sand filter...does the sand need to come from a pool store or will any fine sand work (just trying to save even more money lol)? I'll be posting before and after pics (might even have a few from the original pool from the 60's!) when it's swimable. :)
Thank you again for your wisdom and support Kath! YOU RULE! :)

OOPS...there was a typo on that last post...sorry... I meant YOU RULE (Watermom..Waste etal)! The heat stroke I got the last couple days working on this project must have affected my typing abilities ;)LOL! :) Kath

What kind of shock did they buy? We are finding out this year that HTH has gone over to the "dark side" as Ben calls it and their products are not very good any more. You could just use bleach.

While you are filling it, you might want to go ahead and drizzle some bleach in there. It doesn't take long for an unchlorinated pool to have an algae bloom brewing. Just walk around the perimeter of the pool and slowly drizzle some in being careful not to splash you or the liner. Then take a clean broom or oar or something and stir it around.

You must use pool sand for the filter. Play sand or other types that you might buy at Lowe's or whatever will NOT work.