The little cavity that the silicone fills can be wiped smooth and dries in a matter of hours.  The silicone will hold strong yet it will not crack or become brittle like duct tape with temperature changes or gets wet.  Once the silicone dries, it does a couple of other things that are a nice by-product.

1. It will keep out dirt and dust from the backfill without drying it out,  like it does with the duct tape.
2. It creates an even tighter seal for the liner to get sucked in when using the liner vac.
3. It helps hold back any ground water that you might have.

Didn’t think of that did you?  The silicone is a water tight seal unlike the duct tape that everyone else uses.  Will it hold back a tidal wave of ground water, probably not; but it will surely keep it at by for a little bit.  In the ongoing effort of Penguin Pools to find an end to floating liners, this is just one more step to victory.

Look closely and you will see that the seams of each wall are a little discolored white with the silicone.

Along with just doing vermiculite bottoms on all of our inground vinyl liner pools in WI, MN, & IL, we also apply it with a special mixer and pump from Strong Manufacturing.  The mixer and pump give us a perfect consistency throughout the entire pool so we don’t have to worry about some areas being too dry or wet.  The time that it takes us to pour a bottom has been greatly reduced, and we have 10% – 15% less waste then with a simple paddle mixer.  Penguin Pools is also able to keep the site cleaner as we have over 75′ of hose, so we can keep the mixer away from the house in the corner of your site to minimize the clutter & mess.

Penguin Pools also re-pours bottoms for older pools that had original sand bottoms.  The key to a good inground vinyl liner replacement is a solid base.  In the Milwaukee, WI & Minneapolis, MN areas we do a ton of vinyl liner pool replacements that are damaged do to a bad or poor subsurface.

In the SE WI, Penguin Pools does pool bottoms, for various pool companies in the region who due not have the equipment to do them as quickly or efficiently as us.

* Vermiculite is must easier to apply to steep side walls & will not wash away with changes in water tables.
**  Vermiculite forms a monolithic, permanent, cast and will always remain in place.
***  Vermiculite becomes an insulating barrier from the cold temperatures of the soil beneath it.

The pictures in this article were from Racine, Merton, Sussex, and Waukesha.

On standard rectangle or grecian pools our rate is $3,000 + water.  That includes draining the old pool, removing the liner, and up to 5 bags of patching for the bottom of your pool (vermiculite).  We will install new gaskets for your lights, skimmers, main drains, returns, and wall mounted fountains.

The vinyl liner is a standard 20 mil with a 15 year pro-rated warranty.  Upgrades can be done if you want a 30 mil liner, a solid pattern, or foam on the floor of your pool.
You can view all of our liner selections here.

For free form shapes or a pool with excessive curves / bends, the price might go up as we have to take a lot more measurements to make sure your liner fits perfectly.

In certain circumstances it might be necessary to turn your main drain system into a sump system to alleviate water issue with your pool or to prevent future “floating liners”.

Penguin Pools specializes in custom pool builds and inground swimming pool service.  Please contact us with any questions you might have.

Penguin Pools services all the Southern WI including but not limited to ::
Hartland, Merton, Sussex, Brookfield, New Berlin, Waukesha, Elm Grove, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee, Cudahy, West Bend, Menomonee Falls, Wauwatosa, Germantown, Waterford, Muskego, Franklin, Hales Corners, Big Bend, Wind Lake, Greenfield, Greendale, West Allis, Glendale, Shorewood, Burlington, Racine, Kenosha, Lake Geneva, East Troy, Caledonia, Mequon, Brown Deer, Delafield, Oconomowoc, Colgate, Cedarburg, Fox Point, Bayside, Mukwanago.

Over time an inground swimming pool’s vinyl liner will start to dry out, crack, rip, or shrink.  While that might sound like a horrible thing to happen, it really isn’t the end of the world.  Now don’t get me wrong, having a fiberglass pool that doesn’t use a vinyl liner is great but you have to pay for that upfront.

The biggest killer of vinyl liners, or any pool equipment for that matter, is unbalanced chemicals.  The more your chemicals fluctuate and “bounce” the more damage you do to your liner and equipment.  Vinyl liners and concrete pools constantly absorb chemicals, when they are balanced not much happens but when they bounce it starts to dry the liner out.

In addition to chemicals, the sun plays a large part on how long your liner will last.  People with automatic covers see their liners last longer as they always have their covers closed, the nice part of having a cover that closes in 45 seconds.  The less a sun can hit the liner the longer you will resist fading and drying out the top of your liner.

Removing and replacing a liner isn’t as hard as most people think.  Pumping the pool out is usually the longest part of the process if you don’t have a large water pump.  We (Penguin Pools) use a large pump that moves roughly 16,000 gallons an hour and takes us roughly 2 hours to clear out any pool.  A shop-vac is usually need for the last few gallons, but even that isn’t that bad.

Once the pool is pumped, it is time to take off the liner and see what the underlayment looks like.  We usually cut the liner into pieces so that it is easier to remove from the site and throw away.  The vermiculite is looked over and patched where needed and given some time to dry.  If you have a sand bottom a few bags of sand might be need to level the floor, but once again not a hard process.

Once the bottom is ready again, make sure to sweep it and vac everything out.  You don’t want a pebble or stone on the floor before you put your liner on.  A clean bottom will save you time in the long run, but if you miss something don’t worry as it can be pounded out later if need be.

Make sure you replace all your gaskets around your steps, in-wall ladder, lights, returns, main drains, skimmers and anything else you have below the water line.  Using old gaskets will do one thing for you . . . give you a leak.

While Penguin Pools doesn’t believe in using foam on our walls, many do.  We feel that it is a breading ground for fungi and mold, of which will eat the vinyl liner form the backside out.  HOWEVER, foam is a good way to hide imperfections on old pools to make it look more level and even.  If you decide to use foam on your walls, make sure that it is secured and ready to go.

When everything is cleaned and ready, install the new liner with air vacs sucking the air from behind the liner.  Fill with water and you will be set.

Penguin Pools generally charges $2,800 – $3,200 for a liner replacement.  While some pools need more work than others, those prices usually hold true.
Contact us for a free estimate on replacing your vinyl liner or any other service work you might have.  Penguin Pools has offices in
Milwaukee, WI
LaCrosse, WI
Minneapolis, MN