Walls Buckle When Filling Pool

by Larry Boucher
(Sheridan, IN )

Can someone please help, we have a 27 foot round above ground pool. When filling with water, at about 1/4 to 1/2 full, the walls start to buckle so we stop and drain. 4 times now and it is a new liner.

We have added tons of new sand. The pool was put in 2 years ago and was fine. We had to drain due to the fact that the installers cut the old liner wrong. Now we have the new liner in place and it looks great till we start to fill it with water. We have been at this for 3 weeks now. Not sure what to do, dose anyone know? It has been in the 70s when trying to fill, is that to cold?

Thanks, Larry

Hi Larry. It is very possible the temperature and available direct sunlight are your problems. Liners do need warm days and direct sun to stretch into place. My suggestions would be to make use of warm sunlight and to possibly try stretching the liner into place using the pool framework.

You did not say whether you are using a beaded liner or an overlap. An overlap is the easiest in colder whether because you can use the pool frame to help get the most stretch out to the liner. By looking at the photos on these pages you can get a good idea how that is done.

Overlap Liners

Expandable Liner Installation

A tight fitting beaded liner will sometimes require the warmth of the direct sun to stretch in properly. This might mean only filling it a few hours a day, those times when the sun is shining directly on the areas that need to stretch. Beaded liners might also need the bottom portion worked over in the direct sun. With just an inch of water in the pool and some warm sunshine the liner can be pushed to the edges in all directions. This is done on your hands and knees, but after an hour or so, the extra liner you need for the sides can be obtained.