Sand Depth And Beaded Liner

by Joy
(IL)

I would like to have 4 inches of sand on the bottom of my pool just to be safe since it is an 18 x 33 and the metal pieces on the bottom make me nervous, but the pool is 52 inches and I bought a new 52 inch beaded liner. My question is am I going to have to dig out more in the middle of the pool or will the liner be small enough so I won't have excess liner? Thanks, Joy (new pool owner with no clue)




Hi Joy. There is just no way to know how a beaded liner will fit. I went an entire season installing 48" beaded liners in 52" wall pools simply because they fit better. The store I installed for insisted on selling beaded liners and I insisted on all of my installs looking professional, so we came to that compromise.

Most of the time I just have coping on hand, if it looks like the beaded liner is going to be too big I simply pull it over the wall and install coping. I then install the bead receivers over top of the coping and it all works just fine, and looks good.

So, there is really no way of telling how that liner will fit until you actually install it. With four inches of sand for a base I would guess the liner will be too big, but again, no way to know for sure.

The other problem with that much sand are the foot prints. The thicker you make the sand the more foot prints you will have, at least in most cases.

I do pack the sand thicker over the pressure plates. I start with a high cove area and sloop slightly over the pressure plate area. I don't reach the 2" level until way past the pressure plates. If your pool has straps connecting the side braces be sure they are laying flat. If they are flat, 2" of sand works just fine.

Another thing about the straps, if you have them, that means you cannot dig the center deeper. If you don't have straps you can dig but it will really not change the fit of the liner. The fit is determined by the sides, the distance from top to the cove. Digging the center deeper does not change that. It may us up a little extra liner, but not enough and not from the right place. This would not be my option.

This page about installing a beaded liner might help also.

Beaded Liner Installation