Metal-walled above-ground swimming pools last longer than the liners that come with them. If your pool is in the Orlando area, it may be hard to find someone to replace it.
There aren’t many who install above-ground pool liners in Central Florida(or anywhere else for that matter). Here in Orlando, no one specializes in only changing above-ground liners. You’ll need to find an above-ground pool installer for this.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD LINER CHANGE AND A BAD ONE
It’s not that hard to change out the liner in an above-ground pool. There are a couple of techniques though that can make all the difference in the world.
I bring this up because this is a job that occasionally a non-pool guy handyman type will attempt to do. And if he doesn’t have a lot of experience, this can be a bad idea.
Draining the pool, cutting out the old liner, and taking off the top part of the pool’s frame so the liner can be changed can be done by almost anyone. Putting the frame back together is also easy.
So, what’s the important part of a liner change in an above-ground pool?
THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO RIGHT WHEN CHANGING A LINER IN AN ABOVE-GROUND POOL
1 Re-doing the pool’s bottom
Sometimes the original pool bottom wasn’t done well. You may have been dealing with a bumpy pool floor or have rocks or debris that you’ve been feeling from day one.
And sometimes a nice smooth pool bottom gets some ruts from moles, develops some dips or valleys over time, or gets a lot of root growth.
Liner change time is the perfect (and only) opportunity to get your pool bottom smooth again (or for the first time).
Now, this is something a handyman can do, but will he? And how good of a job will he do? Usually not very as he doesn’t have a lot of experience with knowing what makes a smooth pool bottom and what doesn’t.
It seems easy, but you may be surprised at what people think “flat and smooth” is.
2 Properly setting the liner in place and securing it correctly to the wall
Above-ground pool liners will stretch more than most think, so they are forgiving to a point. But they do need to be set somewhat evenly to the wall.
If they aren’t, then you can have too much pull on one side and excess liner on the other. This can make the job look bad and take life from the liner.
Overlap-type liners require the correct amount of tension. Beaded liners need to go in the channel evenly. And all liners need to be properly secured to the top of the wall.
If a liner isn’t secured to the wall in the way it’s designed, then it can come down when you fill the pool. This can suck.
Again, this is not hard to do, but you need to have a level of experience to do it right.
3 Making the holes for the skimmer and return fitting
This is usually the most serious mistake with a poor liner change.
Above-ground pool liners typically only have two holes in them. And they are for the skimmer and return. New liners don’t come with precut openings, so they have to be cut in place.
This again is not that hard to do. But if done wrong, the pool will leak around the skimmer and/or return fitting. And nothing kills an above-ground pool more than a leaking skimmer or return that goes unnoticed or unfixed.
4 Having a wrinkle-free liner
This is the ultimate gauge of determining whether a liner change was done well or not.
Having a small wrinkle or two can sometimes be unavoidable even for me, but for the most part, the new liner shouldn’t have any wrinkles in it.
This can be the most challenging part for a low experienced person changing a liner.
FINDING AN ABOVE-GROUND LINER INSTALLER IN ORLANDO
Since the people who know how to install AG pool liners also install above-ground pools, you will have a harder time finding someone to do it during the busy summer pool installation season.
So first off, if you can get this done during the late fall, winter, or early spring, do it.
Also, some will charge waaaay too much to change a liner. And the amount you pay doesn’t always reflect the experience of the guy or the quality of the job. Find out what you can reasonably expect to pay for someone to change your pool’s liner here
1 Do a Google search for “above-ground pool installers Orlando”
Finding a pool installer will be the same as finding a pool liner installer
2 Call some local pool stores
This is a long shot, but worth a try.
3 Ask anyone that you know who also has an above-ground pool
Word of mouth is sometimes the only way to find an experienced installer
4 Check FB marketplace or local online classifieds like Craigslist
Craigslist is almost dead, but it can still be useful for finding an above-ground pool guy.
5 Check any local retailer that sells above-ground pools
There aren’t many places locally to buy a pool in Orlando, but this can be a good resource for finding an installer.
Most retailers won’t give out an installer’s number as they want to keep them for their own installs, but if for just a liner change, they may do it.
6 Contact the one who installed your pool
This is how most find me to install their liner. If you initially bought your pool and have it installed, try to find the guy’s number who installed it.
If you can’t find anyone else, you can contact me and see if I can do it.