Wall Lifts Out Of Bottom Track

by John
(Philadelphia, PA)

I just had my first ever pool installed by a professional company and after draining it twice the wall still lifts out of the bottom track when it is filled. It is a 15'x 30' oval swim and play pool with external support struts (not the yard saver kind).

The first two times the contractor drained my pool he replaced broken concrete blocks under the support struts. The weight of the water had cracked them and he said when they cracked it caused the uprights to lift and take the wall out of the track with them. The second time he replaced the concrete blocks with thicker block, they didn't crack, but the wall still lifted out of the bottom track.

I have no idea what should be done or if this even matters. The pool is not leaking, but something tells me that this is bad. Can you give me any guidance?



Hi John. You are right, this is a bad thing. The pool wall should not be pulling out of the bottom track.

A leveling issue is probably the cause. Every end rail connector, every brace, front and back, and all the track in between the connectors, it all needs to be perfectly level. The next time there is water in the pool measure down from the top rail to the water level all around the pool. These measurements should all be the same. Just a half inch difference form one post the next could cause the wall to come out of the track.

Another common mistake on oval pools is not making the ends round. Looking down the sides of the pool the transitions going in the round ends should all be the same. That means all four corners of the pool need to have the same angles on the top rails and the same arc on the bottom rails. Oval pool ends not set correctly could cause the wall to do funny things.

When I build an oval pool I completely assemble the pool without the liner. With the pool built and still dry I can check the ends for roundness and uniformity at the corners. I can also double check the level again making sure there are no posts sticking up higher than the others. If the pool looks perfect dry, it should look the same when the liner gets installed.