Pool Hole

There are certain statements you never want to hear.

“How did you get that up there?  Did it hurt?”

“President Sarah Palin.”

“I’m not your real mom!”

And one that I recently heard…

“The pool has a hole in it!” 

Yes, my pool has a hole in it. 

First some background; it’s a vinyl lined pool, which I know is somewhat Trailer Trash, but it was here when we bought the house.  At least it’s an in-ground pool and doesn’t protrude upwards like some oversized wash tub with plastic steps.  Also, it is oval shaped so its lines are simple and clean. There are no diving boards, slides and other tackiness. And actually, even a vinyl lined pool is better than no pool, so I’m not complaining…much!

Here’s my idea of a pool.  I think it should be a destination.  I envisioned it to be in the middle of the meadow with a charming Greek temple pool house.  The pool interior would be some type of black stone or perfect blue pebble and the well trimmed grass would creep to the pool’s edge. 

photo credit Simon Upton

photo credit Rob Cardillo

photo credit Grey Crawford

photo credit Oberto Gili

Instead my inherited pool is vinyl lined blue, surrounded by concrete and is positioned just outside one of the doors at the rear of the house. 

Occasionally I approach the subject of moving the pool.  Maybe not into the meadow; that may be a bit extreme and I have grown to like the pool being near the house.  In fact, if I wanted to I could jump from the sofa in our media room into the pool with very little effort.  Besides, it would cost a fortune and the thought of moving the pool sends C’s blood pressure through the roof and he has to sit down. 

When C noticed the hole in the liner it was near the water line at the deep end of the pool.  Each week it grows in size.  It’s not really a hole. It’s more like the damn thing is just disintegrating.  C’s been doing a masterfull job of ordering pool patches and patching it together, but it’s about to live its last hurrah.  We’re just hoping it makes it through the rest of the summer.  I would hate to have the pool out of commission when its 100 degrees in this desert Georgia waste land! 

My first option would be to tile the pool, but that goes far beyond just replacing the liner and the entire structure would have to be rebuilt. That’s not happening.  So, it looks like it’s going to be a vinyl liner. 

Besides the obvious issue of the cost, here’s the other big problem.  Pool liner choices suck.  The pool company sent over a booklet.  Everything in it is ugly.  I’ve also searched the web until my eyes are crossed and can’t find anything that looks tasteful.  This is the kind of ugliness I have to pick from!  90% consist of a bad fake tile border and below that is some type fake looking blue water pattern shit.  I hate them all.

The options go from bad...

to worse!

They do offer solid colors - white, a very light blue or a medium blue.  I’m afraid if I went with either of the blues, the pool would look like one of those kiddie blow-up numbers from Wal-Mart just sunk in the ground. 

I actually considered white!  Then I realized it would look like a big toilet. The other thing I’m thinking about is black, but of course I can’t seem to find a black option.  

There are options without a border, but most of them are weird water patterns. 

Also, there are some patterns (fake tile or tiny pebbles) without the awful borders, but I’m worried about a fade line at the water level. And, I'm sure they're called Value-Liner for a good reason!

I might actually be able to live with this Greek Key number or even the tile look below, but I can only find them to be available from some obscure website with no information.

Any thoughts?