Above Ground Pool Wall Damage

by staci
(dayton texas)

Can I fix the buckle on the above ground pool side walls? Can I install a new liner after wards and fill it up again?

Hi Staci

The best way to answer that question is to tell a little story. This story has been repeated on many occasions over the years, not just once.

An above ground pool gets installed in the ground and the dirt gets backfilled around the pool. Everything is fine for several years until a leak in the liner caused the water level to drop. Being in the winter months, the pool gets forgot about, and is allowed to drain down to a foot or so of water.

The first spring thunderstorm saturates the ground around the pool with water and an entire side of an oval pool caves in. The wall is completely mangled, at least the part that can be seen peaking out from all the dirt that is covering the rest of it. The retaining rods have popped off the top of the wall and poked holes in the liner, damaging it further.

I get the call to give a repair estimate. Can it be fixed? Yes it can, so we order a liner from InTheSwim, knowing we will be ready for it in a couple of days and the liner will be there.

We begin by shoveling the dirt out of the pool, enough to allow us to stand the wall up and finish pulling it out of the bottom track. Next the entire pool gets removed from the hole and

a lot more dirt taken out. The dirt around the entire pool gets dug out to about a foot beyond the foot plates. That gives us room to do a proper job of re-installing the pool. The side braces are then dug out, more dirt removed, and the braces are set back in place and re-leveled. The end rails are laid out and leveled and a new batch of sand hauled in. Now it is time for that mangled up piece of metal we hauled out of the pool the day before.

We move the wall to a slab of concrete and unroll it. We begin this long flattening process by walking on the wall and getting it to lay as flat as possible. I then go over the entire side wall with a small 2x4 and hammer pounding out all of the creases. When I am done with this wall it will roll back up into a nice tight roll, just like it came from the factory. Now it can be re-installed in the pool.

Very seldom do the creases tear through the wall in the flattening process. When this does happen, flat aluminum stock is taped over the rip, on the inside of the wall. This last inspection and repair takes place just before the liner is installed.

The answer to your question is yes, you should not have a problem repairing your above ground pool side wall and installing a new liner.

It is, however, very important to correct whatever the problem was that created this situation. Otherwise you will be wasting your time and money.