Weed Up Through Liner

by Tara Adam
(Stevens Point, WI)

We purchased a 33' round above ground pool in September 09 (used), and purchased a brand new liner from a reputable pool company. No problems at all - we installed the pool and liner, filled the pool, winterized it, and closed it up. We live in Wisconsin.

We opened the pool on April 5 2010, filled it to the top, added the proper chemicals, and vacuumed it. We put the solar cover on it on April 12. It is now April 25. We woke up this morning to find the water lowered by 2 feet.

My husband went into the pool with waders to discover a 5" tear with a dandelion growing up through the liner. It is about 4' in from the edge of the pool.

My question is - how could this have happened? First of all, doesn't sunlight need to penetrate through to allow a weed to grow? And is a dandelion strong enough to cut a 20 gauge liner? We almost feel like the liner sold to us was a cheap imitation; however, it was purchased through a good pool company.

There is no question we'll have to replace the liner; all of the sand underneath completely washed out and is located on the outside of the pool now. We prepped it correctly - leveling it and adding 4" of mason sand before putting the liner in last fall. We are completely dumbfounded at this and quite disgusted.



Hi Tara. Weeds can definitely grow through vinyl liners, it happens all the time. Most of the time a weed will grow up and pretty much plug the hole it grew through. They can then be pulled up and the liner patched. For a weed to cause a 5" tear is very unusual.

When you redo the pool, be sure and treat the ground with weed killer so nothing else grows up through the new liner.

A properly landscaped above ground pool should have a layer of landscape plastic around it. This could be covered with rock or bark or whatever looks nice in your yard. You want anything but grass and weeds around the pool. The plastic helps the area to stay grass and weed free.



Keep in mind also that a 20 gauge liner is quite thin. It is comparable to a 16 mil liner. A 25 gauge liner is close in thickness to a 20 mil liner. I would use only a 25 gauge or a 20 mil in the future, you will have better luck with them.

Weeds Between Wall and Liner

by John Ely
(Ivor, Va)

I am opening my above ground pool and noticed that it has weeds growing up the wall of the pool should I drain it and remove the weeds or is their a better way?
Thank you


Hi John. Vegetation of any kind growing around an above ground pool is not recommended. In your case I would not drain the pool but I would treat the ground around it with weed and grass killer. This will kill all the grass and weeds on both sides of the pool, outside and inside. When the weeds die they will soon dissolve into next to nothing and be barely noticeable.

Any additional weed cleanup could be done next time you change a liner. For more information about vegetation around your pool read this page.

Above Ground Swimming Pool Landscaping