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How To Install Above Ground Pool Liners

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An above-ground pool is useless without its liner. The pool liner is basically a large bag made of vinyl that is designed to hold water within the pool's frame. It is the most important part of above ground pools and has the potential to be the most frustrating. Liners must be handled carefully and installed properly to avoid damage to the vinyl. Our basic guidelines for liner installation will help you do it right, whether you're just setting up a new above ground pool or replacing an existing liner. 

Click Here to View Our Selection of Above Ground Pool Liners



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Steps

Things You'll Need

Above Ground Pool Liners

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Step by Step

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Step 1

Drain Water - If replacing an existing above ground pool liner, drain the water from the pool and detach the hoses from the return jet and skimmer.

Step 2

Return Jet - Remove the return jet from the pool wall. Save the return jet components so they can be reused on the new liner.

Step 3

Faceplate Screws - Remove the screws from the skimmer faceplate. Save the screws for when you reinstall the faceplate.


Step 4

Remove Faceplate - Remove the faceplate once the screws are removed. Save the faceplate for installation later.

Click Here to View Our Selection of Skimmer Parts

Step 5

Detach Skimmer - Remove the skimmer body from the above ground pool wall. Remove the skimmer gasket(s) as well.

Step 6

Ladders & Steps - Remove any ladders and steps that may be in the pool.

Step 7

Remove Top Caps - Remove all of the top caps from the top of the pool.

Step 8

Remove Top Rails -Remove the screws that secure the top rails to the uprights. Remove all of the top rails from the top of the pool.



Step 9

Remove Top Plates - Remove the screws that secure the top plates to the uprights and remove all of the top plates.

Step 10

Remove Stabilizers - Remove all of the stabilizers/top rims from the pool wall.

Step 11

Remove Liner - Start by cutting the liner into smaller pieces. This will make it easier to remove the liner from the pool.

Step 12

Secure Wall - Using tape or clamps, secure the wall to the uprights. This will prevent the wall from caving in.

Step 13

Repair Wall (If Necessary) - This would be an excellent time to repair any excessive rust damage on the wall.

In-depth instructions for above ground pool wall repair can be found here, How to Repair Rusty Above Ground Pool Wall

Step 14

Wall Foam - Attach wall foam to the inside of the wall using spray-on adhesive. Wall foam acts as a buffer between the steel wall and vinyl liner; provides a cushion for contact from swimmers and ladders.

Step 15

Rake And Flatten Floor - This is our last chance to remove any imperfection on the surface of the pool floor, like rocks, roots, or any sharp objects. These foreign objects could puncture the liner once the water is added to the pool. Use a tamper to compact the soil as much as possible.

Step 16

Pool Cove - Add a pool cover to the inner floor to wall seam; This adds a gradual gradient to prevent a pinch point for your liner. A cove can be made out of dirt or sand, but for a more uniform (and less likely to shift under pressure,) use Peel & Stick or Clip-On Cove.

Step 17

Floor Padding - Similar to wall foam, this foam helps prevent liner punctures from swimmers and any objects you couldn’t sift out before installation. Some floor padding can even prevent punctures from invasive plants like nutgrass.

Step 18

Unfold Liner - Place the in the middle of the pool and unfold the liner, layout to pool’s wall. Lay the liner out to warm up in the sun to increase the vinyl’s elasticity. 

Note: It may be best to remove your shoes while handling the liner at this point. The freshly unfolded virgin vinyl may not be at its full elasticity, making punctures from shoes and boots more likely. 

Click Here to View Our Selection of Above Ground Pool Liners

Step 19

Attach Liner to Pool Wall - Attach your new pool liner to the pool wall. For overlap liners, place a coping strip over each section as you go. For beaded liners, you will need to place the bead receiver on the wall, then slide the liner bead into the receiver. Like the one shown in the video, J-Hook liners slide the liner cuff over the wall; coping strips aren’t required but can be used.

Related Article - Above Ground Pool liner Types

Step 20

Install Top Stabilizer Rim - Place the top stabilizer over top the liner or bead receiver, as you go.

