Swimming pool liners are must have accessories for above ground swimming pools. They help keep the water in the pool. There are two basic kinds of swimming pool liners: beaded liners and overlap liners. Beaded liners fasten to a track along the pool's edge and snaps into place. Overlap liners simply hang over the edge of the pool and is held in place with coping and the railing. Along with preventing water from leaking out of the pool, a liner is made to withstand harsh weather elements and endure prolonged exposure to the sun. There are also swimming pool liners made for in ground pools. These are typically sealants that have the same functionality as above ground liners. They help prevent algae and bacteria from building up over time.

Let's start with the above ground swimming pool liners. As we said there are two types: beaded and overlap. The beaded swimming pool liner has a row of snapping clips along its edge that fit into a receiving track on the edge of the pool and kind of hangs on to the track. This track is called the bead receiver and it runs around the length of the pool. It is held in place by the pool's top rail and can be seen if you look up under the rail. But you wouldn't be able to see it unless you were looking for it. These kinds of vinyl swimming pool liners are typically more expensive than overlap liners because of the hardware involved, but they may present a cleaner look to your pool than an overlap liner can.

The overlap liners are much simpler to install and are far cheaper than the beaded liners. This is also an above ground swimming pool liner and it's held in place by a heavy plastic coping but the excess liner hangs out of the pool. The top rail of the pool then sits on top of the coping to help keep it from slipping off. You can easily trim back the overhanging liner material but it's not necessary. Ultimately both liners have a finite lifespan of about fifteen years and you will have to invest in a swimming pool liner replacement of some kind. Fortunately you have the option of reinstalling one or the other regardless of the current style you have, so if you don't want to spend the money replacing your beaded liner, the overlap is a nice alternative. Again, what you choose to do with the overhanging material is really just a matter of aesthetics.

Once you've made your choice it's time to think about price. As I said beaded is a more expensive swimming pool liner but outside of that you have to consider some other things like thickness. A good quality pool liner will be of considerable thickness. This is important because a cheap liner will tear easily and swimming pool liner repair is not cheap, nor is having to replace it. You want something that's going to last a decade or more and that means investing in a high quality vinyl. Choosing anything from a mid gauge or higher will ensure you are buying quality materials. If you want to have some fun with your purchase many liners come in different water-themed designs. Most are the solid deep blue you see to make the pool more inviting but you can turn up the fun with all kinds of aquarium designs. And of course once you have all this figured out you will have to decide who's going to do the install. Replacement swimming pool liners are expensive enough on their own but throwing in professional installation too will definitely raise the price substantially. With that said you have to consider the difficult of doing it yourself. Do it wrong or take some short cuts and your swimming pool liner installation will turn into a swimming pool liner nightmare. That will cost you even more.

If you insist on doing the installation yourself please watch the following video. It's about eight minutes long and really goes into swimming pool liners thoroughly. Enjoy.