Tag Archives: Inground Pool Liner

One Advantage Of Having To Change The Liner In Your Vinyl Liner Inground Pool

When customers first start researching an inground pool, they will invariably ask which is better, fiberglass or vinyl liner?  Our response is that it is pretty much what you, as the customer, prefers.  Each type of inground has pros and cons, which we address on our website.

One potential negative about a vinyl liner pool is that you will have to change the liner at some point during the life of the pool.  We find that typically a liner will last about eight years.  While that can be a negative, lets look at the other side of the coin.  In the video below the owner purchased the home and the pool was in pretty rough shape.  While the pool looks rough, by simply changing the liner the pool was well on its way to being an attraction instead of an eye sore!  So having the ability to change the liner in this situation was a huge plus.  In one day the pool went from unusable to looking like an almost new pool.  Watch the video below and see the transformation yourself!

Vermiculite Base For Vinyl Liner Inground Pool!!

This is a short video showing the process when troweling the bottom in on a vinyl liner inground pool. You can see how we start with nothing but dirt and gravel, and trowel the base material over that untill the bottom is finished.

We use a vermiculite base rather than a grout base. Vermiculite sets up hard enough to walk on, but stays soft enough to be able to do any repairs needed. We can scrape any trowel marks, or repair any rough patches to get the bottom as close to perfect as possible. With grout (concrete) base you can not do this. Unless if a grinder is used any trowel marks or imperfections are permanent.

Vermiculite also allows water to flow through it back and forth. This allows for it to not crack like a grout mix will.

You can see the string lines we set in the bottom. This lets us trowel the bottom in exact so that our liners fit like they are supposed to. If you do not set string lines you are guessing at the dimensions, and there is a good chance your liner will not fit perfect.

Why The Bottom Of Your Vinyl Liner Inground Needs String Lines!

What do you mean I need string lines in the bottom of my pool? When I am talking about string lines, I do not mean when the pool is finished. When the liner is installed you do not want anything underneath it but the material used for the bottom of your pool. And you want it to be completely clean.

So what do I mean by string lines in the bottom of the pool? During the construction of your pool, when the bottom is being done is when your contractor should be using string lines. Whatever style or shape the bottom of your pool will be, the use of string lines insures that the dimensions and measurements are right.

Correct Depth!

This is the biggest reason why I feel that setting string lines are important. Once the wall panels for your pool are set in place and leveled, your contractor should measure from the top of the wall down into the hole to get the exact depth. We will set rebar pins and tie off string line so we know right where we are supposed to be. Whether your pool is going to have a finished depth of 8’, 6’ or whatever you decide on, the way to make sure it is exact is to set string lines.

Liner Fit!

The liner will be made to fit your pool. Your contractor will have a dig sheet showing the dimensions of the liner for your pool. They now have to build the pool to fit the liner. Do not let your pool builder tell you they can stretch the liner in place. Liners will stretch but it should never be more than 1”, two at the most. If the liner is stretched into place it will cause it to be pulled to thin in spots, which shortens the life of the liner. No matter how well the dig is done, unless string lines are set, there is no reference point to go off of when the pool base material is installed. Setting reference points with string lines can cause extra work. There will probably be places than need to be cleaned out, either by shovel or possibly a pick. Possibly there needs to be gravel added to the bottom to fill in low spots. Most pool builders I have seen will not take the time to do this. They place the bottom material by putting just enough to cover the dirt and say “we’ll let the liner stretch in place”, not caring to make sure the dimensions for the bottom are right. Not good.

Pool Base Material!

Whatever your pool builder uses for the base of your pool, whether it is a vermiculite mix or a grout concrete mix, it needs to be installed at a certain thickness. This is where settings string lines allows for the builder to see if there is enough room between the dirt and the string to install the base material at the proper thickness.

If you want the liner for your pool to fit like it was made too, it is a good idea to make sure your contractor sets string lines as reference points. Don’t get me wrong. You can “eyeball” it close. When you are spending thousands of dollars on your pool project though, do you want it close, or exact?

Happy swimming!!