Replacing IG Liner -- Need lots of advice

[rak70]

My 21x36 IG liner is ready to be replaced and I am strongly considering doing the job myself.

First off any recomendations on where to order for best price/quality?

The old liner has way to many pinholes from sand and rocks working their way through the bottom. It seems who-ever installed the liner did a terrible job of sweeping before placing it in. When I put the new liner in can I put padding on the bottom to avoid this or is that a no-no for some reason? The walls already have foam padding.

Is 28 mil good or should I go thicker?

I don't have built in steps in my existing pool just the drop in plastic kind that are weighed down by sandbags and bolted to the concrete slab. This type of step seems to wear at the liner over time and also is a dirt trap. Is there a way to build steps in without breaking up part of the slab surrounding the pool? If so could someone provide pictures so I could get an idea of whats involved in building them in...

Pros and cons to light vs dark liners?

Thanks

[waste]

Rak, welcome to the forum!! Just so happens that I've been doing this for a living quite a while, I know others here know the drill, but I've dropped 1000 or so liners (both on new pools and as redrops) and would like to help you as much as I can. What is the floor made of ; sand, sand and cement, or vermiculite and cement ? (or something else ) Whichever it is, it does sound like the floor wasn't properly swept before the liner went in, or the floor is degrading, make sure to patch it correctly before dropping a new liner,
I have no info on where to procure a liner on line (we get ours from NH, but those folks won't sell to me directly - I tried a few years ago - nor any private citizen). 28 mil should be good. I've never had luck foaming a pool bottom, but I believe some of the folks here have ( the problem I always encounter is wrinkles - perhaps I just don't have the method correct). There are corner steps that can be 'retro'd' into a corner of the pool, but you'll have to order the liner to include them, I can get the info on them from my boss if you'd like. One thing that you didn't mention, is the attachment bead on the liner, you need this to be correct for the liner to stay in it's track!, and I can't tell you how to describe it to the manufacturer
There are some other cavats, but I'll let you mull this over and be ready to respond when you've assimilated this. If I can be of more help, post, and I'll be there! - Waste

[tonyl]

Well, I bought my replacement liner from Water Warehouse...and I had great results. Our pool is an 18X36 sport pool (3.5 on each end, tapering to 5.5 feet in the middle) I replaced the liner myself....that's ALL by myself. It would have been nice to have help with the 250 lb. box it came in but I managed to wrestle it into place. My pool had several rocks left and a few rough places that I plotted and repaired/removed. Just like yours, it had foam on the walls but concrete bottom. I left it that way but the bottom will feel more cushioned with the new liner. It seems my old one was brittle and ready to fail also.

I opted for the 20 guage after several recommendations, any more was for piece of mind.

We're really glad we went with a darker liner (sanibel tile) as it really helps solar wise to heat the pool and it certainly won't get darker over time. We're currently able to get 90 degree pool temp on a sunny 83 degree day.


Hope this helps, Tony

Edit: Make sure you replace the skimmer & return gaskets. It's like changing your oil and not the filter.

[Pool_Mike]

I opted for the 20 guage after several recommendations, any more was for piece of mind.

Do you mean 20ml ?

If so, why over the 28ml??

[tonyl]

Yeah, I meant 20 mil, sorry about that...heard that it was plenty durable and easy to work with.

[rak70]

It sounds as though the 20 mil may be the way to go because of ease of installation. Although the 28 mil liners at Pool Warehouse are the same price as the 20 mil. Is a 28 that much harder to install without wrinkles?

waste - I believe the bottom is cement/vermiculite but wont know for sure until pulling the old liner.

I have 6 to 9 french drains that are capped around the pool so will need to rent a trash pump for drainage.

After thinking about it I probably wont mess with putting steps in unless it can be done without much expense. Don't want to buy any kits was thinking more on the lines of doing some concrete work inside the pool myself while the old liner was out.

Attachment bead.... It looks like the liner is tucked into in a slot above the water line and has some push in beading. At the top of the slot is a 1" to 1 1/2" plastic strip that appears to be glued/cemented to the foundation wall. I can take pictures of the pool at some point and post them.