Doughboy Expandable Liner

by John
(NC)

I am looking to purchase an expandable pool liner for my 24' round pool. On the internet there are many to choose from and the cost is around $225 - $275.

I am also looking at the Doughboy liners (20 mil) and they cost significantly more, but they indicate that they are made from virgin vinyl. Are they worth the extra cost?




Hi John. Doughboy is the only true "expandable" liner I know of, meaning it can stretch into any size, or shape, deep area wrinkle free. They do not always go in without a wrinkle, but most of the time.

Other liners I have used have been just oversized liners and usually wrinkle badly when put into odd sized deep ends, or even a simple deep center, for that matter.

If you have a deep area, or are planning on digging one, I would pay the extra for the Doughboy. It is well worth the extra expense to have a wrinkle free installation. If the deep area is just a small dish, or the base is flat, not dug out, I would use one of the less expensive liners.

Make sure you pick a warm sunny day for the installation, the more direct sunlight the better.

I am not sure that the words virgin vinyl makes the liner any better but the words 20 mil sure do. A Doughboy 20 mil liner is much heavier than the 20 gauge liners you get on the internet. A 20 gauge liner is actually about 16 mil. You would have to go to a 25 gauge to get a comparable liner.

A page related to an expandable liner, that may be of interest, is.

Expandable Liner Installation