Vinyl Liner Pools in Northeast Ohio

A vinyl pool has three main parts. There are the walls, which set the shape. There is a floor, shaped and smoothed so the liner sits flat against it. And there is the liner itself, a custom-cut sheet of vinyl that is the waterproof layer and the surface you actually touch. The liner hangs from a track at the top of the wall, and once the pool is filled, the weight of the water holds it tight against the walls and floor.

Because the liner is made to measure, the pool does not have to match a factory mold. That is the main reason people choose vinyl. You can have a long rectangle for laps, a freeform shape that follows the yard or a pool with a long shallow end for young kids.

Latham also makes the Liberty fiberglass pools we install, so it is a manufacturer we already work with day to day. For vinyl, the detail we care about most is the liner.

On a standard liner, the floor is made from several pieces of vinyl joined together, and you can see the seam lines on the bottom of the pool. Latham's UltraSeam process makes those floor seams stronger and very hard to spot, and it is now standard on every Latham liner. A seam is where a liner is most likely to give out over time, so a stronger seam should mean a liner that lasts, and the cleaner look is a bonus. It also looks better, which matters when you are staring at the pool floor from the deck all summer.

Latham offers a large range of liner patterns and colors. We bring samples to the design meeting, because a pattern looks different under water than it does in a catalog, and different again in the flat light of an overcast Ohio afternoon.

We lead with fiberglass for most families, and we will say so. Vinyl earns its place in a few situations:

• You want a size or shape that no fiberglass shell comes in, but a fully custom ICF concrete pool is more than you want to take on.
• You want a big pool. Fiberglass tops out at 16 by 40 feet in the Liberty line. A liner pool can be designed larger.
• You want a particular depth profile, such as a long shallow area and a short deep end, that no stock shell offers.
• You like the idea of changing the look of the pool later. When the liner is replaced, you can pick a new pattern.

There are tradeoffs, and you should hear them from the builder. A liner is softer than a fiberglass gelcoat or a concrete finish. Sharp objects, a dog's claws or a careless pool pole can puncture it, although small tears can usually be patched. And every liner eventually needs to be replaced. How long one lasts depends on sun exposure, water chemistry and how the pool is cared for, which is why keeping the chemistry balanced matters more with vinyl than with most surfaces.

Freeze and thaw are hard on anything built in the ground, and the ground here is mostly clay and glacial till that holds water. A vinyl pool handles winter well when it is built right and closed right.

Built right means the walls sit on a solid, level base, the backfill is compacted and the finished grade sends surface water away from the pool. In wet ground we plan for groundwater from the start. Groundwater sitting under a liner is trouble, so we manage it during the build instead of dealing with it after.

Closed right means the pool stays full. Latham's own winterizing guidance says a pool should never be fully drained. The water level comes down a little below the skimmer, the lines are blown out and plugged and the equipment is winterized. Latham also notes that a completely empty pool can crack or lift out of the ground from groundwater pressure, and in our wet clay that is a real risk. If you would rather not handle closing yourself, our pool service crew does openings and closings.

The process starts with a site visit and a 3D design, the same as every pool we build. You see the pool on your actual lot with the deck, the equipment pad and the fence line, and you can try a different size or shape before it costs anything.

After the permits clear and Ohio811 has marked the utilities, we lay out and excavate. The walls go up and are braced and leveled. Plumbing is run and pressure tested. Then the floor is shaped and troweled smooth, because any bump or dip under the liner will show once the pool is full. The liner is set in the track, a vacuum pulls it tight against the walls and floor, and the pool is filled while the crew watches for wrinkles.

With water in, we backfill, pour the deck, set the equipment, make the electrical connections, finish grading and start the system up. We walk you through water care before we leave, since the chemistry has a direct effect on how long the liner lasts.

Day to day, a vinyl pool asks for the same routine as any other: run the pump, keep the skimmer baskets clear and test the water regularly. The CDC recommends keeping pool pH between 7.0 and 7.8 and free chlorine at 1 ppm or higher. Keeping the water inside those numbers is the simplest thing you can do for the liner. If you would rather hand that off, our service crew handles weekly cleaning and chemical balancing.

If you already own a vinyl pool and the liner is faded, torn, wrinkled or pulling out of the track, we replace liners. The pool gets drained in a controlled way, the old liner comes out and we check the walls, floor and track underneath. Any repairs to the floor get done before the new liner goes in. Then the new liner is measured, set and filled.

Timing matters in Ohio. We would rather drain a pool when the ground is not saturated, because an empty pool in wet clay is exactly the situation that causes trouble. We look at your yard and the season and schedule the swap for a window that keeps that risk low. Since the pool is out of service while the work happens, it helps to call early rather than in the middle of July.

A vinyl pool can take most of the upgrades we offer: heaters, automatic covers and safety covers, LED lighting, water features such as sheer descents, bubblers and waterfalls, salt systems, cartridge or DE filtration, automation and extra decking and patio. An automatic cover is the one we would add first. It keeps heat in overnight, keeps debris out and covers the water whenever nobody is using it.

We price vinyl pools after the design, because the size, shape and depth are yours to choose. To help you plan, our fiberglass packages start at $68,400 installed, and if you are deciding between the two, we will put a vinyl price and a fiberglass price side by side for your yard. Costs that sit outside any pool price include the barrier fence your town requires, extra decking, hauling away the clay we dig out, pumping out groundwater if it comes into the dig and the electrical run from your house panel to the equipment pad. We work with lenders including PoolLoan.net and HFS Financial if you plan to finance.

"Great company to work with very helpful with the design process I would recommend this company!" Randy W.