Oval Pool Hold Down Plates

by Todd
(Illinois)

We just had a poll installed and the installers said that we did not have to use the hold down plates because they run a chance of damaging the pools liner so they left them out all together. Everything else went smooth during the set up. We just shut down the hoses last night and realized that the pool sides had lifted and the straps are now showing under the liner.

We purchased a heavy mat to lay on the ground over the straps before the liner went in. My qestion is... Do you think that the walls run a chance of failing now and do the straps have a chance of coming through the protector for the liner?

Thanks again.



Hi Todd. I have never heard anything so stupid in my life. Sure, if the plates are not well covered with sand you run a risk of damaging the liner. But if you leave them out you run a much larger risk of a very fast pool failure.

In fact, I would get the water out of that pool ASAP and get the pool installed correctly.

Your hold down plates, otherwise known as pressure plates, are some of the most important components of an oval above ground pool. They take the weight of the water to hold down the inside of the buttress channels. Without the pressure plates the water pushes against the side posts and they start to lean out because there is nothing inside the pool holding the channel in place.

This is so dangerous, I do hope no permanent damage has been done.

I hope they did not try to talk you out of using concrete blocks under the buttress channels, maybe saying they weren't necessary. The blocks are just as important as the hold down plates.