Find a Leak in a Pool Liner

In the Las Vegas desert, your pool will naturally lose some water due to evaporation. Other ways your pool can lose water includes daily use (water splashing out) and water that backwashes into your pool filter. For a standard sized pool, if you’re losing more than 2 inches of water a week, you may have a pool leak. If you’re a do-it-yourself type, you can perform the bucket test and find out if your pool has a leak.

Pool can develop leaks in a lot of different places: around lights, the skimmer, the circulation and filtration system, or the pool liner. Pool liner leaks are very common, difficult to find, and hard to repair. The bucket test will let you know you have a leak, but it won’t tell you where it is.


This test requires food coloring, which will help you find the location of the leak.

• Make sure the pool is full. The prospective leak needs to be below the pool’s water level.

• Check the entire floor of the pool. If any area feels too soft or squishy, you may have found the location of the leak.

• Slowly inspect all the sides of the pool liner, looking for crack, leaks, or areas that are soft and squishy.

• When you find a spot where you suspect there is a leak, place a few drops of food coloring nearby.

Food coloring will show you the direction and flow of the pool’s water. If you’ve found a leak, the food coloring should get sucked into the leak.

Fix a pool leak

Now that you’ve found the leak you can try to fix it with a patch. If the leak is very big a patch probably won’t work. You’ll need a vinyl replacement liner. Replacement liners should be installed by professionals. If the leak is small to medium sized, try a vinyl patch:

• Cut an oval or round piece of vinyl, depending on the shape of your pool liner leak. It should be at least 5 times larger than the hole or tear you’re fixing.

• On the back of the patch, apply the underwater adhesive included with your kit. Make sure you completely cover the entire backside of the patch.

• Fold the patch in half (the unglued side) and get into the pool. You’ll need pool goggles to work effectively.

• Go to the damaged section of pool liner, unfold the patch, and apply it from the center of the patch first, working your way outward. Push all of the excess adhesive out through the edges of the patch and don’t let the patch move around while you’re applying it.

Let the patch sit for at least 24 hours so the adhesive can dry. Afterwards, test the patch by gently pulling on it. It should not move. If it moves, remove the patch and apply a new one.

Once you have patched your pool liner you can do the food coloring test over again, around the patch. You shouldn’t see any food coloring being sucked into the patch. You can also re-conduct the bucket test to make sure your pool isn’t losing water anymore.

Conclusion

You can find and fix a pool leak yourself, but it isn’t easy and it does require quite a bit of work. If you’d rather have a professional repair your pool, contact All Leak Detection in Las Vegas. They are pool and spa leak detection specialists. They offer fast, same-day service and can find any leak. Once they find your leak they will present you with a simple, honest, no-hassle quote for repair. All Leak Detection can find and repair your pool leak, all with minimal disruption to your home. Contact them today using the coupon code below for a new customer discount. All Leak Detection services Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and most parts of Clark County, Nevada.