Deep End Pool with Beaded Liner

by Carolyn
(Charlottesville)

Creating a deep end in an above ground pool with snap in liner and deck all around.

I would like to add a deep end. Do I have the process correct.

1) dig the deep end leaving at least an 18 inch safety lip

2) cut struts and anchor with a cinderblock with a L anchor

3) add sand and smooth with broom

4) purchase expandable liner

5) fill and stretch the liner while filling

6) snap liner into place, cut liner extra

We want a deep end only on one side and the pool is 16 by 24 oval.

Any advice? My kids want the deep end 8 feet. Is this okay?
Carolyn

Hi Carolyn

Steps 1-5 sound good. I do have a few concerns however. Your title states a snap in liner for a pool with a deck, which means you want to use a beaded liner. If so, you may be getting in way over your head, so to speak. With a beaded liner you do not stretch it in and they are not expandable. A beaded liner will be made to fit a specific area. If you find a deep end beaded liner in the size you need you will also find specific instructions for the area this liner is intended to fit. If not, don't buy it. They are not one size fits all.

You can have a liner made for your pool, which is probably the only way to get an eight foot depth. You would dig the hole and take precise measurements of the pool. Companies that make custom liners will have a form to fill out. You would need measurements for the wall, the cove, the ledge,

the slope, the width at bottom, the next slope, ledge, cove and wall. And then you do the same thing from end to end.

Beaded liners have got to fit just right, or you get nothing but wrinkles, or a liner that is too small for the pool.

An expandable liner will be the overhang type. If you do not already have the deck, or if the deck can be moved, this is how I would go. It's much cheaper and you have a much better chance of getting a nice looking job out of it. Most manufacturers allow around two and half feet of extra digging so you will probably not get your eight foot. That's too deep for your size pool anyway, the slopes will be too steep.

You need to come in about six inches from the edge of your pressure plates before you start the slope so the width of an oval deep end is not that wide. Some slope is required to be able to pack and hold sand, so be careful with that.

The 16' x 24' size is typically Doughboy, and if so, you probably do not have any straps to cut out. If you do that's pretty easy.

Above Ground Pool Directions

This page show an oval pool getting an expandable liner replacement. This is a good illustration of how much space is required to properly stretch a liner into an above ground pool. It is easier in the long run to build the deck a little lower on the pool so liner changing does not require deck removal.

Above Ground Pool Liner Replacement

The first photo on this page

Vinyl Liner Replacement

shows how narrow an oval pool deep end can be. Doughboy ovals have a double pressure plate making them even smaller than some of the others.