how to pull my liner up

[gregpsaros]

Hello all, I have an in ground liner pool and lowered level to make a repair which required me to take the skimmer face plate off. The liner has shrunk or sagged and now does not line up. Should I raise the level back up? Or lower it and try again? I've tried boiling water but it isn't enough. Any advice would be great, never had a pool before. Thanks!

CLOSED - Duplicate thread

[CarlD]

Is it merely cosmetic or has the liner popped out of its track and you cannot get it back in?

I had a lot of winter damage this year and my liner popped its track all over, especially when the ice damage pulled the coping with the track right off the wall!

[gregpsaros]

Oh man sorry to hear that. Mines still in the track but when I took the skimmer face plate off and fittings, it sagged and now the screw holes don't line up at all for anything and I can't raise level until new gaskets and flanges are on. I was wondering if I dropped level if it would give me more liner to work and make it easier or make it worse. Thanks

[CarlD]

OK, here's what you CAN do, but DANGER! DO NOT DO IT WITHOUT GROUND-FAULT PROTECTION!!! THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

I used a small hair dryer to soften my liner enough to pull it back into place, slowly heating and pulling. But I have a GFCI socket (all outdoor sockets now must be GFCI by code) and the hair-dryer also has a GFCI plug. When I started, I still had a lot of ice on the pool and anything dropped didn't get wet--I didn't drop the hair dryer.

IF YOU DROP IT IN THE WATER DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PULL IT OUT! DON'T TOUCH THE WATER! Instead step away and walk to the outlet and pull the plug. The GFCI should have shut the current off, but you need to double-check by pulling the plug first.

It is risky to do, even with precautions but I was able to get my liner completely back in the track this way. I ran my drop cord OUTSIDE the pool, using only an outdoor-rated cord and made sure the GFCI was working every time.

[gregpsaros]

I appreciate the tip. I had heard to not use dry heat because it could damage the liner so I was trying to go with the boiling water but I don't have a big enough supply of boiling water to be effective lol. I think I will give the hair dryer a shot, I'm sure they say not to use it because of people not knowing what they're doing, but I think I'm knowlegable enough to make it work. Should I drain anymore water? I have about 6 inches until the waterline from what I'm working with.

[CarlD]

I can tell you that the more surface you can heat, the easier it is to stretch the liner--and the less any one area is stretched. I had very good luck with the hair dryer. Only one section was too tough, so for that I used a heat gun on the low setting...VERY quickly! I don't recommend the heat gun but I could not get those last 3" back in the track without it...but it left the liner looking uneven there. Oh, well, it's an old liner in its twelfth season with 4 patches already and a lot of fading...as long as it's not leaking......

[gregpsaros]

Great I will give it a shot. Thanks for all the input I really appreciate it.

[Watermom]

Be careful! Let us know how it goes!