Drained My Vinyl-lined Pool ... Help!

[lildachs]

My pool is a fairly standard 16 x 32 rectangle with 4' radius corners and 8' molded plastic/fiberglass steps in the shallow end. After 14 years, I decided to drain my vinyl-lined pool this year. It was uncovered over the fall & winter, was full of leaves and algae, and it seemed like a good idea to just drain it and start over. Now, the liner has pulled away from the corners, especially in the shallow end. I have vacuumed the air from behind the liner, which works great for the deep end of the pool, but the corners in the shallow end won't vacuum all the way back against the walls at the bottom. There is also air behind the liner across the bottom of the steps, extending out for about 8 inches onto the pool bottom before the liner actually touches the bottom of the pool again. The liner seems stiff and unyielding... just doesn't want to stretch back into those corners. There is a nickel-sized area on the bottom corner of the steps where the liner has pulled out from under the seal/gasket. Otherwise, all other liner/gasket seals appear to be intact.

Is there any hope of somehow patching the nickel-sized hole at the bottom corner of the steps? Can it be patched, or can I remove the trim and gasket from around the steps and put the liner back in place? I don't want to replace a liner with no holes or tears, other than one tiny area where the liner just pulled loose from under a gasket.

Just for the record, if I could back up to about two weeks ago, I would have NEVER drained this perfectly functioning 14-year-old pool !!! It's the dumbest thing I've done in a very long time.

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

My pool is a fairly standard 16 x 32 rectangle with 4' radius corners and 8' molded plastic/fiberglass steps in the shallow end. After 14 years, I decided to drain my vinyl-lined pool this year. It was uncovered over the fall & winter, was full of leaves and algae, and it seemed like a good idea to just drain it and start over. Now, the liner has pulled away from the corners, especially in the shallow end. I have vacuumed the air from behind the liner, which works great for the deep end of the pool, but the corners in the shallow end won't vacuum all the way back against the walls at the bottom. There is also air behind the liner across the bottom of the steps, extending out for about 8 inches onto the pool bottom before the liner actually touches the bottom of the pool again. The liner seems stiff and unyielding... just doesn't want to stretch back into those corners. There is a nickel-sized area on the bottom corner of the steps where the liner has pulled out from under the seal/gasket. Otherwise, all other liner/gasket seals appear to be intact.

Is there any hope of somehow patching the nickel-sized hole at the bottom cormer of the steps? Can it be patched, or can I remove the trim and gasket from around the steps and put the liner back in place? I don't want to replace a liner with no holes or tears, other than one tiny area where the liner just pulled loose from under a gasket.

Just for the record, if I could back up to about two weeks ago, I would have NEVER drained this perfectly functioning 14-year-old pool !!! It's the dumbest thing I've done in a very ling time.

Unfortunately your liner is most likely finished. At 14 years old, there is no elasticity left in the vinyl to allow it to stretch back. If you try to fill it there will probably be more holes around the steps from the screw holes pulling down. I would get it replaced now rather than run the risk of it blowing out during the heat of the season.

[lildachs]

Believe it or not, we managed to get the liner back into place, patched the hole at the corner of the steps, and have a filled pool with balanced water! To stretch the liner, besides using two ShopVacs, it is truly amazing what can be done with HOT WATER (about 180 degrees!) and a BLOW DRYER! A wet/dry vinyl patch kit and a couple of tubes of wet/dry epoxy pool putty stopped all but a minor leak... about 1/2" to 1" per 24 hours. Using red food coloring mixed with water in a syringe, we found leaking areas around the steps. We patched what we could, given that the water is still COLD and cannot be tolerated for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Once the water warms up enough to get in comfortably, we will use the food coloring to find where the remaining small leak is (probably also around the steps) and patch it completely. It took us about 6 or 7 hours to get all the wrinkles out and get the liner stretched back into place, but it was certainly less expensive than a new liner ($5000!!!). I have learned my lesson... NEVER drain a vinyl-lined inground swimming pool without at least consulting a professional. I know now that it can be done without causing damage, but only if you are completely prepared and know exactly what to do (and what NOT to do!).

