Pool Walls Keep Coming Down

by Tina
(Fair Grove MO)

Recently I purchased a Doughboy 24ft above ground pool used. We tried to use the liner that had came with the pool and finally decided just to buy a new one. We are in the process of installation and it seems as if every time we get part of the pool in the track, the other side falls.

We tried using my teenage daughters to help hold it, but cell phones soon became "interference"! Do you have any tips to keep the sides staying up while we are working?

Hi Tina. The photos on these pages might help a little.

Above Ground Swimming Pool Installation Tips

Oval Pool Installation

Diamond Star Oval Installation

The key to getting the wall to stay in the track starts in the beginning stages of the above ground pool installation. You must have a perfectly round and perfectly level bottom rail. The slightest difference in level makes the wall want to not stay in the track.

The other important thing is to build the pool framework as you install the wall. With a Doughboy pool we would be installing uprights and top rails at the same time we are installing the wall. No more than two or three rails of wall are ever up without the frame for support.

Our liners get installed over this framework so it's not wasted time. When the bottom has some water in it and it is time to take the rails off and tuck the liner we do the same thing, just a few rails at a time.

Bought a Used Doughboy Pool

by Michelle Miracle
(Madera, CA )

We dug the hole, put in soft dirt, put sides in track and bolted together. Stretching the liner in is the problem, can,t get it to stretch over the sides. We started filling it up and the sides caved in. What now?

Hi Michelle. I think I would try it again. Make sure you build the entire pool framework as illustrated on this page.

Expandable Liner Installation

Building the pool framework will keep the pool from caving in. When the water is near the edge of the pool and you begin taking the pool apart, do so just a few rails at a time. Pull the liner over the wall, install the coping and rods, and install the top rails as you progress around the pool. There should never be more than 3-4 top rails off the pool at any time.

If the liner does not seem to be stretching enough make sure you are working in direct overhead sunlight. This really helps.

Pool Wall Caving In While Filling

by Jerry May
(Elizabethton, TN)

While filling my new pool with water, the walls started caving in. There is only about 8 inches of water in the pool. The liner is the type that has a "V" that hooks onto the top of the pool wall.

I stopped filling the pool and can't figure out what is causing this. I have not put the top rails on yet. The installation manual said that I didn't need to do this until the pool was full.

Hi Jerry. It sounds like the liner is a bit tight and needs to stretch out a little. This is not a bad thing, much better than the liner being to big and full of wrinkles.

I think you should drain the water and start over. I would build the pool completely as this keeps the pool from blowing down in a breeze and also gives the wall some support while the liner is stretching.

Start filling the pool in direct sun on a warm day, at least as warm as possible. Liners need direct sun in order to do any stretching at all, without it they have no elasticity, it's like trying to stretch a piece of paper.

As you start to fill, work the base of the liner out towards the walls in all directions. This is done inside the pool on your hands and knees. As the sun warms the liner this could easily put more liner out to the walls where it is needed. You should then be able to finish filling. If the walls are tight, meaning the liner will have to stretch for it to fit, and you loose your sun, just shut the water off and start it again the next day.

Liner fell out of Pool

by Rebecca
(Chicago, IL)

Recently my 18' round pool (52" high) completely emptied after my beaded liner detached and fell. I spoke with a couple install companies who recommended an "over the wall" liner instead.

Any thoughts on this? We had slipping problems with the liner since it was installed 4 years ago, so perhaps that's why the recommendation?

We had considerable wash out and now are thinking about raising the pool up about 3" to come closer to a deck we built. What is the best way to go about this? More sand or more dirt base?

Also, being that now the pool is empty, my husband wants to install a bottom center drain. I read some links on the internet that center drains are no longer recommended as highly because of potential leaks, etc. Should we just invest in a good quality automatic pool cleaner instead? Any specific one you recommend?

Thanks in advance!!

Hi Rebecca. I do recommend an overlap liner over a beaded one. The only advantage to a beaded liner is that you do not have to pull the rails off to change it. If you had a deck out over the rails, that prevented you from removing them, a beaded liner would be the best choice, otherwise, use an overlap. They are less expensive and less trouble and you usually get a better fit.

If you are going to raise the pool use dirt or crushed granite, not sand. Use sand only under the liner as a cushion, not under the pool frame work.

I do not recommend the center drain, go with the pool cleaner instead. I like the inexpensive bug the best.

These pages might be of interest also.

Above Ground Pool Main Drain

Pool Cleaner