Fading, wrinkles, and water loss mean replacement.

Fading, wrinkles around the shallow end, and water loss you can’t explain — those are the three signs.

Fading isn’t just cosmetic. Once the pattern bleaches out, the vinyl is brittle and more likely to tear. Wrinkles are a bigger deal — they mean the liner has stretched out of shape and is no longer sitting tight against the pool structure. Water loss that isn’t from evaporation or a pump leak is usually a sign of a pinhole or tear that has gotten past patching.

One of these alone might be manageable. Two or three together? Stop throwing patch kits at it. A new liner is cheaper than repairing structural damage from a sudden blowout.