Reusing Pool Liners

by Christina
(Ohio)

I have printed off tons of useful information on your site. We are getting a used above ground with a deep end doughboy pool. We have to disassemble and reassemble.

You have helped a lot. Only question is can you reuse the liner, and if so, do you have any tips?

Hi Christina

Thanks for letting me know you find this information useful, it's nice to hear.

If it's a Doughboy brand pool be sure to find my pages about the bar that joins the wall. It needs to come off and is not always very cooperative.

I never recommend trying to re-use a pool liner. They shrink as soon as they are emptied. They have skimmer and return openings cut into them, making installation a real pain.

To install a used liner you need to hook up the skimmer and return, and then try a set the rest of the liner. If the liner has a chance of being big enough you now have to try to smooth out the bottom. Liners get a little crusty as they age and trying to smooth a crusty liner will leave your fingers bleeding.

That's the problem if you are trying to install a standard flat bottom overlap liner. When you start talking about re-installing a deep end liner your problems get much worse. It's actually almost impossible, unless the liner is less than three years old.

You would need to patch the skimmer and return openings and stretch the liner into place as if it were a new expandable liner. Much like the liner on this page:

I was talked into doing something like this many years ago. We went out the first day and patched the skimmer and return openings. We gave them over night for the glue to dry.

The next day we had a pool liner installation sit down party. The customer invited lots of friends so once we had the liner stretched over the rail and ready to fill, we all found an upright and sat on it. We had runners getting drinks and sandwiches so that none of us had to move. We held the liner in place, and with the help of a very hot sunny day, the liner stretched enough so that we could pull it over the wall. The pool filled, the customer was happy and I decided on that day I would never do that again.

You probably get the idea, I recommend a new liner. It would be a very solid investment in your pool. And believe me, I get paid nothing to say this, but Doughboy makes the best expandable liner on the market. Either the 20 mil or the 25, they are both great.