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Beaded Liner Installation

A Good Method To Use

The first step in a beaded liner installation would be to remove the old liner and prepare the pool for the new one.  Follow the tips on this page to make sure your pool is ready for a new liner.  If you do not have a beaded liner you may need this page for for an overlap liner installation. If you are not yet ready for a beaded liner check the beaded liner conversion page.

Begin by placing you liner in the pool and unfolding.  The utmost care must be given to making sure the liner is perfectly centered in the pool before you start inserting the liner bead into the bead receiver.  With a round pool you have two seams to deal with. The bottom seam goes around the base of the pool.  It should be located near the cove area.  It may fall at the base of the cove, at the top of the cove or a few inches away from the cove.  The only thing that matters is that it is in the same position all the way around.  Do not start with the seam three inches up the wall on one side and three inches from the cove on the other.  Take your time here.  Those inches out of center add up to wrinkles later on.  This pulling and tugging, a little here and a little there, is also smoothing the wrinkles out of the center of the liner.  When this step is done the floor of the pool should be pretty smooth and the bottom seam centered around the pool.

install beaded liner
With oval pools you have another important factor in regards to centering you liner.  The bottom of the liner is made of several pieces.  They are bonded together creating seams.  Most of the time you will find two seams running the length of the pool.  Locate the exact center of the pool at each end.  That point needs to line up dead center between these seams at each end.  A few liners may have just one seam end to end.  If so that would fall on that center point at each end.  To make matters more difficult some liners have seams that go from side to side.  You would line those seams up in about the same way.  They all need to hit the opposite side of the pool in the same relative position.  When the floor seams are aligned you then need to align the seam around the base the same as the above paragraph about the round pool installation.

With a perfectly aligned liner it is time to start inserting it into the bead receiver.  With a round pool start at the vertical seam and make it plumb, straight up and down, then start inserting the liner into the bead receiver.  With an oval start at one of those floor seams.  With the seam in the perfect location pull the liner straight up.  Start feeding the bead into the receiver and work your way back to the starting point.  With an oval pool you can make adjustments at every floor seam location.  You can bunch the bead a little or you can stretch the bead a little to keep the floor seams in alignment.

install beaded liner
With a round pool you need to get back to the starting point to see how the liner fits.  Sometimes a beaded liner installation will require you to back up quite a ways to make the needed adjustments.  With excess liner you would back up and try bunching the liner as you insert it into the receiver.  If you are short of liner some stretching is required. The more off you are in either direction the farther you back it up and try again.


 

excess j-hook liner
In warm weather and direct sun it is easy to pull the liner just a little as you are inserting it. Just back it out and push back on the liner as you are inserting it, Do not leave an overlap at the end. In colder weather it could take several tries to have enough liner at the end. Make use of the sun and keep trying.


 

When all of the liner is in place it is time to recheck the bottom seam and give the base one more smoothing.  Now is a good time to have someone on the outside hook up a shop vacuum to the pool.  Tape some cardboard over the skimmer opening.  Insert the vacuum hose into the return opening and seal with tape.  Turn the vacuum on and watch how it starts to smooth the liner.  With the bottom fairly smooth and the liner well centered start adding water.  While the vacuum works to smooth the side you will need to finish smoothing the bottom.  Push all of the remaining wrinkles to the sides of the pools.  When the pool has about six inches of water in it the shop vac can be removed.  When the water is just below the skimmer and return openings these items can be installed.  At that point you should be done with your beaded liner installation.

 

Beaded Liner Problems

install beaded liner mistake
A beaded type liner can attach to your pool in two different ways, it can go over the top of the wall, more often called a J-hook liner, or snap into a bead receiver. The instructions on this page work with either type. One common problem is the wall pulling down while filling. The liner should be installed in direct sunlight if possible. The difference in cold vinyl and warm vinyl is amazing, the sun is your friend. This picture shows a liner that was probably a snug fit and then left to fill after the temps started to cool down for the day. If you feel the liner is snug it is best to shut the water off and finish filling the next day when it warms up or the pool has sunlight on it.


 

EZ-Bead Liner
Another problem I see a lot is not knowing how to install a uni-bead liner. Some liners can be installed as a J-hook or a beaded, depending on your needs, the thing is, the j-hook cannot be installed into a bead receiver, that portion is meant to be cut off. That leaves you with the bead that can lock into your receiver. There is also the EZ-bead liner, as shown, that can be installed either J-hook or beaded, the difference is this one does not need to be cut.


 

Another problem with a beaded liner is the bead coming out of the receiver. If the pool is full and this happens a hair dryer can be used to heat the liner and it can be pulled back up and put back into the receiver. There is also a product called bead lock that can be tapped into the receiver over the liner to help hold it in place.

 

AGP Pool Help - Everything on this site about Above Ground Pools

 

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Above Ground Pool: Overlapp Liners | Vinyl Liner Replacement

 

Vinyl Liner Overhang | Vinyl Liners | Beaded Liners

 

My name is Dennis Gourley and I am located in Mesa Arizona. I cover the entire state of Arizona with quality above ground pool installations and vinyl liner installations. Reach out to me at 480-935-2848 or use my contact form.