How To Patch A Pool Liner With Water In It

When swimming season rolls effectually, zippo can go in the way of a pool owner'southward happiness except for perhaps a thunderstorm, a common cold front, or one of the most dreaded...a new tear in the vinyl pool liner.

It happens. Despite the upsides that vinyl pools offer, one of the biggest downsides is that tears or holes can occur. The good news? At that place are easy fixes to this problem.

At River Pools, nosotros industry fiberglass pools, but we used to install vinyl liner pools and worked with them for many years. Here, we'll comprehend how to identify a puddle liner tear and a few methods for fixing them so that y'all can get back to your summer plans ASAP.

How to Find a Hole in a Pool Liner

Before you panic, we want you to know that it's not uncommon for inground pools to see a loss of water each day. Virtually of the time, evaporation is the culprit. In fact, you lot can expect to lose anywhere from ½ inch to an inch of h2o per mean solar day (pool covers tin assistance with this, though).

If you're still paranoid, in that location are 2 cinch ways to determine if your liner has a hole or tear.

The Bucket Test - Fill a 5-gallon saucepan with h2o and set it on the steps of your pool. Brand sure the h2o level in the saucepan matches the surrounding water level in the pool. Marker the water level in the bucket with painter's tape to keep track of changes. Plough off the pump and come dorsum to it after one full solar day (24 hours). Measure the divergence between the water level in the bucket and the surrounding pool water. If the water level in the bucket is higher than the water level in the pool, you accept a leak. If it'south like, breathe a sigh of relief because it's just evaporation.
Food Coloring - Walk around your pool and identify any spots that experience squishy and apply nutrient coloring in those areas. If at that place is a hole or tear, you'll encounter the food coloring get swept in the flow of h2o leaking through the tear, which will reveal the location of the damage.

If you are unable to locate a tear and your puddle seems to be yet leaking, cheque the electric and filtration systems. Better yet, telephone call a professional to bank check out your pool to make sure that you catch any costly or dangerous leaks early.

Many times, people can see the tear while swimming or lounging poolside, and then they don't take to go through the trouble of testing for leaks. Since you're reading this article, you're probably already aware that there's a hole in your pool liner, but it's always a good idea to have these tricks up your sleeve for the time to come.

How to Fix a Hole in a Pool Liner

Y'all've constitute the tear. Step one done! Allow'due south work on fixing it.

Commencement, if information technology's an emergency, do yourself a favor and grab the duct tape. No, nosotros're non kidding. It will piece of work temporarily.

Now, time for a real repair. Yous'll accept ii main options depending on the type of tear.

Option 1: Patch It

Patching your pool liner can work on a tear equally niggling as two-inches and equally big as 8-inches depending on location and pool age. For example, if you have a 2-inch tear near your filtration system and your pool is ten years old, you lot can temporarily patch information technology while shopping for a new vinyl liner.

Alternatively, if you have an 8-inch tear on the side of your three-twelvemonth-old puddle that is in otherwise expert condition, a patch might suffice for a while longer.

An important thing to recollect well-nigh patches is that they are unpredictable. Sometimes, they tin hold upwardly for years, and other times, simple and very small patch repairs tin fail within days. Keep an eye on your patch and check on it at least once a calendar week to make certain information technology's all the same in place.

Types of puddle liner patches to consider:

Waterproof tape - Similar to duct record, waterproof tape can be used underwater, information technology's UV resistant, and it'south articulate (and then your pool can stay beautiful).
Vinyl patch kit - This is a better option for larger tears and lasts long-term. Virtually include large chunks of vinyl and agglutinative that can exist applied underwater.
Peel-and-Stick- This is equally like shooting fish in a barrel as it sounds. It's made from vinyl and designed specifically for swimming pools. Go for round stickers as they are less likely to peel up.

Option ii: Replace the Liner

Aye, we know. This is a worst-example scenario. Nonetheless, you can use one of the patching options as a temporary set while you shop around for a new liner. The price of a new vinyl puddle liner is typically a thousand to several 1000 dollars (though the total cost to supplant the liner is $4,500 on boilerplate). The do good of replacing the liner is that you lot'll take another five-nine years of worry-free puddle enjoyment.

Read more than: Vinyl Pool Liner Replacement: Toll, Steps, Tips

How to Patch a Pool Liner

You tin patch a puddle liner hole or tear above or below h2o. A dry patch might be an option if the water receded below the tear, for instance, or if your pool has already been drained for other repairs or maintenance work.

Warning: nosotros strongly advise against draining your pool unless absolutely necessary. If yous do need to bleed your pool for any reason, call a professional for help.

Continue in listen that near repairs will demand to be completed underwater, every bit draining your pool could crusade it to collapse or create further liner damage. Additionally, exposure to sunlight tin make a dry liner brittle and unmanageable.

How to Patch a Pool Liner in 4 Steps

Footstep 1: Make clean the expanse. Get rid of whatsoever algae or build-up on the pool wall or ground.

Footstep ii: Trim the patch as needed. Brand sure the diameter of the patch is 2 inches away from the tear on all sides.

Step 3: Apply adhesive if y'all're using it.

Step iv: Stick it and immediately utilise pressure level. Push button on it to remove air bubbling. If it's possible, put a weight on it to apply pressure for 24 hours.

Fiberglass Pools as an Culling Selection

All this talk well-nigh tears and patches tin seem daunting, but the reality is most punctures and tears are easily repaired using cost-effective methods. With that said, if you are planning to upgrade your backyard paradise, a fiberglass pool might be a ameliorate pick.

Fiberglass pools aren't in the same price range every bit vinyl liner pools, but they are low-maintenance and have significantly lower lifetime costs compared to concrete and vinyl liner pools.

If you lot want to larn more about your fiberglass pool options, you can scan our catalog of models, try out our free pool pricing calculator, or contact us to request pricing and information using the button beneath.

GET PRICING FOR YOUR FIBERGLASS POOL

Desire to supercede your existing pool with a fiberglass unit? Read our article below to learn about the benefits and how much it might cost:

How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Vinyl Liner Pool with Fiberglass?

To research more inground pool options, download our free ebook below, visit our learning eye, or check out our extensive educational video library today!

FIBERGLASS vs. CONCRETE vs. VINYL LINERS... which type of pool is right for you? CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR EBOOK AND FIND OUT!