Inground vinyl liner over stairs?

Hi,

We bought a house in August that has an inground vinyl liber pool.  It’s a Grecian w/ Grecian hopper (8’ deep) and has a staircase centered in the shallow end. The pool wasn’t maintained well, had multiple leaks (we used 31,000 gallons of water in Aug/Sep!!!) but we were able to patch it up somewhat and got to use it in August/September before we ‘closed’ it (e.g. we stopped filling it) and will completely refurbish the pool with new plumbing, new fittings, and a new liner in the Spring.

On that topic, I have a question about liners and stairs.  The stair we have has seal strips on the vertical sides and horizonal bottom at the pool entry. However, it also has a receiver for a pool liner bead.  Part of our leaking problem was multiple leaks at the bottom stair seal, where the liner had pulled loose from the seal strip, and at several screw heads on both the vertical strips.  GOing forward, I am wondering if it is possible, and advisable, to have the new liner cut so that it will simply cover the stairs. That way, I can avoid what appears to be a major source of potential (and in our case ‘real’) leak headaches. I’m also concerned that I’ll have to refurb the sealing points around the stairs (they look pretty shot) and wonder if I’m not just better off all around with the new liner covering the stairs.  Are their cons to having lined stairs?

Thanks!

Jim

Jim, I have had a vinyl inground for 30 years.It has been replaced 3 times and they always cut it to fit both the stairs as well as the setee in the deep end.