Swimming Pool Liner replacment

[moniot]

We need to replace our liner. I have been shopping around and found a good deal on one but it is a J liner (uni-bead) instead of the overlap style we had. I have been researching the difference and for what I can tell you can use this on any pool.

Has anyone used this type of liner? Are there issues getting the liner smooth while it is filling? Our pool is 18 X 38 if that makes a difference.

I am also checking into salt water instead of chlorine but you need to purchase some sort of a converter. If anyone has any input on that it would be helpful.

 

[ash&abby'smom]

We need to replace our liner. I have been shopping around and found a good deal on one but it is a J liner (uni-bead) instead of the overlap style we had. I have been researching the difference and for what I can tell you can use this on any pool.

Has anyone used this type of liner? Are there issues getting the liner smooth while it is filling? Our pool is 18 X 38 if that makes a difference.

I am also checking into salt water instead of chlorine but you need to purchase some sort of a converter. If anyone has any input on that it would be helpful.

Can't help with the liner questions. We checked into getting saltwater when we recently purchased our pool. Salt water will rust your pool if it does not have resin tops etc. You do have to buy a converter to go along with it. We actually ended up going with Pristine Blue (copper ionized system). The only chlorine that is put in is when we shock it once a week. The water does not have a harsh chemical smell to it at all. We are very happy with it. If you haven't looked into that you may want to. Also, you don't have to buy anything extra to go with it. You use the pump that came with your pool.

 

[moniot]

Can't help with the liner questions. We checked into getting saltwater when we recently purchased our pool. Salt water will rust your pool if it does not have resin tops etc. You do have to buy a converter to go along with it. We actually ended up going with Pristine Blue (copper ionized system). The only chlorine that is put in is when we shock it once a week. The water does not have a harsh chemical smell to it at all. We are very happy with it. If you haven't looked into that you may want to. Also, you don't have to buy anything extra to go with it. You use the pump that came with your pool.

I will check into that. It sound easy to maintain. Thanks

 

[chabs]

I bought our new liner on ebay from one of the swimming pool dealers. It came in about 2 days. I paid about 60% of what I would have paid if I bought the same liner locally (including the shipping). I don't know if you could use the beaded liner though-that is what we have and it has a hard edge that slides into a track in the metal part of the pool. They are actually (in my opinion) harder to replace than the regular liners and very hard to center and get the wrinkles out. We are do it yourselfers and it took us all day to get the liner in and try to get the wrinkles out while the pool was filling and we still have some wrinkles!

 

[moniot]

I bought our new liner on ebay from one of the swimming pool dealers. It came in about 2 days. I paid about 60% of what I would have paid if I bought the same liner locally (including the shipping). I don't know if you could use the beaded liner though-that is what we have and it has a hard edge that slides into a track in the metal part of the pool. They are actually (in my opinion) harder to replace than the regular liners and very hard to center and get the wrinkles out. We are do it yourselfers and it took us all day to get the liner in and try to get the wrinkles out while the pool was filling and we still have some wrinkles!

Ours is the overlap liner. We have done a few in the past and they are a pain also. The unibead or J liner looks like it hangs over the edge like a hook and can be used on overlap and beaded liners (or so they say) The sides are 48". I would image that it would be like your beaded liner to get straight. We are doityourselfers also and with the over lap you had to keep pulling it further and further over the side to get the wrinkles out. I am curious how you do it with this liner.

The liner I am looking at is on Ebay.

 

[donac]

The liner you are looking at does not last as long as the overlap one. We did not like it.

 

[moniot]

The liner you are looking at does not last as long as the overlap one. We did not like it.

How long did it last and what happened to it?

 

[stitchlovestink]

We need to replace our liner. I have been shopping around and found a good deal on one but it is a J liner (uni-bead) instead of the overlap style we had. I have been researching the difference and for what I can tell you can use this on any pool.

Has anyone used this type of liner? Are there issues getting the liner smooth while it is filling? Our pool is 18 X 38 if that makes a difference.

I am also checking into salt water instead of chlorine but you need to purchase some sort of a converter. If anyone has any input on that it would be helpful.

