Pool Liners

Choosing the appropriate pool liner for an above ground pool is like selecting wallpaper for your wall. It can be fun, although the biggest difference is pool liners will have to face the rigors of being constantly submerged in water. This is where pool liner problems come in, hence, the importance of choosing the right kind of liner for your pool.

Putting into consideration colors (blue or aqua), patterns (black speckled, marble faux finish, etc.), thickness of vinyl, and other characters and you'll end up with hundreds of options. Thankfully, above ground pool liners are divided into three types: overlap liners, beaded liners, and unibead liners (otherwise called the inverted J-hook liner).

Each of these liners has its pros and cons, which must be weighed carefully to choose one that suits your preferences and needs. Above ground beaded pool liners are made with beads at the tip of the liner, which can be secured onto a Beaded Receiver Channel at the edge of the pool wall.

These pool liners easily replace pool liners of the same kind without the need for additional equipment as well as replace overlap liners by merely adding a Bead Receiver Kit. These pool liners are only specific for wall heights 48" to 52" high. Beaded pool liners are easier to replace and fit perfectly to the wall but they are more expensive than overlap liners.

Overlap liners are designed to easily overlap on the pool wall, and then fastened using Pool Coping Strips. If you have 48" or 52” walls for your pool that utilize this type of liner, excess can easily be trimmed. This type of pool liner's main advantage is that when the pool liner eventually shrinks, simply remove the pool's ledge and let loose the excess material. Although this can create a sloppy appearance from the exterior of the pool, it is something you need to contend with overlap liners.

Unibead liners are types of swimming pool liners that easily hang onto the pool wall similar to the overlap liner or inserted into the Bead Receiver track like the beaded versions. These are effective as replacement pool liners for the overlap and beaded versions. Unibead liners are available for 48" to 52" pool wall heights.

Thickness is another variation for above ground pool liners referred to as Mil or Gauge. You can determine the thickness of the vinyl by the number, ergo, the higher it is the thicker the material. Of course, thicker vinyl is more durable and demands a higher price.

In general, pool liners can be obtained in two Gauges – 20Mil and 25Mil. Anything less than these numbers would not suffice while more is no longer necessary. Pool liners in between these numbers are adequate especially when they are fabricated from "virgin" vinyl, which is pure vinyl. It is easy to distinguish pure vinyl because of their smoother surface. Those that were made with additives have a textured surface that adds to its thickness than what it actually is.

Some pool liners have smooth and textured sides altogether. Choose the side that should face up according to your preference. However, some manufacturers do recommend putting the shiny side face up since it accumulates lesser dirt and debris compared with the other side.

Installing pool liners also entails other concerns such as the lowest temperature it can withstand during installation, which is practically 60 degrees for beaded liners and 50 degrees for overlap liners. The number of coping strips to use depends on the pool size. Practically, you can multiply the pool size by 3.14, round off the result and divide it by 2. The resulting number is the number of coping strips needed.

Pool liners are to pool walls as wallpapers are to house walls, but they all come in a common purpose – to provide accent to the pool's rim and make swimming time more pleasurable.