Repair Damaged Pool Wall

by Dave
(Illinois)

Two winters ago the metal walls on my above ground pool split at the point where the ends are bolted together. It appears that corrosion may have weakened the holes punched in the metal.

Would it make more sense to replace the entire 30' diameter wall or repair the damaged section? Repairing the wall would entail drilling many holes very accurately to ensure that they would all match. Thanks

Hi Dave

I would only replace the wall if I could find a good used one. New ones are so expensive.

There is nothing wrong with doing a little wall repair. If there is enough meat left on your existing wall to simply add more holes, then that should work. You could also get a three or four foot section of wall and splice over the weak area. This would actually give you three rows of nuts and bolts. You would have the original set and then one at each end of the splice. There is no way that set up would break.

They make stainless steel skimmer panels that would be ideal for this. It's just a few feet of pool wall with nut and bolt holes predrilled at each end. One of these would be much cheaper than a whole new wall. If you did not need the openings for skimmer and return simply tape some flat metal to the inside of the wall to cover them up.

Side Wall Tearing

by Mat

I was just wondering if it may be possible to repair an above ground pool side wall that buckled and when straightened it split the side wall about 3cm long.

Should the whole wall be replaced or being a welder by trade can I weld a patch over it?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Mat

Hi Mat

Tears and holes in the sidewalls can usually be repaired. I am not at all sure about the welding since I am not a welder. I would think the wall would be too thin to weld. I have used nuts and bolts in the past and know they hold just fine, so that would be my choice. I have seen rivets used also, but in a situation where I did not feel the usual metal and duck tape patch was strong enough, I would use nuts and bolts.

Esther Williams all Aluminum Pool

by Roger
(Milwaukee, WI)

Just a comment. I installed my 27ft. Esther Williams all aluminum pool, fan deck and walk deck with fencing 43 years ago in 1976. The wall rotted on bottom in 2001 from crushed rock lime easing the aluminum. MY MISTAKE. Cut the rotted bottom off and pop riveted a bottom from neighbors discarded pool to it then replaced the liner. All the aluminum in still in great shape. The liner split on the bottom recently while I was preparing to winterize it, so we decided it was time to let it go. The kids and grand kids all grew up with it and are now moving away. Only grandma and me still used it as a 90 degree hot tub.

Pool Has Bulging Wall

by Debbie G.
(Fredericktown,Ohio)

I started getting rusty cracks on the outside wall of my pool and now the pool wall is bulging and looks like it is ready to explode. I put duct tape over the rusty spots and then placed black flex tape like advertised on tv and now the wall is bulging. I am just hoping it will make it through the summer with no roughhousing involved.

Can this be fixed by a pool professional? We paid to have it professionally installed and to get the liner replaced. What has happened?

Hi Debbie There is no way you can do a wall repair from the outside of the wall. I would not let kids in the pool and I would drain ASAP. You mentioned rust, that means the wall could explode at any time. It's time to replace it.