Our current liner is the J hook liner and we LOVE it!! We have not had any problems at all with the liner. Ours has the river rock pattern around the top near the rails and the water pattern on the lower sides and floor. I love how it looks much nicer than the overlap style liner. To me, theoverlap looks cheap, unfinished, and cheesy from outside of the pool. The J hook liners give an above ground pool a more 'classic' finished look and no so cheap. This is the third summer with this liner. The first summer was short as it was replaced towards the end of the season. I will not go back to an overlap liner again. Our J hook is much thicker than the overlap one was. I HIGHLY recommend the J hook liner but good luck w/ your decision.

The liner you are looking at does not last as long as the overlap one. We did not like it.

Well I respectfully disagree w/ this. Our pool originally came w/ an overlap liner and it was much thinner than the J hook. They also shipped another overlap liner (we still have it somewhere, we kept it because it was free) when we bought the J hook. Funny, if the J hook was lesser quality than the overlap, why was it considerably more expensive? also, the thickness grading on the J hook was like double the thickness grading on the overlap.

 

[jewel57]

We need to replace our liner. I have been shopping around and found a good deal on one but it is a J liner (uni-bead) instead of the overlap style we had. I have been researching the difference and for what I can tell you can use this on any pool.

Has anyone used this type of liner? Are there issues getting the liner smooth while it is filling? Our pool is 18 X 38 if that makes a difference.

I am also checking into salt water instead of chlorine but you need to purchase some sort of a converter. If anyone has any input on that it would be helpful.

Beaded liners are more difficult to install because they have to go exactly into the track on the wall. Before sure to look at the gauge and brand of the liner you are looking at to see if it will last.

Salt water pools are chlorine pools. They convert the salt into chlorine through a generator. If your pool still has a warranty, you might want to be careful as some companies void the warranty on salt pools.

 

[moniot]

Our current liner is the J hook liner and we LOVE it!! We have not had any problems at all with the liner. Ours has the river rock pattern around the top near the rails and the water pattern on the lower sides and floor. I love how it looks much nicer than the overlap style liner. To me, theoverlap looks cheap, unfinished, and cheesy from outside of the pool. The J hook liners give an above ground pool a more 'classic' finished look and no so cheap. This is the third summer with this liner. The first summer was short as it was replaced towards the end of the season. I will not go back to an overlap liner again. Our J hook is much thicker than the overlap one was. I HIGHLY recommend the J hook liner but good luck w/ your decision.

Well I respectfully disagree w/ this. Our pool originally came w/ an overlap liner and it was much thinner than the J hook. They also shipped another overlap liner (we still have it somewhere, we kept it because it was free) when we bought the J hook. Funny, if the J hook was lesser quality than the overlap, why was it considerably more expensive? also, the thickness grading on the J hook was like double the thickness grading on the overlap.

Thank you so much. The price is right so I think we are going for it, I know I can always count on the DIS to help with all lifes dilemas

 

[donac]

We might have had bad installation because after about 4 years (right after the warranty) ths j-liner just came down and we could do nothing to fix it.

 

[Wendynat]

The thickness of the liner does not depend on the type of liner (j-hook/beaded vs overlap), it depends on the thickness of the liner! There are different vinyl gauges used for both types of liners. Even on an overlap liner, if it's installed correctly, you won't see the liner overhang on the outside of the pool. It's supposed to be rolled up and under the railing/coping. Since we have so much problem with rainstorms and overflow, we went with the overlap. I've heard good and bad about both. I'd go with the cheaper option (that has an adequate gauge thickness).

As far as pool maintenance goes... check into the BBB method. I discovered it when my pool was first installed and the fine print of one of the pH products said "100% sodium bicarbonate". You can imagine how irritated I was at paying that price for a bottle of baking soda!! So I started researching and talking to folks, and found a lot of info about the BBB method. Best place to get details is on troublefreepool dot com's forums.

We've had our pool two years now, with absolutely no problems, and it's cost about 40 dollars a season - max - to maintain. I have a friend that's been using the method for 10 years and his pool is always perfect, like too. No chlorine smell, no pH jumps, no algae blooms, no irritated skin, no wearing down of the liner, no cloudy water, etc. You've got to educate yourself, though, because the bulk of the pool stores' income is from chemical sales. THEY certainly aren't going to recommend using common items from the grocery store to maintain your pool! 12% sodium hypochloride liquid from the pool store is over twice the price of 6% sodium hypochloride from the grocery store (AKA plain bleach with no additives). The pH products are definitely more expensive than the grocery store equivalents. And so on...

