Pool Liner issues

[amgaut]

I am new to this and am just trying to get a little advice. We just had our pool liner replaced (June 7/8) and from the start I have not been pleased. We got quotes from a couple of different pool places in our area including our normal pool people. We ended up going with company X because we were trying to get it done by a specific date and they were the only ones who said it was possible...despite being more expensive than the other quotes. We figured that the little bit of extra money was worth getting it done quicker. Needless to say they missed the date they promised (weather was bad) and I could go on about their lack of customer service and things that I thought were strange but to the point. The finished product has multiple wrinkles and the top where the liner and coping meet seems loose. I tried to attach pictures so you could see what I was talking about but it would not allow me to yet. I was told by company x that the wrinkles were caused by the "cold hose water" hitting the liner while we filled the pool and that once it warmed up they would smooth out. I was also told that I could take my feet and try to smooth them while in the pool. We have not gotten in the pool because we do not want company X to say that we damaged anything. Any advice would be great and if I can attach pictures I would be more than glad to. TIA

[aesweeps]

hi. i just wanted to mention that we got our liner replaced in April for our in-ground pool and had similar issues as you. The pool guy came out and removed the small wrinkles that I noticed at that time, I wasn't home when he did it but when I spoke to him I asked how that was done and he said they just use a plunger, anyways it worked but definitely would have the pool people do that. I did find a couple other small wrinkles and I was able to smooth those out with my foot just last weekend. Another problem I have, not sure if you do or not, was with the liner not laying completely flat on the floor and connecting wall leading to the steps. Our pool guy said there is more pull in front of the steps and that area will relax more as the water gets warmer. Right after installation he referred to that part of the liner as "floating", and again stated it would flatten as the water warmed up. It has flattened quite a bit but not fully, and hoping it will soon because I see this as a problem if not. Not sure if any of this helps but thought I would let you know my experience with the wrinkles and what could be done. Good Luck!

[amgaut]

Thank you for the response and I had read about the plunger but these are pretty bad and I don't feel like we should have to fix them considering it has not been a week since the liner has been installed. They did send someone out yesterday to look at the pool after I went to their office and showed them the pictures I had taken of how bad it looked, which is a plus. While thankful they said they would "try" to fix it he said something that worried me...He said that they would have to come back when it was hot (with no chance of rain) to stretch the liner and would put some water behind the liner to loosen the wrinkles. I thought that water behind the liner was a bad, very bad, thing and can not find anything online about that being a remedy for removing liner wrinkles. I am on the fence about letting them do that but then in the same sense they will not get paid anything else until the job is done correctly and to our satisfaction. Any idea about the water behind the liner??

[Watermom]

Let me see if I can get one of our guys who are pool installers to take a look at this thread and offer their advice for you.

Welcome to the Pool Forum, by the way!

[amgaut]

Thank you that would be amazing to hear someone elses opinion. We spoke to our normal pool company and they were baffled that they would intentionally put water behind the liner so I am at a loss right now.

[PoolDoc]

I was told by company x that the wrinkles were caused by the "cold hose water" hitting the liner while we filled the pool and that once it warmed up they would smooth out. I was also told that I could take my feet and try to smooth them while in the pool.

This is BS. Wrinkles are common, but it's the responsibility of the installer to remove them, which MUST be done before the pool is completely full.

It's time to check your rights under your contract.

Having a liner 'float' due to ground water under the liner is a different problem and may, or may not, be the contractor's fault.

[hrsdennis]

I would really like to see the photos before I say too much. It sounds like the OP has a legitimate complaint. The pool company, I do not like their response. You cannot work out wrinkles with your feet once the pool is full, not going to happen. There is nothing you can do with the wrinkles on the side with a pool full of water. To fix the pool you drain the water down to a couple of inches. With the sun high overhead you get in, on your hands and knees, and you push all those wrinkles to the side of the pool. You then remove all the tops and pull the liner up tight and straight. The only reason for wrinkles on the bottom is cause someone did not get in the pool and work them out. The only reasons for wrinkles on the side is because the liner is not centered correctly or they just did a sloppy job of tucking it up and over.

Wrinkles in the bottom can easily happen because of cold water, one side of the pool in shade and the other in direct sun, cold weather, one side of the pool deeper than the other or a super thick liner on a cold day. There are many, many reasons. But you do not fill a pool with wrinkles in the bottom, you just don't. You get in and you work those suckers just as flat as you can. You may get ripples at times, it may not be perfect, but you do not leave wrinkles.

On the sides, the only acceptable wrinkles are straight up and down. Angles wrinkles are just a sloppy install. Straight up and down means the liner is just bigger than the pool, there is nothing you can do except spread them out and make them as small as possible.

Anyway, I could go on and on about vinyl liners and wrinkles, but I won't, but would love more details about this job, and how they handle it. And photos. And water behind the liner, I'd love to see how that works. Makes no sense to me.

Later, Dennis

[PoolDoc]

You can post photos by putting them on Picasa, Google Docs, Flickr, etc and then linking them here with the IMG button: