Vinyl liner pool question

[sisko61]

I have just purchased a home with a vinyl liner pool and there is about 4 feet of water in the deep end and none in the shallow end. In the shallow end the liner is pulled away from the corners and is also pulling away from the steps (If you step on the liner from the bottom step there is about 4" between liner and floor for about 2 feet from the bottom step). The liner is not brittle and seems to have a good amount of "stretch" to it. Does anyone know if I can use this pool in this condition ? Will the liner stretch back to the walls after water is put in the pool ?

[Lynne]

Hm, sounds like you should have bargained for a reduction in the sale price for a new liner, maybe. A pool inspector after signing the purchase agreement would've been worth the money. Once pull away they don't much wanna go back; more so as they age. Too much water drained can do that, it needs the water to help keep it in place. For the upper rim, I've seen some people use coins to wedge them in. But I would first wonder why so much water is gone? Consider the possibility there's a leak in the liner somewhere, and that the sellers may have lied on the Seller's Disclosure Statement.

[candeh]

I used to work with a pool maintenance guy, and what he did (he said it was a trick of the trade) is pour boiling water behind the liner, and this made it possible for the liner to be pulled back into position more easily than if you had not used the boiling water. He then secured the liner just like the other poster said, that is, he secured it using coins. HOWEVER, as I recall, I don't think the liner had actually pulled away from the steps. Maybe you could do the boiling water/coin trick, then start filling the pool. If the pressure succeeds in pulling the liner away from the rim again, just try the boiling water again. I'm pretty sure the weight of the water will press the liner back to the steps, if not immediately, then over time. On the pool we were repairing, the liner had pulled away from the rim a good bit. Without using the boiling water, it would have been impossible to stretch it back into place. As it was, it still took both of us to do it. I worked with this guy for at least a year or so after we did this work, and on subsequent maintenance trips back to this pool, it had never pulled out again.

candeh