 

[moniot]

The thickness of the liner does not depend on the type of liner (j-hook/beaded vs overlap), it depends on the thickness of the liner! There are different vinyl gauges used for both types of liners. Even on an overlap liner, if it's installed correctly, you won't see the liner overhang on the outside of the pool. It's supposed to be rolled up and under the railing/coping. Since we have so much problem with rainstorms and overflow, we went with the overlap. I've heard good and bad about both. I'd go with the cheaper option (that has an adequate gauge thickness).

The liner I am looking at is 20 mil which is the norm.

As far as pool maintenance goes... check into the BBB method. I discovered it when my pool was first installed and the fine print of one of the pH products said "100% sodium bicarbonate". You can imagine how irritated I was at paying that price for a bottle of baking soda!! So I started researching and talking to folks, and found a lot of info about the BBB method. Best place to get details is on troublefreepool dot com's forums.


We've had our pool two years now, with absolutely no problems, and it's cost about 40 dollars a season - max - to maintain. I have a friend that's been using the method for 10 years and his pool is always perfect, like too. No chlorine smell, no pH jumps, no algae blooms, no irritated skin, no wearing down of the liner, no cloudy water, etc. You've got to educate yourself, though, because the bulk of the pool stores' income is from chemical sales. THEY certainly aren't going to recommend using common items from the grocery store to maintain your pool! 12% sodium hypochloride liquid from the pool store is over twice the price of 6% sodium hypochloride from the grocery store (AKA plain bleach with no additives). The pH products are definitely more expensive than the grocery store equivalents. And so on...

I will check out the BBB method. My reason for looking at something besides chlorine is to find something less harsh on our skin and eyes.

 

[stitchlovestink]

The thickness of the liner does not depend on the type of liner (j-hook/beaded vs overlap), it depends on the thickness of the liner! There are different vinyl gauges used for both types of liners. Even on an overlap liner, if it's installed correctly, you won't see the liner overhang on the outside of the pool. It's supposed to be rolled up and under the railing/coping. Since we have so much problem with rainstorms and overflow, we went with the overlap. I've heard good and bad about both. I'd go with the cheaper option (that has an adequate gauge thickness).

As far as pool maintenance goes... check into the BBB method. I discovered it when my pool was first installed and the fine print of one of the pH products said "100% sodium bicarbonate". You can imagine how irritated I was at paying that price for a bottle of baking soda!! So I started researching and talking to folks, and found a lot of info about the BBB method. Best place to get details is on troublefreepool dot com's forums.

We've had our pool two years now, with absolutely no problems, and it's cost about 40 dollars a season - max - to maintain. I have a friend that's been using the method for 10 years and his pool is always perfect, like too. No chlorine smell, no pH jumps, no algae blooms, no irritated skin, no wearing down of the liner, no cloudy water, etc. You've got to educate yourself, though, because the bulk of the pool stores' income is from chemical sales. THEY certainly aren't going to recommend using common items from the grocery store to maintain your pool! 12% sodium hypochloride liquid from the pool store is over twice the price of 6% sodium hypochloride from the grocery store (AKA plain bleach with no additives). The pH products are definitely more expensive than the grocery store equivalents. And so on...

bolding is mine.
I'm certainly not saying that you are wrong, but I find it amusing then that most of the overlap liners I see in our area are incorrectly installed according to your post. I see TONS of overlap liners where it is pulled down over the pool wall to be visible under the railing and not rolled up under the railing. I would wonder though, if there is a point where there is too much to roll up and put under the railing w/o interferring w/ the railing being properly secured w/ the appropriate torqueing? Just wondering...

I will check out the BBB method. My reason for looking at something besides chlorine is to find something less harsh on our skin and eyes.

I'm not sure of the program that the other poster I quoted is talking about, but we use the bacquecil (SP?, I'm sure I butchered it ) program. No chlorine at all. when we had a hot tub is was recommended so that you're not dragging the chlorine out of the pool and getting it in the hot water of the hot tub. anywhoo, we add one gallon of BQ shock per week (about $6 for a gallon jug) and one qt of BQ sanitizer ea month (about $20) and that's pretty much it. If we have to top of the pool w/ our regular water (due to evaporation) then we 'might' have to use some of the chlorine reducer chemical to get rid of the chlorine that is in the public water that we added. But that's only if we have to add alot of water.
PP, that is using the BBB program, what size is your pool? We can't compare w/ our neighbors costs because our pool is considerably larger than theirs.
Just wondering...

