How Far Will a Liner Stretch?

by Mark
(Slidell LA)

I am installing the liner for a 15'x30'x54" Bermuda pool. I have the pool about 2 feet in ground. I installed the liner, being careful to make sure the seams were lined up (at least I thought I did).

When I started filling the pool I began working the wrinkles out of the bottom. As the water filled up I noticed that in one "corner" of the pool the liner was tighter than the rest of the pool.

I now have about 8 inches of water and the liner is still not touching the cove or the wall. It has about 2-3 inches to stretch before touching. There is another "corner" that appears to have some slack in it.

However, when you press on the liner it too has about 2 inches to go till it makes contact with the wall. There is only 1 or 2 4 foot sections that it is almost touching. The other sections are still not touching. However they are not at not as difficult to press to contact the wall.

Should I drain the pool and start over or will the liner stretch to adequately fill these voids between the liner and the wall?

Hi Mark.

This sounds pretty ideal to me. I would much rather have a beaded liner fit snug like this than be loose and baggy all over. The key to stretching it into place is to fill it only when there is direct sunlight on the liner. The sun will warm the liner and allow it to stretch, without the sun the liner will probably not stretch. When the liner does not stretch it either pulls out of the bead or it pulls the wall down. Something has to give somewhere, you want to heat the liner up so it does the giving.