Bottom of Pool Wall Buckled

by Dan
(nh)

This winter the bottom of pool wall buckled (actually creased, folded over on itself) around almost half of the pool. As a result I have a 3-4 inch gap between the top of the pool wall and the bottom of the top rail. The crease at the bottom of the pool wall is up to an inch deep in places. From what I can see the liner looks fine. How did this happen and is the damage repairable (and how) or does the pool need to come down?

Hi Dan. It looks like the ground froze at some point over the winter. When the ground froze, it expanded and raised the pool bottom rails. This would cause the crease in the wall. When the ground thawed it must have lowered the pool back down, accounting for the gap at the top.

To repair the pool you would need to drain it. I would leave a little water in the bottom so the liner does not shrink and so wrinkles don’t develop. Leave a few inches of water if possible.

You would then need to remove the top rails, rods and coping. One person would need to hold the liner back out of the way while another person hammered the wall out flat. A rubber mallet could be used or a piece of 2 x 4 being hit by a regular hammer. You may even need someone on the outside holding a board against the pool while you are pounding it flat. If you start at the very end of the crease and slowly work towards the bad spots it should work.