getting a head start on liner replacement

[donnaspool]

Liner is on the way 24ft 52" round AG pool. Since my husband will be tackling this alone

Can he pull off the old liner and start leveling and resetting sand etc before new liner arrives can that cause a problem?

If it rains before new liner is installed can that be a problem?

Donnapool

[waste]

Welcome to The Forum!

Depending on how long it will be before the new liner arrives, I'd do as much as possible without defeating the rework.

If you retrowel the floor and leave it uncovered for a week of thunderstorms, you've wasted your time. Please let me know your schedule on liner arrival and placement and I'll try to give you a workable list of things you can work on, prior to receiving and installing the liner.

Knowing your location would help so I can see if you're expecting storms.

[donnaspool]

Thanks for your help, I am expecting it by Sunday but will not be able to do full install until following weekend so I have now and most of next week to chip away at it. I am in zip code 18360 , stroudsburg pa.
If I start working the sand can I put the old liner over it to protect it. meaning I would cut the sidewalls off and just have the circle at the bottom.

[waste]

You are on the exact same page as what I'd suggest

I'd cut the side wall ~ 2' up all around and remove the wall part of the liner. Then I'd fold the liner back on itself to expose 1/2 the floor (some of the sand will stick to the bottom of the liner, just sweep it off). Retrowel that 1/2 then recover the freshly troweled sand with the liner and peel back the other 1/2 and do the same.

When you pull out the old liner, you'll have to touch up a fair amount of the floor and cove. However, most of the work has already been done, so it should be a lot less work to get the bottom ready for the new liner.

Also, when you expose the walls, you can check to see if they need any attention, and take care of anything well before you are ready to drop the liner.

If, as the bottom is being retroweled, you need any tips & tricks on troweling sand for a pool, let me know and I'll try to explain how I've always done sand bottoms.

Please make sure you get replacement sand that is OK for pool bottoms (the 50 lb bags of kid's sandbox sand isn't - and you can get a better price at the local 'Contractor's Supply'.)

Well wishes for a successful liner drop and great pool season!

[donnaspool]

would love any tips or tricks you have to offer, I have been watching a bunch of you tube vids of liner replacement, many different methods out there
How much sand do I need? and is it just called pool sand? I am thinking of going to a masonary supply or landscaping stone supply or do you think home depot/lowes carries it?
I am going to cut and fold back half the cover today and take some pics so you can see what I am up against. thanks again for all your help!

[donnaspool]

Ok I found a source for sand, local masonary supply $15 ton and he said it was for pools.

I cut liner as mentioned above and pulled back. Not sure what I am looking for. Sand is hard as a rock. I tried to level out a bit but needed to first strafe it with a metal rake to loosen it then move it around with a push broom.

The other side had a big puddle underneath and bottom rail was exposed in a few spots. I used shop vac to vacuum out excessive water. Looks lime rain today so I rolled back the cover as best I could to protect sand. some of the edges are exposed in spots hope that is okay.

I attached a few pics ., welcome any comments or suggestions. expect to have liner by Saturday, oops looks like there is no way to attach a photo , sorry.

[waste]

Always happy to share my experience with the members of this forum

Does your husband have any troweling experience?

Regardless, you'll want a wood float and a pool trowel (the pool trowel is oval rather than rectangular). Use a garden rake to move the sand to 'roughly' level and at the desired height (if you don't have a transit, you can just run a string across the the pool and measure down from that to find the desired grade). Wet the sand with a garden hose ('mist' and 'shower' settings work best), you want the sand moist but not soaking. Use the wood float to first smooth and then tamp the sand and the trowel to put the finishing smooth on the sand. Work from the walls into the pool and leave an aisle back to the ladder (i.e. don't trowel yourself into a 'corner' with no way out of the pool)

To get the bevel at the bottom of the wall right, I've both measure down from the top of the wall and made a magic marker line on my wood float. I like the marking of the float because that way I can sink the float down to the bottom of the wall, to check how high the sand is on the wall and then, put the float against the wall and sight down to see how far out from the wall I am and adjust accordingly. (I like to play it safe and, if the liner calls for a 6" bevel, I mark the float at ~ 5 1/2" -it's better to be a little low on the floor of a liner pool).

There's the first installment on the tips & tricks. If you need clarification on anything or want a little more, just let me know.



[edit] The previous 2 posts weren't there when I started my response - I'm a poor and S-L-O-W typist.

You got the right sand 8) [/edit]