How To Pick The Perfect Liner For Your Pool

You have a basic pool design ready and your pool builder asks you what pool liner you want and directs you to a catalog of liners. Pool liner catalogs contain hundreds if not thousands of options with different things like color, patterns, and borders. This is quite overwhelming even if you already have something in mind on what you want your pool to look like. While pool liners have an aesthetic feature to them there are also some technical details you should consider before picking a liner. In this blog, we will walk through different factors to consider when finalizing your pool liner so you can make an informed decision without too much anxiety!

There are four important factors when picking a liner and they are color, pattern, texture, and thickness. Let’s dive into each of these categories!

Color

You probably already have an idea of what color you want your pool to be. But there is more to picking a liner color than just the shade of blue you want. You want your pool to be cohesive with your backyard, especially if you already have a deck or seating set up. So take in factors like what the landscape around your pool looks like or will look like. Another important factor to consider with choosing the shade of your liner is how much sun or shade your pool will get during the day. Your pool liner will be darker or brighter depending on how much shade your backyard gets. Just like the ocean, the color of the water depends on the depth and the amount of light that hits the water. Deeper areas will look darker and the bottom will be less visible, especially with a dark-colored liner. If your backyard is surrounded by trees or buildings and has a lot of shade during the day you might consider not going with a dark liner as your pool will be darker and deeper than it actually is. We can divide pool liner colors into three categories, dark, light, and aqua. Each of these has pros and cons. 

Dark liners are great to hide dirt and debris and match seamlessly with different landscape styles. Dark colors also make your pool look deeper and give it a classic look. Like with clothing dark colors absorb more sun and UV rays and help keep your pool warm. Unfortunately, absorbing more sun rays also makes deep colors more susceptible to fading and bleaching over time. While the color will never actually disappear it will change over time.

Light to medium colored liners have a very light and airy feel to them. Light-colored liners are great to make your pool bigger in a small space. Having light-colored vinyl does mean that you need to be on top of your cleaning and maintenance(which you should be anyways!) because dirt and debris will stand out. But light colored vinyls have the least sun damage as they absorb less UV rays and will remain the same shade for a very long time.

Aqua-colored vinyl is gaining popularity in recent years. Aqua-colored vinyl actually has a tan background but looks blue with water in it because of the sky’s reflections. If you have a very shaded backyard this might not be the best option for you. But if you get a lot of sunlight then aqua-colored liners can give your space a unique and luxurious look as opposed to the regular blue shades. Aqua-colored liners also show less sun damage as they have less pigmentation.

Pattern

Once you have an idea of what color you want your liner to be you can now pick the pattern. There are many different patterns available for each color group. Patterns can look like a plain solid color, rocks, mosaics, tiles, shimmery, or water-like with swirls. Picking a pattern on the liner depends on the landscaping you want to pair it with it and the aesthetic you are going for. Water-like patterns are the most common type of liner pattern our customers usually choose. Because it will match most landscaping styles. But if you want a more luxurious look a tile or mosaic pattern might be more your style. 

Another thing you will see in liner catalogs is borders. Borders are part of the liner that sits outside of the water and gives a tile look to your pool. Borders can even have stone or mosaic patterns to make the edges stand out. Most pool liners can be ordered with or without borders and you can mix and match whatever fits your aesthetic. If you have a smaller pool you might choose to not even get a border and go for a seamless look, this will make your pool look bigger in the space. It is very popular to not have a border, but if you want sharp and clean lines a border will bring that out.

Texture

Pool liners can have a texture or be smooth. Texture gives the liner a rough feel and helps with grip when walking on it. But getting a textured liner will be more expensive as it uses more material. You can also choose to only get the texture on areas with more foot traffic like steps. Regardless of texture, regular cleaning and maintenance will be necessary to prevent your pool from algae buildup.

Thickness

Pool liners come in different thicknesses. In the pool industry, this is measured by a unit called mil. Mil is 1/1000th of an inch. We have liners available in thickness ranging from 20-27 mil. While getting a thickener liner might prevent liner damage it is not always the best option as your liner might not install perfectly around corners or steps. Based on industry review and our own experience liner thickness doesn't always equate to longevity and thicker liners are also more expensive. In the end pool maintenance is what helps with a longer life for your liner. We recommend discussing the best thickness option for your liner with your pool builder and seeing what fits your needs best.

We hope this blog helps your liner selection process stress-free and seamless. If you have any questions about liners or what would be the best option for you please reach out to us by filling out our form or by giving us a call today at (316)-880-3900!