Can Anyone Tell Me What’s Going On?

[bagd98rt]

Here late last summer I started getting these small wrinkles on the bottom of the pool.. and now there’s a lot more... If you’ve read my info and Specs you have seen that I have a buried 24’ AGP around 27” of the 54” buried with a polystyrene foam base... I have never had any issues with chemicals or balanced water I’m a true TFP BBB method man... Never have used pool store chemicals or their advice... Never had algae!!! “Knock on wood”... lol... The pool is a SWG pool... Anyways back to the subject at hand I started getting these small wrinkles in the bottom of the liner and the only thing I can think of is that after burying the pool it has started settling and that’s why the wrinkles are showing up because the extra liner that was stretched before is now wrinkling with the extra liner material from the settling pool... as far as installation goes I did use 2”thick x 8”x8” blocks under the uprights so there’s support and every layer was compacted correctly but I live in south Texas and we have a dirt / clay mixture that’s really hard until it gets soaked... We did have a lot of rain from Hurricane Harvey and other down pours that flooded us... So that’s why I’m thinking it settled... Well that and I noticed it did with my eyes cause it was level as can be and now it’s not... LOL... So is anyone here familiar with these kinds of wrinkles or seen them? If anyone here has a buried AGP on Polystyrene do you have these?

 

[CJadamec]

I believe you have answered your own question. The liner has probably shifted slightly due to the pool frame shifting from the heavy rain. Not a whole lot can be done with the wrinkles now that they are there.

 

[lightmaster]

I hate you confirm your fear, but you'll most likely have to drain your pool to just an inch or 2 left to get the wrinkles out. Being partially buried, I'd be worried about it caving in if you drained it though.

 

[Jamison04]

You're not alone.

Ours has a few of those little wrinkles now too. Same scenario, partially buried 3/4 of the way around, deepest point about a foot, and also on 3/4" foam board. Also have some clay in the ground under and with all the rain we had the first year things did settle and shift some as the ground swelled and shrank. Now there are a few tiny wrinkles in the bottom just like you've posted. There are maybe 4 scattered about one side. Even the wall towards the cove on the side with the wrinkles has one very small one.

It's nothing that is going to cause any issues tho. It's not like they're really long and huge. Shoot, the seams of the foam panels are now more noticeable than the little wrinkles. The seams collect all the dirt and make a grid pattern on the bottom. Lol

 

[bagd98rt]

The wrinkles are so small that you really cant see them until they collect dirt like in the picture... I'm more concerned with the fact that I can feel them when we are in the pool and when I vacuum my pool. Being that I can feel them I fear that the brushes on the vacuum will eventually wear out the liner on those wrinkles and spring a leak or tear... I've been looking to get a automatic pool cleaner for some time now but am now not quite sure what kind I could use with these small wrinkles... I currently have a Barracuda Ranger which I stopped using because I read somewhere that the footpad could get caught up on a wrinkle and tear the liner not sure what size wrinkle they are talking about but just out of concern I stopped using it... I believe I read somewhere on this site that draining the pool will cause the liner to shrink some? I'm starting to wonder if that's an option... I am not to concerned with the wall caving in if I drain cause the clay soil we have compacts like a rock and its already been right around a year that its been buried... But at the price of 13,500 gallons of water that's the same or more as buying a new liner so maybe I should leave it and see what happens... LOL....

 

[bagd98rt]

YES!!!! Jamison you are so correct... My wife really does not like the grid looking pattern LOL... It seems like the liner is darker in the areas where the tape seams are but its probably just the black from the gorilla tap lol... So what kind of cleaner are you using? do you manually clean or do you have an automatic cleaner? cause right now that seems to be one of my main concerns is something happening to the liner from a cleaner...

 

[Jamison04]

I have a barracuda but I never use it since it takes the skimmer out of play and all the surface gunk just floats around while it's in service.

I prefer to just get in and manually vacuum with my mask and snorkel. Ensures I get it good and clean.

As for the wrinkles getting caught or worn, we're talking such a small area to worry about. You'd have to constantly be rubbing on those spots to do any kind of harm. Now if it was like a big flap kind of wrinkle then that would probably be a little more prone to damage but these things dont concern me all that much. Most pool activities involve just floating and soaking. Ours is more for relaxation than horsing around.

 

[lightmaster]

A Dolphin robotic cleaner should be able to clean over that wrinkle without any issue. You can get them from PoolPartz (I'm not associated with them, just a happy customer) for a pretty steep discount on a like new factory refurbished model. The S300 I bought didn't look like it had ever been used.

- - - Updated - - -

Robotic cleaners only connect to wall outlet, so skimmer still runs while it's cleaning. Or can have it run while pumps off.

 

[Blake1989]

The wrinkles aren’t that big of an eye sore. I would skip draining your pool and deal with them until you have to replace the liner.

 

[f3justusc]

I wouldn't drain the pool for wrinkles just accept it's good enough. I know it's hard.

My pool store gave me a liner as an upgrade. It had a beautiful stone pattern. Well it did until it started to fade below the water line. If the water touched the liner, it faded. I thought it was something I was doing and stressed. Then, I realized it wasn't that serious because the pattern is much less important than the fact the liner, for 4 years, has done a great job of holding water.

 

[azide999]

The wrinkles are so small that you really cant see them until they collect dirt like in the picture... I'm more concerned with the fact that I can feel them when we are in the pool and when I vacuum my pool. Being that I can feel them I fear that the brushes on the vacuum will eventually wear out the liner on those wrinkles and spring a leak or tear... I've been looking to get a automatic pool cleaner for some time now but am now not quite sure what kind I could use with these small wrinkles... I currently have a Barracuda Ranger which I stopped using because I read somewhere that the footpad could get caught up on a wrinkle and tear the liner not sure what size wrinkle they are talking about but just out of concern I stopped using it... I believe I read somewhere on this site that draining the pool will cause the liner to shrink some? I'm starting to wonder if that's an option... I am not to concerned with the wall caving in if I drain cause the clay soil we have compacts like a rock and its already been right around a year that its been buried... But at the price of 13,500 gallons of water that's the same or more as buying a new liner so maybe I should leave it and see what happens... LOL....

Usually liners and pads have seams and that is what causes dirt to build up at the "creases". I have the Gorilla Pad with seams. I have found that it makes manual vacuuming easier because I just run it briefly along the seams and then I am done. The manual brushing is not very abrasive so I think it will be ok; I never have to brush hard or anything and I don't have enough dirt to have to use an automatic vacuum; I brush once a week at the seams. I would not drain the pool - just enjoy the experience and try to fix what you think is wrong at the next liner change.