Filling and liner stretching
It was brought to my attention that there may be issues with the liner stretch and not fitting to the pool until it does. I know that the liner should be allowed to "relax" on a warm day in the pool when filling, but if in fact the only available water source is well water (54 deg F) then won't the effect be the same in that the liner will become rigid, not relaxing to fit until the water warms up? Are we going to experience wall bending/buckle? How much? Being new to this, I wouldn't want to be freaking out thinking we got the wrong sized liner or that we did something wrong in constructing the sides or coving, etc. which caused this. Or is this completely rumor that this will happen??
Is there any benefit to trying to run that fill water through the solar panel sets somehow to warm it up some while filling? We have a J-Hook liner on an 18x33 buttress free.
Re: Filling and liner stretching
My installers instructed me not to fill the pool overnight due to the cold night air is making the liner shrink and the water is making the liner stretch - made sense and I turned off the water at night. It took at least 2 full days to fill that thing. As far as water temps - the water out of the hose today was about 59º. I had the pool installed about the same time 5 years ago so I would imagine it was about the same temp.
Re: Filling and liner stretching
But is it true that we should expect our liner to not fit right off before filling, be somewhat small and some gap between the bottom/coving until the liner stretches or should it fit right at the time we begin filling, with only minor barely or unnoticable stretching? (we intend to use the shop vac to bring it to the walls before and as we fill) The water out of our hose is ALWAYS no more than 54 degrees being rural well water and ground temp. It would be filled during the day anyway, hate to risk the hose coming out and swamp the yard, wash out the landscaping fill or anything similar. thanks.
Re: Filling and liner stretching
I would definitly put in any AG liner on any sunny day warmer than 12 celcius (probably 60 fahrerheit, but my conversion may be off.) I would definitly not worry about the temp of the fill water. The warmth of the sun and the shop vac will definitly take care of any stretching you need. Note: I did say sunny day. When the sun is out liners seem to be much stretchier (trust me, thats a word). If you are putting it in on an overcast day I would look for a bit warmer one.
Brad
www.waterworkspools.com
Re: Filling and liner stretching
What Waterworks said reminded me that my pool water was definately warmer than the hose water. I think it was due to solar heating. Since I was not dumping 1,000's of gallons in at a time, I believe the blue of the walls and the darker bottom made the water a little warmer (maybe 65 - 70) than the hose temp
Re: Filling and liner stretching
Ok, we do plan on putting it in on a sunny day. I appreciate all this help, I am completely stressed about doing this right and my hubby really didn't want a new pool so I want to be sure I don't stress him too! However, IS it supposed to be that way (small with gaps) or is is supposed to be just right to start with? If he sees the wall bend and buckle, I am sure to be blamed for doing or ordering something wrong!
Re: Filling and liner stretching
NWMNWmom....I too am putting up a pool in the next couple weeks. My husband also wasn't too keen on this new venture as the costs are adding up. Any good tips on the liner installation will be greatly appreciated. I've read everything I can get my hands on and want to do it right. The liner will be a 18' beaded liner..I only have a small shop vac (5 gallon 1.25hp) Will that be sufficient to suck the liner to the walls??
Re: Filling and liner stretching
Hi all, I will answer a couple of questions here. It is the outside temperature and the amount of direct sunlight that allows the liner to stretch, not the temperature of the water. It is very true that if you are losing your sunlight for the day and your liner has more stretching to do it is ok to shut the water off for the night and restart the next day.
As for the amount of stretch, I stretch my liners in over the existing pool framework and let the water smooth the wrinkles out. When the water is just a few inches from the edge of the pool I shut the water off and put the liner into place. That seems to be just the right amount of stretching to assure a wrinkle free installation.
With beaded liners, good luck. Meaning, beaded liners are much more difficult to install. Most of the time they are to big for the pool and leave a lot of extra baggage on the sides. Secondly they are not meant to be stretched in so working the liner into place from inside the pool will usually cause unwanted footprints. My solution for this is to stretch the beaded liner into the pool like I would an overlap liner. When the water is near the edge of the pool I decide how I want to finish it. Most of the time I pull the liner over the wall and use coping to hold it in place, just like an overlap. If I see that it will stretch in nice using the bead receiver I will use that method. This way I know that however I do it, it will turn out nice. As for the shop vac, I don’t use one. That last few inches of stretch on the liner walls eliminates the need for one.
Re: Filling and liner stretching
Quote:
Originally Posted by csevel
NWMNWmom....I too am putting up a pool in the next couple weeks. My husband also wasn't too keen on this new venture as the costs are adding up. Any good tips on the liner installation will be greatly appreciated. I've read everything I can get my hands on and want to do it right. The liner will be a 18' beaded liner..I only have a small shop vac (5 gallon 1.25hp) Will that be sufficient to suck the liner to the walls??
OK, can you explain to me how the ShopVac come into play?
Re: Filling and liner stretching
Hi, Matt does a very good job of explaning the correct way to install a beaded liner in this thread.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=985
It will answer the shop vac question.
Dennis