Cove Washout

by Darrell

I installed a 24' x 52" above ground pool last week and as I was swimming in it I noticed I have a hole in my cove! It's about 10" long x 4" wide.

I know it wasn't there when the liner was put in so I don't know what happened. Should I be concerned about this and is there a way to fix it without draining the pool? I doubt there is but thought I would ask.
Darrell



Hi Darrell. Yes, this is something to be concerned about. If the liner comes into contact with the bottom rail and tears you could loose all the water in your pool very quickly. It is also possible the cove washout came from a small hole in the liner. If that is the case it could easily get bigger fast and burst open.

I would drain the liner as soon as possible. Leave a few inches in the bottom of the pool to hold the liner in place and to keep it from shrinking. With just a few top rails removed you should be able to pull the liner back enough to make the repairs. One person would hold the liner while another person adds sand and smooths it out.

Hopefully you will find the reason for the cove washout. There has to be a cause and if you can determine it you can work on ways to prevent it from happening in the future.

A bad seam in the liner would cause the cove to wash out. If you had recently vacuumed your pool a vacuum head may have scratched the liner in that area.

Insects and ants have been known to cause such damage.

I would first check for wet spots around the pool, a leak in the cove will cause standing water around the outside of the pool. If there are no wet spots the liner is probably not the cause.

You then need to see if you need to add a dirt cove around the outside of the pool. Packing dirt around the pool will help to hold the sand in place on the inside. Granule ant and bug killer around the pool does wonders for keeping unwanted pests from getting under the pool liner.