Above Ground Pool Wall Repair

by Samantha
(Depauw, In)

We took down a 10 year old 21x41 swimming pool 4 years ago. I want to put it back up but am concerned about the wall. There is some rust and I was gong to sand down the wall, spray it with Rustoliem and possible cut out sections and add steel in those spots.

Now my question is this, we are amateur when it comes to installing and this will be the first oval pool.
Should we treat the wall and hope for the best or toss it?



Hi Samantha. If there are no spots in the wall that are rusted through, like where you can see daylight, then I would say you are fine to use it. Sanding and painting is a great idea and will surely prolong the life of the pool.

An easy way to do an above ground pool wall repair of this type is to assemble the pool first. With the pool up, and all the top rails in place to keep the wall from blowing down, it's easy to sand and paint.

If your wall has rust holes all the way through it is still possible to use, just a little bit more risky. There are ways to tape sheet metal to the inside allowing for many more years of use.

I talk more about wall repair on this page.

Pool Wall Repair

Above Ground Pool Wall Repair

by Mrs. Raymond Foley
(Fairmont,WV)

We have a 20 year old above ground pool. The walls are put up in sections, last Sept. two of the sections buckled. We would like to try to fix if possible.

It was sold to us by Imperial Industries of Allison Park, Pa. We have had a couple of people look at it but we can't seem to find the answer. It's a 24 by 4. We have replaced the liner a couple of times but other than that it has been a very good pool. We would like to try to fix it if possible.


Hi. You should not have a problem straightening and reusing the existing wall panels, even if you have to reinforce the panels with a flat metal plate taped to the inside.

I have taken above ground pool side walls that have been buried in dirt from a pool caving in, and straightened them. I unroll the wall on concrete, using my feet and a hammer, I pound the wall flat. I then roll it back up and reuse it.

When your pool is installed correctly the pressure on a wall should all be going out. Unlevel ground is the usual cause of wall buckling. This can be from the ground freezing or just improper installation. If the bottom rails have been raised slightly the wall could buckle, usually lowering the rail allows the wall to be pushed back into shape.

Liner shrinkage or an improperly installed liner could pull down on the wall and have the same effect. Resetting the liner at the top will usually fix this problem. You might also need to replace the liner, depending on how bad the shrinkage is. This situation is very common for a pool that has been emptied and refilled. If there is enough liner to pull over the top, or fit into a bead receiver, without pulling down on the wall you should be OK, if not, a new liner is needed.

Repairing a section of wall is easy, just make sure you also find, and fix, the reason for the wall to have buckled.