Dented Above Ground Pool

by Mike
(East haven c.t. usa)

I have an above ground pool that has a whole section dented pretty bad---any ideas on how to fix it?

Any help would be appreciated--
thanks

Hi Mike

It looks a lot worse than it really is. A 2x4 on one side and a hammer on the other and it can easily be knocked back into shape. It looks like the wall caved in because the pool was drained long enough for the liner to shrink, and then refilled. That may not be the case, but this type of damage is usually caused by refilling a pool with a shrunk liner.

You would need to remove the skimmer and the return, then take off a few top rails and pull the liner back. You should be able to push the wall back into decent shape without any force but the big creases will probably need a hammer and a piece of wood.

The pool should be empty before you start this and the chances of the skimmer and return lining back up with the holes in the liner are slim. I am assuming you plan to replace the liner. If not, you can try this with just leaving a foot of water in the pool and the openings might line back up again.

The wall can easily be fixed but the liner will probably need replacing. I hope that is good news for you. Or at least not all bad.

Pool Wall has Dents

Hello, We have a 24 foot by 52 inch above ground pool that was given to us. We replaced the liner and added Pool Cove, Liner Foam Insulator and a Gorilla Liner Pad.

Our Pool Wall has some dents in it and we are concerned about it's ability to hold up when the pool is full. We got these dents from unrolling the Pool Wall etc. The Pool is about 5 years old. What do you suggest? Thanks

Hi

Dents in the walls of above ground pool can be easily removed by using a rubber mallet and a piece of lumber. Once they are pounded out the wall should be just fine.

Here is an example of just what a wall can go through and still be usable. On many occasions over the years we have gone out on jobs where the pool was set in the ground, for some reason the water drained out, and the pool walls completely collapsed. So here is a pool where the wall is laying down and covered with dirt. They don't just lay down flat, they get pretty mangled up in the process.

To fix the pool we first start digging. We dig the dirt off the pool and then dig the dirt back away from the pool so we have room to re-set it. Then all the pool parts come out of the hole. It gets re-leveled and the pool gets re-installed. But we now have a wall the is so mangled it won't even roll up, let alone go back into a bottom track the way it should.

The wall gets drug out of the hole and laid out on concrete. We then start working it flat again, by walking on it and pounding on it. Little by little we get the wall flat enough to roll back up the way it should. It then gets put back into the hole and installed back into the bottom track.

I've never had a problem with a wall that has been through a major war, put back into shape, and re-used.

Fix Dented Pool Wall

by Mike
(new york)

My son hit my brand new above ground steel pool wall with a golf ball and obviously dented it. How concerned should I be about this? Will it rust in the future? Is this now a "weak spot"? Is there anything I could/should do about it? I tried reversing the dent by gently pushing it from the inside with my finger but I was afraid of puncturing the liner.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated. Please email your answer to my question(s) so that I don't miss it.

thank you, Mike

Hi Mike

I think your new above ground pool will be just fine. I hope your son did not get in too much trouble. You had me remembering a few broken windows I caused between my baseball and bb gun. Kids will be kids.

It is very doubtful, nearly impossible, that the wall has been weakened any. Steel above ground pool walls have many different layers of paint and rust preventative kind of stuff. My guess is it would be hard to penetrate these layers enough to cause any kind of a rust issue. If there appears to be any kind of damage to the paint you could use some clear enamel paint and coat the area.

I would not try to push the bump out with the liner in the pool. It is probably going to take a little pounding, like with a rubber mallet on one side and a 2 x 4 on the other, and that could damage the liner. It is best left alone until the first liner change. At that time it could be pounded out flat again.

If you wanted to fix it before that time you could drain the water down to below the hole and pull the liner back. Then you could work in behind the liner and repair the dent in the sidewall. Don't take out any more water than necessary and the liner should reset very easily.

Pool Wall Collapsed

by Liza
(Illinois)

The wall of my above ground pool has collapsed due to the cold, windy and rainy weather in Chicago. My pool in only 3 feet above the ground and has a deck surrounding it. This is my 3rd year with the pool and also the 3rd year where the pool is completely empty when the cover is removed.

Is this something that just requires the wall to be pushed back, the liner to be re-attached, completely cleaned then filled.

Hi Liza

You will need to start by cleaning all the dirt out from behind the pool. If the wall is still in the bottom track you can lift it up and push it back into shape. If it is out of the bottom track the track will need to be cleaned and the wall put back in.

Once the wall is back in shape you can then work on the liner. Liners shrink when empty so it's hard to say how much the liner shrank and whether or not it will stretch back out. You have the best chance of re-using the liner if all your work is done in the warm, direct, sunlight. Liners are much more pliable when warm, so your chances of success are best.

If you go to reset the liner and there is not enough to pull over the top of the wall it has shrunk and should be replaced.

From you picture it all looks fixable, at least I have repaired worse. You can avoid this in the future by making sure you pool stays full all winter. Check it often and refill as necessary.

Pool Wall Buckled

by Nathan
(Australia)

Hi, I emptied the pool to fix a hole and when it was mostly empty we had a lot of rain that caused an earth wall next to the pool to collapse and push in the side of the pool. I have dug out the earth however can not get the wall to connect back into the bottom steel runner. The wall is bowed and pushed down a little as well in one section.

Do you have any advice to help fix it?

Hi Nathan

I have dealt with this problem many times. The process is not easy but it will save your pool. I start by digging all the dirt out from around the pool back at least a foot, two feet is better. I then remove the sidewall and lay it out on a concrete slab. All the dents get get pounded out and the wall rolled up again.

Inside the pool the uprights need removed and the bottom rail cleaned out and re-leveled. You are then ready to re-install your pool. It's not easy but it is what needs to be done.