Leaning Post on an Above Ground Pool

by Monica Milller
(Chicago, IL)

I have a post that is leaning outward. How do I fix this without taking the pool apart?


Hi Monica. It's usually possible to correct this problem without taking the pool apart, but not with the pool full of water. Depending on the cause of the leaning post, the pool may have to be just below the halfway point or almost empty.

The most common cause of a leaning post is an out of level footplate. A low post will cause it to lean out and raising it would straighten it. For this, a nearly empty pool is required. Once the water level was down you would use a shovel under the bottom rail and raise it enough to get dirt, or a brick, under the footplate. Depending on how much you raised it you may also need to pull a couple of top rails, pull the liner back, and check the cove.

It might be possible to fix it by releasing the screws holding the rails down, pushing the post straight and using different screw holes to reattach the rails. This can usually be done with the pool about half full.

If your leaning post happens to be on the side of an oval pool, like the photo, your problem is a little more complicated. The block behind the angle brace was either set improperly or was omitted altogether.

This pool will need to be drained down to just a few inches of water. The post can then be pushed in and the block raised. This will probably cause base damage inside the pool.

The channel the angle brace attaches to extends inside the pool, under the liner. As the outside is raised the inside will be lowered causing a sand base to shift.

It is very likely the liner will need pulled back just enough to smooth the base and make sure there is no chance of the liner coming in contact with the metal pressure plates.