Inground Pool Liner Beads

Inground Liner Bead & Bead Types

‘Bead’ is the way the pool liner attaches to the pool coping around the entire perimeter of the pool. While there have been various types of liner beads designed by various pool and liner manufacturers over the years, each to address specific issues, design methods or marketing features, ‘Standard Bead’ is by far and away the ‘universal’ bead type applied to 97% of all Inground Pool Liners.

If your pool is among the 3% that feature a Specialty Bead, Pool Fits can both help you identify which type of bead is on your pool liner and either source that bead for your replacement liner or assist you in converting your pool to accommodate a Standard Bead.

Bead Terminology

Bead is typically referred to in two-parts like the sides of a coin, the bead-‘head’ and the bead-‘tail’, as illustrated below.

Pool Fits Bead Terms

Inground Liner Beads are broken down into two categories as follows:

Standard Inground Liner Beads (Standard I/G Bead)
Specialty Inground Liner Beads (Specialty I/G Bead)

Standard In Ground Liner Bead

Standard Bead

Used for pools with standard liner bead coping track it slips easily into standard liner coping track around the top of your pool wall. Pool Fits recommends the use of EZ Bead / Multi-Bead for Standard Bead applications

Specialty Inground Liner Beads

Wilkes ® Bead

Wilkes ® style bead is similar to J-Bead in concept, but much smaller and was designed specifically to install with / slip onto liner bead coping track of Wilkes ® brand Inground Pool.

Esther Williams ® Bead

Esther Williams ® style bead, also referred to as ‘Tab Bead’ or ‘E/W Bead’ is similar to standard bead in concept, but with a slightly thicker bead head and unique rounded top to the bead head. Esther Williams ® bead was designed specifically to install into the liner bead coping track of an Esther Williams ® inground pool, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Esther Williams ® bead is inserted ‘vertically’ into the Esther Williams ® liner bead coping track, where typically most standard bead applications are inserted ‘horizontally’ into the liner bead coping track.

Dauphine® Bead

Dauphine® style bead, similar in many ways to Wilkes® Bead in concept, but with a thicker bead head and unique protrusion at the end of the bead head. Dauphine® bead was designed and marketed primarily in Quebec, Canada, and on a very limited basis in the midwestern and northeastern U.S. Dauphine® bead designed specifically to install into the liner bead coping track of a Dauphine® inground pool which come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Dauphine® pools are no longer commercially available but there are still pools that require replacement liners with Dauphine® bead. Dauphine® bead is available from a limited number of liner manufacturers and it is recommended that you call or email Pool Fits, before ordering, if you pool liner requires Dauphine®

Sure-Fit® Bead

Sure-Fit® style bead is was designed and by Latham Pool Products specifically to install below the waterline of the pool and to attach to a very specific type of coping called True Tile®. True Tile® pools and Sure-Fit® liners are very rare, but easily identified in two ways:

Your pool has a PVC style coping that secures real Ceramic Tiles around the perimeter of your pool
The liner has no tile patter at the top perimeter, and it is secured to the coping below the waterline.

If your pool has a Sure-Fit® style bead or a True Tile® coping it is recommended that you call or email Pool Fits, before ordering. Sure-Fit® Bead liner installations are challenging, require specific special replacement parts and Sure-Fit® Bead is available only on Latham Pool Products manufactured liners.