When should i fill my pool up?

Question

I have an above ground pool that we put in ground so we could make it deeper. We drained it today and the water went under the liner causing the liner to float up. When should i fill the pool back up? When the water dries or go ahead and do it now?

Answer 1

I would wait until it dries out -- don't you have to make sure there are no leaks and do maintenance?

Answer 2

Well, it's a bit late now but you should never completely drain a vinyl liner pool. The vinyl shrinks and, as you just noticed, if there's any ground water...it floats. Getting it back into position and filling it, is now going to be a 50/50 affair. If that liner is more than 3 years old, chances are, it'll snap at a seam when you refill.

Two options here, neither of which are guaranteed to work but it's all you've got now:

1/ Start filling it. As the pool fills ( no holes in it), the pool water will displace the water under the liner, forcing that water out and away from the pool. You'll have to watch it as it fills, using a pool brush or get in and use your feet, to move the liner around to get any wrinkles that may form, out. Push the wrinkles to the walls. It's the only place they're gonna go. Keep your eye on it and fingers crossed that a seam doesn't separate. If all is well, you lucked out.

2/ If the ground is impermeable ( blue clay for example) around the pool, that ground water isn't going anyplace. You'll need to pump out as you fill the pool. A pro would stick a suction hose between liner and wall, into the ground water, fill the pool by tap or water truck and actually pump that ground water into the pool to boot .Why not, it's free and if you discharge it near the pool, it's just gonna come back to where it came from unless it's in a location that's below the level of the bottom of the pool. You'll also have to watch for wrinkles and move them as needed and be quick about it. That ground water is allowing you to move them around. When it's pumped out and in the pool or downhill from the pool, there's nothing to help you move those wrinkles anymore unless you toss a garden hose between the liner and wall, add some water down there and start again.

In either case, it's the vinyl shrinkage that will be the issue here. I hate to say it, but if it's shrunk enough it may not go back without snapping and you're looking at a new liner. It doesn't take much, especially with an above ground liner. They're not as thick as in ground ones and don't take much abuse.