Vinyl liner needs some special attention so as to live its life to the fullest. A great way to accomplish that is to know how to prevent bumps, divots, and dents at the bottom of your Tucson pool liner.
Choices for the pool base
The vinyl liner pool bottom is often constructed from vermiculite or grout. Grout is a mixture of water, sand and cement. It is affordable and durable; however, it has more danger of shifting with the soil. Vermiculite, which is available unmixed or pre-mixed, is a mixture of water, vermiculite, and cement.\
After the contractors pour the material, they smooth it all out using a trowel. This is not a garden trowel you would use for digging; a swimming pool trowel is flat and long with rounded edges.
Causes of dents, divots and bumps are:
Dents
It may be because the liner was installed too soon, somebody troweled too hard and left a mark, or something fell in the swimming pool during building.
Divot
It is often due to a heel print when the contractors, or perhaps the owners of the pool, walk over the fresh swimming pool base.
Bump
It originates from a ball of vermiculite (soft) or a pebble or rock (hard), which formed during troweling and rolled to the bottom of the pool.
Bumps of overmixed vermiculite can often be smashed down gently using your hand.
Fortunately, these problems will not often reduce the life of your pool liner. They are cosmetic issues, with the likely exception of a pebble or rock, which may in the long run puncture the liner.
What you can do to prevent this?
From the start, you need to ensure you hire somebody skilled in finishing swimming pool bottoms. To get proper picture of the expertise of your contractor, ask them how many swimming pools they have done. You can even request client references if you need to be extra careful.
It is important to be familiar with the process that vinyl liner pool contractors need to use. This way you can ask your preferred contractors questions about it at the start and get a proper picture of how detailed and skilled they are. You should question several contractors and compare their answers.
A quick overview of the building process for a vinyl liner pool base:
Assemble the wall panels (plastic or metal) by bolting them together and then securing them.
Ensure that around the outside perimeter there’s about 8 inches of concrete.
Install the plumbing.
Apply grout or vermiculite at the bottom of the pool.
Install the vinyl liner.
Install the deck.
Launch the swimming pool.
You should not overmix the vermiculite. Keep in mind that it can cause it to ball up and result in bumps in the bottom of the pool. If you are not mixing the vermiculite yourself, you can still consult the contractors about their techniques to make sure they know what they are doing.
Unfortunately, as soon as you have a bump, divot, or dent, the only thing you can do is to drain the swimming pool, fix the area that is having issues, and replace the liner.
