Doughboy Repair Gone Wrong


(Fremont Michigan)

We have an 18'x34' deep ended Doughboy that was damaged this past winter. The liner was completely shredded, the verticals on one side are no longer 90 deg and the wall is out of the track on the bottom and top in some places.

We hired a "doughboy specialist company" in our area to fix our pool. They started this week and had a hard time installing the liner. They put in the wrong size liner, an 18x33, did not fix the track or vertical problems and the area around the skimmer is still buckled and upper track not set, the seams do not run parallel to the sides and the deep end is appx 8 ft. now.

I'm scared and do not know what to do. He assured me that everything will be OK cuz the liner is meant to stretch to 8 ft. and interchange with an 18x34 and that he will stand by the liner defect warranty for seams.

I'm not worried about the liner as much as I am about the negligent pool structure repair. Does this sound right to you? Please help!!!!

Hi

He obviously did not use a Doughboy brand expandable liner so I am wondering how it fit, are there any wrinkles? I have never heard of an above ground pool liner stretching to 8' nor have I heard of a liner fitting two sizes of pool.

How could they put a new liner in a pool and not make some repairs first, bent side supports, wall out of the track and a caved in skimmer area, yes I would be concerned, and very mad. Do you have any kind of contract as to what they were supposed to do. Was it just a liner installation, or a liner installation with repairs? Were you buying a Doughboy liner or just the cheapest thing they could find.

And what do you mean by the seams not being straight? They installed a liner that was too small for the pool, stretched it to 8' and did not even install it with the seams running straight?

Comments for Doughboy Repair Gone Wrong

Click here to add your own comments

Jun 28, 2014
 moe info
by: Anonymous

The liner is a Doughboy liner,(Sunset Cove) but I believe that it is now stretched like a overblown balloon cuz when they installed it they did not gradually set it in and let the water stretch it but put it all the way in before water and hit the inside of the pool wall repeatedly with a push broom to stretch it and get the wrinkles out. There are major air gaps in the cove area and the weight of the water is stretching the liner where it should just set naturally along the bottom and edges. I have been assured that everything will turn out fine but will my liner warranty still be good with a miss-sized match? My walls are now buckled where they weren't before. I have had pools for 23 years, above and in ground and have never experienced this before.

Hi

It does sound like you have major issues, if the walls are pulling down the liner is not stretching. If you have places around the cove where the liner does not touch the wall it did not stretch properly.

I am not sure where you are in the filling process but if the wall is pulling in you should stop, this will get worse, not better, as the pool fills.

Jun 30, 2014
 more problems
by: Anonymous

All I have to say is that it is a big mess. They reattached the skimmer to a section of the wall while I was not at home where they did not pound out the severe buckle and now the weight of it and the fact that it is pulled down make it impossible for that piece to stay in the metal cove above. I was assured that the air pockets in the cove around the perimeter would settle out. My daughter actually got in the freezing water and walked around the pool, air pockets and big impressions because of not tamping the soil. I expressed some concerns while they were prepping, however,I could not be home all the time and I didn't feel that I had to stand watch over a co. that claims to have been in business over 20 years. Last night I checked under all the top rails and the wall isn't sitting in the metal cove in at least 4 sections. The excess liner(thank goodness so that I could measure) was not trimmed and at the deep end measures 4 in., shallow end-15 in., one long side- 7in and the other long side- 20 in. at the longest part.
Jul 01, 2014
 problems hopefully resolved
by: Anonymous

After contacting doughboy in Arkansas, the owner of the co. we hired to fix all the problems came himself to take care of everything. First time I met him and finally had a face to a name. He fixed all the problems and signed a paper stating that he will install the right size liner in the fall when we close the pool and also trowel the bottom. Seems to be a stand up guy that is really busy with all the bad weather this past winter and spring in Michigan. God please forgive me for being so angry, selfish and distrusting. My faith in humans has been restored once again. hopefully! We Will see this fall. Good luck to all of you who are having problems with your pool. It's a big investment that results in lots of fun and family closeness and we just want everything to go right esp. since money doesn't grow on trees.

Hi

Sounds good, hope it all gets fixed. And thanks for keeping us posted.

Jun 16, 2015
 Curious as to who installed the pool
by: Donna Cornett

I know you are not allowed to post names even though I did in my first comment. I thought I could as long as it was promotional.

Anyway, I am really concerned about the Doughboy installer you used. I live in Arkansas too and I have already been told by other pool installers that if I buy Doughboy, even though it is supposed to be the best, that I might be sorry because if something goes wrong, and they drag their feet on fixing it, that no one else will fix it because this company has the exclusive on Doughboy.

I am scared now to use Doughboy since there are no other dealers here.

I wish I knew how to contact you regarding this issue. Did they come out in the fall and fix it? Have you had any more problems?

Hi Donna

I have no problem with naming names on this site. If someone needs called out for lousy work it's fine with me.

I have installed Doughboy pools along with every other brand of pool sold in Arizona for over 40 years. The Doughboy dealers did not have in house installers and used me instead. A lot of places are like that, they just refer installers who then act on their own.

The Doughboy company is not associated with any professional installers and most anybody that installs pools should be able to work on a Doughboy. Once you buy the pool the company you purchased from has no control over who installs it or works on it. The warranty is with Doughboy, not the store you bought the pool from.

Jun 30, 2015
 Reply on Doughboy
by: Anonymous

Hi Donna, They did not come in Sept. to fix it.He told me to drain my pool and he would be there ASAP to replace the liner, I drained my pool the first week of Sept. and he came and cut 2 big holes out of the liner at the base to get some numbers.He never showed up or called after my many texts.He finally dropped my liner off to my house in November after me constantly getting on him and said he put me on the fix list for May 1,2015. My pool sat empty all winter except for some water in the deep end. My pool is still not fixed and I have re-hired and payed AGAIN to the pool company that we normally deal with. They were not able to fix our pool in time last year before our sons grad party so my husband hired another co going by the name of "Doughboy Construction" We later saw him on the local news as an unreliable company. Doughboy is an excellent pool and we are really happy with the pool, you have to be really careful who you hire. to do the work.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Ask the Pool Pro.