[bubbles705]

Believe it or not, we managed to get the liner back into place, patched the hole at the corner of the steps, and have a filled pool with balanced water! To stretch the liner, besides using two ShopVacs, it is truly amazing what can be done with HOT WATER (about 180 degrees!) and a BLOW DRYER! A wet/dry vinyl patch kit and a couple of tubes of wet/dry epoxy pool putty stopped all but a minor leak... about 1/2" to 1" per 24 hours. Using red food coloring mixed with water in a syringe, we found leaking areas around the steps. We patched what we could, given that the water is still COLD and cannot be tolerated for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Once the water warms up enough to get in comfortably, we will use the food coloring to find where the remaining small leak is (probably also around the steps) and patch it completely. It took us about 6 or 7 hours to get all the wrinkles out and get the liner stretched back into place, but it was certainly less expensive than a new liner ($5000!!!). I have learned my lesson... NEVER drain a vinyl-lined inground swimming pool without at least consulting a professional. I know now that it can be done without causing damage, but only if you are completely prepared and know exactly what to do (and what NOT to do!).

[bubbles705]

Believe it or not, we managed to get the liner back into place, patched the hole at the corner of the steps, and have a filled pool with balanced water! To stretch the liner, besides using two ShopVacs, it is truly amazing what can be done with HOT WATER (about 180 degrees!) and a BLOW DRYER! A wet/dry vinyl patch kit and a couple of tubes of wet/dry epoxy pool putty stopped all but a minor leak... about 1/2" to 1" per 24 hours. Using red food coloring mixed with water in a syringe, we found leaking areas around the steps. We patched what we could, given that the water is still COLD and cannot be tolerated for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Once the water warms up enough to get in comfortably, we will use the food coloring to find where the remaining small leak is (probably also around the steps) and patch it completely. It took us about 6 or 7 hours to get all the wrinkles out and get the liner stretched back into place, but it was certainly less expensive than a new liner ($5000!!!). I have learned my lesson... NEVER drain a vinyl-lined inground swimming pool without at least consulting a professional. I know now that it can be done without causing damage, but only if you are completely prepared and know exactly what to do (and what NOT to do!).

Hi, glad to hear about your pool, It must of felt like a nightmare. I have a question, i hope you can help me with. my have some cracks on my fiberglass steps and have lost some water. can you please tell me exactly how to use the food coloring with the syringe, what do i do with it??

thank you

bubbles705

[bubbles705]

Believe it or not, we managed to get the liner back into place, patched the hole at the corner of the steps, and have a filled pool with balanced water! To stretch the liner, besides using two ShopVacs, it is truly amazing what can be done with HOT WATER (about 180 degrees!) and a BLOW DRYER! A wet/dry vinyl patch kit and a couple of tubes of wet/dry epoxy pool putty stopped all but a minor leak... about 1/2" to 1" per 24 hours. Using red food coloring mixed with water in a syringe, we found leaking areas around the steps. We patched what we could, given that the water is still COLD and cannot be tolerated for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Once the water warms up enough to get in comfortably, we will use the food coloring to find where the remaining small leak is (probably also around the steps) and patch it completely. It took us about 6 or 7 hours to get all the wrinkles out and get the liner stretched back into place, but it was certainly less expensive than a new liner ($5000!!!). I have learned my lesson... NEVER drain a vinyl-lined inground swimming pool without at least consulting a professional. I know now that it can be done without causing damage, but only if you are completely prepared and know exactly what to do (and what NOT to do!).

Hi, glad to hear about your pool, It must of felt like a nightmare. I have a question, i hope you can help me with. my have some cracks on my fiberglass steps and have lost some water. can you please tell me exactly how to use the food coloring with the syringe, what do i do with it??

thank you

bubbles705

[lildachs]

Hello bubbles705,

I mixed about 4 ounces of water with 6 - 8 drops of red food coloring in a cup. This makes a dark red solution. Draw up a syringe full of this red water. Turn off your pump and allow the pool water to settle down where there is virtually no motion in the water. If you can reach the area(s) where you suspect the leak(s) to be without getting into the pool, that's best. Otherwise, get into the pool slowly so you don't disturb the water very much. Once you can reach the leaky area(s) and the water has settled to almost stagnant, take the syringe of red water and slowly squirt a very small amount right onto the area you want to test. If there is a leak in the area, you will be able to see the red colored water being drawn out of the pool through the leaky spot. It is really amazing! If there is no leak in that spot, the red water will just float away out into the pool water. Once you find the leak(s), patch them and retest the next day. I hope this helps!

[pats fan]

So the purpose of the wet/dry vac is to get the air out from behind the liner, is this correct?

[pats fan]

So the purpose of the wet/dry vac is to get the air out from behind the liner, is this correct?