Why do pool liners float

If you do not have a vacuum pipe, you may wait for the water to drain on its own it will eventually or call in a pool professional whom can drain the water for you. Using a pool broom, you can gently push the liner back to its original position as the water drains from behind the liner. Prevent the pool from over-filling and continue to keep the vacuum pipe free flowing to self drain the water behind the liner. Employ a pool professional to check the liner is positioned correctly after the event.

How this happens: Pool liners are fastened to the top of the pool, and are held tightly in place by the weight of the water. FAQs Q. My liner has gotten wrinkles, what does this mean? This is an indication that there is water underneath the liner caused by ground water or damage to the liner.

My liner has become soft and spongy in the corners, why? This also indicates there is water underneath the liner caused by ground water or damage to the liner. If you have water behind your pool liner and it looks like a new liner might be the next step, LinerWorld offers a wide variety of bold and colorful pool liners to meet your needs. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Shop Linerworld. That being said, if your liner ends up floating, once the water starts to recede, you may discover some of the following problems as well so you'll want to make sure to deal with the issue quickly:. Vinyl liner pools built in areas that have a high water table or reside in a low-lying area require a small amount of additional planning during the pool installation period.

A groundwater system would need to be installed to prevent that extra H2O from collecting between the liner and the floor of your pool.

When winterizing the pool for the winter , the most common procedure is to lower the water level in the pool. This is not recommended for vinyl-lined pools with a history of floating liners. A simply skimmer plug Gizzmo will protect the skimmer housing from any freeze damage.

This is a PVC pipe installed in the wall of the pool, under the liner, and joins on the suction side of the pump or a water drain. This way the hydrostatic pressure can be relieved as it accumulates. Groundwater pumps are another way to pull water from behind the liner. This uses the PVC pipeline in conjunction with a combination valve box and sump pump. Adjust your landscaping and water flow management. L andscaping, French drains and deck drains are a great source to help shuffle water away from the pool.

Water will take the path of least resistence so you can use these techniques to usher it a direction away from your pool. When groundwater floats a liner, the liner is lifted up, therefore, causing the tension to be released from the liner bead.

This allows the liner bead to become loose and eventually pulled out of the track. If there is any concerns for ground water around your pool then a well point is a very smart move.

The other way that concrete and fiberglass pools are protected from pressure from ground water is via a hydrostatic relief valve which is installed in the main drain in the floor of the pool. A vinyl liner pool is different than fiberglass or concrete pools. Vinyl liner pools use a thin waterproof interior surface which is only attached to the pool "shell" at the flange and gasket connections.

A vinyl pool is built using a kit which is essentially wall segments - galvanized steel, resin or fiberglass. The floor is either sand, grout mortar or vermiculite concrete over concrete base. No matter how your vinyl pool was built they all have the same feature which is that the shell walls and floor are specifically not waterproof. The way a fiberglass or concrete pool deals with water around it is to use the weight of the water in the pool, combined with a fail-safe hydrostatic relief valve, to oppose the pressure from water pushing upwards on the pool.

With a vinyl pool the water surrounding the pool is actually supposed to find its way through the walls and floor specifically so there is no hydrostatic pressure on those features.

As a matter of regular operation water actively moves under the liner, and the liner shifts ever so slightly in place from this. Normally this would not result in anything that you would notice in day to day use with the pool. The weight of the water on top of the liner is enough to force any water under the liner out and away from the pool.

Only in extremely high water table cases will your liner float enough to notice on the floor of the deep end. If your liner has floated all the way up to the floor of the shallow end then this represents a very high water level and a fairly serious concern for your liner and your pool.

Drainage Around Swimming Pools There are a few different ways in which vinyl pools can be built. Some builders install french drains underground to usher ground water away from the pool area.

Some builders installing a weeping tile system similar to what you have around the foundation of your home. Some builders use gravity based drainage systems while others use well point or sump pit installations to manually pump away the water as required. Unfortunately many vinyl pool builders give little or no consideration to water tables and the potential long term concerns for water behind your liner.

When a pool is backfilled the choice of material used will determine how much standing water you have around your pool. Sand is another common option for backfilling pools, which does allow less physical space for water to occupy or travel , but can also tend to hold water where other stone aggregate options do not. There is no short cut to fixing drainage problems around finished swimming pools.

In fact, major drainage issues with a finished swimming pool are one of the biggest concerns for a poorly installed pool. Installation of a well point that extends at minimum to a foot below the floor of the shallow end is one of the only potential recourses for this type of ground water problem.

Even this however may not solve your problem if your pool is installed in clay, hard pan or backfilled with sand or any other aggregate that limits the horizontal movement of water. If your pool was not built with a well point or sump pit or perimeter drainage or gravity drain system of some kind then you are simply counting on not having a problem with a floating liner.

So what happens if your pool does not have any of those features and now you have a problem with a floating liner? If the water is coming from the pool then that will obviously be the first step to fixing this problem. If you have fixed the leak already, or believe the water surrounding your pool to not be water from inside your pool, then you can try to manually pump the water from behind your liner.

For some pools the only thing that is preventing your liner from floating all the time is the weight of the water inside the pool.

For this reason if you drain the pool for any reason such as fresh water dilution, or for some kind of service or repair, this is when you can develop a problem with a floating liner. If the water level in your pool has been lowered and this resulted in a floating liner then you should almost certainly fill the pool to operational levels again.

This can often resolve the problem on its own. Also worth noting is how you drained the pool. For example, if you drained the pool onto the grass right next to the pool I think we found the problem that caused your floating liner. Any time you drain your pool be sure to drain the water well away from the pool area and preferably to the street drain curbside in front of your house. Lowering the water level in your pool while flooding the area directly adjacent to your pool is a recipe for floating your liner for sure.

Pumping Water From Behind A Pool Liner If you have a sump pit or well point you should be running that non stop if you have a floating liner. If you have a perimeter drain around the pool that is tied into your pool filtration system this is rare then you can use this to draw water from around the pool area and pump it to waste away from the pool area. Failing these convenient features then the only other recourse is to pump water directly from behind the liner.

This is an extremely common service call that all pool service companies do especially during the spring when pool water levels are low and ground water tables are high from heavy spring rains and snow melt.