Step 21

Begin Refilling the Pool - Use a hose to begin the refilling as the pool fills work out the wrinkles in the liner outwards from the pool’s center point.

Step 22

Install Top Plates - First, ensure the uprights are level, then re-attach each top plate.

Step 23

Install Top Rails and Top Caps - Re-install your pool’s full set of top rails.




Step 24

Install Skimmer - Wait for the water level to reach between half to three-quarters of the way full, to begin preparing the skimmer installation. This water weight will make sure the liner is snug to the pol wall. Tack the skimmer faceplate in place with the faceplate screws to help you align with the skimmer body.

Step 25

Install Return Jet - Press the return jet fitting into the sidewall cutout. Cut the liner while pressing the fitting through the hole. Cut away any excess liner material.

Step 26

Congratulations, you have successfully installed your above ground pool liner if you have any questions below.

Click Here to View Our Selection of Above Ground Pool Liners

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(81 to 112 of 112)

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 5/27/2013 

judster - If you haven't put water into the pool yet, you can make the liner more pliable by leaving it in the sun for a couple of hours. If you have less than 2 inches of water in the pool, you may still be able to work the liner further into the corners at stretch out the creases. Otherwise you will have to live with the creases and hope they lessen with time.
 Reply

 Posted: 5/26/2013 

help i installed my new pool liner all is good but there are creases in the liner from being in box for a year !!!not wrinkles we got them out . What do i doooooo !!!
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 5/26/2013 

Pool Leak - If you have water pooling out on one side of your pool, you probably have a leak. Take a vial of food dye and squeeze small drops of it inside the pool on the side of the pooling. Try around the seams first. If there is a leak, the dye will be sucked into the hole. If you find nothing on the wall, try the floor on that side. If you find a leak, we recommend EZ Patch 28 - Vinyl Pool Liner Repair Sealant to repair it.
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 5/25/2013 

We just installed an above ground pool. Water is pooling around the outside. Could this be coming up from wet ground or do we have a tear or leak? Help
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 5/22/2013 

Frye - I would try spreading that extra 6" around the circumference of the pool. You will have to reset the bead.
 Reply

 Posted: 5/22/2013 

Good afternoon, hoping you could help! We purchased an above ground beaded pool liner for our Pool with the pools measurements and after we went around and locked the liner in there seems to be about 6 inches or so left in one spot. So confused! Are we doing something wrong? Is there anyway other than getting a new liner to help this problem???
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 5/17/2013 

Dpagoldengirl - Most AG pools are assembled the same. Check out or How to Guide on "How To Assemble an Above Ground Pool - Part 5 - Top Rails". It should give you the information you need to disassemble the top rails.
 Reply

 Posted: 5/16/2013 

we are trying to remove the top rail of the pool and cannot get the top plate off. Is there a trick to it? it will not budge and of course it is sitting on the track. I'm seeing some things on the internet about being able to skip this step if you have a beaded liner! looks like something you purchase that goes around the pool to hold this type of liner. But please, how can we get the top plates off?
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 5/16/2013 

Dave - It sounds like you have a 15' x 27' pool that's a little out of round (oval). To be sure measure the circumference of the wall with a string below the top plates. It should be close to 68 1/2'. You may have to measure the inside wall to avoid the uprights. just tape the string to the wall every foot.
 Reply

 Posted: 5/15/2013 

I have a oval pool that needs a new liner. I measured wall to wall and it is 15'4" wide by 26'6" long and 52" deep. Could I use a 15' x 26' liner or a 15' x 27' liner. Would a standard size overlap or beaded work with this odd numbers or do I have to get a custom sized replacement liner. Thanks, Dave
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 3/27/2013 

shay h - Standard liners are not designed to stretch and you will probably split a seam trying to expand it to your pool. Your other options are to buy an expandable liner or have one custom made.
 Reply

 Posted: 3/27/2013 

hi
i have pool Rectangular 12x20 4' death (i made the pool myself)
i bought replacment liner 12x20
When I try to assemble the vinyl

The assembly was a hot day
And was very flexible vinyl

the vinyl is smaller then the pool

i measuring the volume of vinyl and its onle 61.5F
And not 64F
Is there something that a solution?
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 1/25/2013 