 

[Wendynat]

I will check out the BBB method. My reason for looking at something besides chlorine is to find something less harsh on our skin and eyes.

Totally understand that! It's not so much the chlorine that causes irritation, but the combined chloramines (CC) that are created when chlorine is attacking an organic. The CC level building up is also what causes that chlorine smell that people associate with chlorinated pools... opposite of what seems logical, to get rid of that smell, you add more chlorine to the water which lowers the CC levels. When using pucks, you get additional carrier chemicals as well as cyanuric acid. You do need a certain amount of cyanuric acid/stabilizer, but if CYA levels get too high, higher and higher chlorine levels are needed to be effective. If you don't increase the levels, CC builds up. People end up having to partially drain their pools and waste money that way .

A salt water generator is a great alternative, too - it creates pure chlorine from busting apart the salt ions, and SW pools tend to be VERY gentle on skin and eyes. It's like swimming in a saline solution! Mmmm. We actually do have salt in our pool for the softening effect (we have metal railings, but they're painted and coated so no rust yet). Plan to get a generator at some point - when I get tired of adding bleach every other day or feel extra rich . We have an 18' round with 54" walls - I think your pool is quite a bit larger, so not sure which size unit you'd need.

 

[Wendynat]

I see TONS of overlap liners where it is pulled down over the pool wall to be visible under the railing and not rolled up under the railing. I would wonder though, if there is a point where there is too much to roll up and put under the railing w/o interferring w/ the railing being properly secured w/ the appropriate torqueing? Just wondering...

I'm not sure of the program that the other poster I quoted is talking about, but we use the bacquecil (SP?, I'm sure I butchered it ) program. No chlorine at all. when we had a hot tub is was recommended so that you're not dragging the chlorine out of the pool and getting it in the hot water of the hot tub. anywhoo, we add one gallon of BQ shock per week (about $6 for a gallon jug) and one qt of BQ sanitizer ea month (about $20) and that's pretty much it. If we have to top of the pool w/ our regular water (due to evaporation) then we 'might' have to use some of the chlorine reducer chemical to get rid of the chlorine that is in the public water that we added. But that's only if we have to add alot of water.
PP, that is using the BBB program, what size is your pool? We can't compare w/ our neighbors costs because our pool is considerably larger than theirs.
Just wondering...

Incorrectly was probably the wrong word - it'll work perfectly well with the flap hanging down. It's just not as pleasing to the eye, as a PP pointed out. It's interesting how different areas seem to have different methods... most of the installations I've seen are done with overlap liners that have hidden flaps. In the installation instructions for our liner, it said to roll the liner up inward to hide any excess.

I have a fairly small pool, 18 round with 54" walls, but my friend that's also using BBB (stands for Bleach, Baking Soda, and Borax) has an 33' round. There are folks with larger inground pools on the online forum that also use it successfully - obviously, it's a bit more expensive for them since they need more of the supplies.

I've never been in a bacquicil pool (that I know of, at least ), but it makes perfect sense to use it since you've also got a hot tub. I'm glad it's working out well! The price definitely seems reasonable, especially with your larger pool.

 

[moniot]

Incorrectly was probably the wrong word - it'll work perfectly well with the flap hanging down. It's just not as pleasing to the eye, as a PP pointed out. It's interesting how different areas seem to have different methods... most of the installations I've seen are done with overlap liners that have hidden flaps. In the installation instructions for our liner, it said to roll the liner up inward to hide any excess.

I have a fairly small pool, 18 round with 54" walls, but my friend that's also using BBB (stands for Bleach, Baking Soda, and Borax) has an 33' round. There are folks with larger inground pools on the online forum that also use it successfully - obviously, it's a bit more expensive for them since they need more of the supplies.

I've never been in a bacquicil pool (that I know of, at least ), but it makes perfect sense to use it since you've also got a hot tub. I'm glad it's working out well! The price definitely seems reasonable, especially with your larger pool.

We trimmed our old liner after we were done. We tried the bacquacil in our pool two years ago and in the hot tub. We had a really hard time keeping the levels where they should be so we ended up draining the pool and starting fresh the next year. It was much easier to keep it clean and the levels correct with chlorine for my DH. I would like something easier on the skin and eyes.

All the hot weather we are having and here we are waiting on a liner to fill up the pool so it can start warming up. The well water is COLD filling it up and it takes a few days. With the short summers up here we really need to get a move on it.