JC - It may be possible to install a new overlap liner over the old one but we wouldn't recommend it. We'd be concerned about mold growing between the two layers.
 Reply

 Posted: 1/23/2013 

Can a new liner be installed over the old one?? What issues would arise by doing this?? Thanks
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 8/6/2012 

Jim - Fill the pool until the water level is about 4" from the bottom of the rectangular Skimmer hole at the top of the Wall. If you mount the Skimmer before filling the pool to this level, the weight of the Skimmer will buckle the Wall under the Skimmer hole.
 Reply

 Posted: 8/2/2012 

when cutting holes for filter and return line how much water should you put in pool befor cutting
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 7/15/2012 

rkellrn - If the liner is not on a level base, including the sand, the water will be placing unequal pressure on one side of the pool and could cause it to collapse. You should take the liner out and level the sand.
 Reply

 Posted: 7/14/2012 

My husband and myself are in the process of installing an above ground pool. The pool itself is level within 1/4 inch all the way around. The problem is the sand on the bottom is higher on one side by about 2 inches causing the water to be higher. What kind of problems will we encounter. We have put about 1 foot of water in this 24'x52" pool. What should we do?
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 6/29/2012 

Iris - The vacuum is one technique some people use to help smooth out the winkels in the floor. If you have already removed these winkles and the liner seam is place in the corner all around the pool, you should be good to go with our using the vacuum.
 Reply

 Posted: 6/29/2012 

Hi Guys, I have a couple questions. We just replaced our pool liner, we have a 24 round beaded pool. My question is do we need to use a vacuum? My husband does not want to use one,(well he was told he didn't need to use) he took all the wrinkles out form the bottom, filled the pool a bit and stretched liner up, it looks good but I'm afraid if we don't use vacuum the water will pull the liner. is this possible? Can we continue to fill pool without using a vacuum? Please Help. Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 6/22/2012 

@ Donna
It sounds like you got a universal beaded liner. These liners fit all beaded pools but need to be trimed to fit. The same thing happened to me but after the top was trimmed to the second lip, it fit and stayed!!! Hope this helps!!
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 6/22/2012 

Twitch - A liner is not designed to stretch and it will not move after you have a couple of inches of water in the pool. Make sure that the seam of the liner between the wall and the floor is in the corner of the pool all away around before you add water.
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 6/21/2012 

i cannot get the pool liner to hang in the track liner to stay in the track. what do i need to keep the liner in.
 Reply

 Posted: 6/20/2012 

We have bought a used above ground pool....everything is up...just installed the liner...we have found a low spot..not to bad tho. My question is...if the liner is not all the way up against the wall at the bottom will it pull out as it fills?
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 6/16/2012 

donna - If the water is pulling down your wall, it sounds like your unibead liner is too short for your pool. The bottom of the unibead liner, when installed, should be resting on the bottom of your pool before you place water in the pool.
 Reply

 Posted: 6/15/2012 

We have done it by the book,an we have tried it 4 times an evertime we got it up an in place so we can start the water,an it gets about one an a half deep the sidewall comes back down,This is a unibead liner,please help if you can,or know someone i can pay to in stall it.The pool was already here when we moved in an that was 3 years ago.It took us awhile to buy what it took to get it running. Thank You !!!
 Reply

 Posted: 6/3/2012 

Installing my Pool Liner. Thank You
 Reply

 Posted: 5/27/2012 

Thanks for the info, I was worried about the wrinkles.
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 5/6/2012 

Liner cutouts - For further information, see our Guides on How To Assemble an Above Ground Pool - Part 6 - Installing the Skimmer and How To Assemble an Above Ground Pool - Part 7 - Installing the Return Port
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 5/5/2012 

thanks for the tips but, you completely forgot to include any information on cut-outs and measuring for the pool filter or return pump holes!!!
 Reply

 Posted: 3/13/2012 

thanks 4 the tips need all the help i can get
 Reply

 Posted: 12/19/2011 

Thanks for the information on installing above ground pool lners
 Reply