Dented Top Rail on Above Ground Pool

My friend decided to not listen and attempted to vault himself over the pool side. Of course he missed. In the process he dented the top of the pool (the part that runs along the top?) and caused one of the supports that run lengthwise to come out of its spot...is this fixable?

Tomorrow we were going to attempt to carefully hammer out the dents and replace the piece that went out of place, or does this endanger people and should I get professionals? The rest of the pool is fine, it's a 24' round above ground.

Thanks for the help!

Hi

A perfectly installed above ground pool can stand just fine with no uprights or top rails. So you just need to decide if yours is a perfectly installed above ground pool. Is it perfectly level? Is it perfectly round?

You may want to play it safe and drain a foot or so of water out of the pool. Just a foot of water takes a lot of pressure off the top of the pool. Removing top rails and uprights should be no problem at that point.

Your biggest concern will be making the final connection on the top rail. The pool will tend to spread a bit. You will need a couple of buddies pulling on the rail while you set the last screws. This is normally not a big deal, but it does require some help.

Kids Jumping Damage

by Julie
(Midwest, USA)

I have been made aware from the bulges under the top seats after having this pool for 15 years. It seems some kids have been jumping from the top seats!

Now we have these inverted dents facing the pool and I don't know if this can be fixed or not? I cannot imagine what may happen with the winter cover on with the wind whipping around.. if it will cause a major problem with the pool!

There are 2 really bad places and 1 that is like just a bump....all above the water line and between the uprights/braces or at least I hope so, I was going around cleaning the liner. That is how I found out, although, now that I know it's there, I can see it really obviously!

The 2 really bad ones are almost across from each other! Is this fixable? I sure hope so....it just makes me sick! For so many years with no problems and now this! I have informed all the parents involved that this is not to ever happen again~~I can try to get a picture if that would help~ I sure hope you can help!

Hi Julie

Hopefully we can get some photos up that will show the damage a little better. Damage of this type, to the top rails or to the side wall can usually be fixed without much expense or work.

Bent Top Rail

by Ashley
(New Castle Pa)

I have an 18x33 oval pool. Its very old..about 22 years. The rail on the right side of the pool has bent and needs to be repositioned. Can this be done with 2 people? Can it be done with the pool full of water? We tried to take a few screws out and wiggle the rail back into place and now we can't get the screws to fit into the holes they were previously in. Please help!!

Hi Ashley

You will need to lower the water level until you are able to push the rail back into place. Don't take out any more water than you have to, usually half full will do it.

I would reinforce the rail screws with a couple of self tapping screws, this always helps to hold it in place.

I would also check and see if you can find the reason the rail bent. Fixing the cause of the problem is important also. If something is happening in your brace system be sure that gets fixed.

Above Ground Pool Top Ledge

by Laura
(SC)

How do you measure the top ledge to see if it s 6, 7 or 8 inch please? THANKS so much.

Hi Laura

That used to be fairly easy. They were all kind of square shaped and you took the tape measure across the top edge. Another thing that made it easy is there were fewer sizes. Doughboy had the 4", the 6" and a 12". They were very easy to tell apart even without a tape measure. If you had to measure, and you knew there were only three choices, you would choose the one closest to your actual measurement.

That's pretty much how I would go about it now. Determine the different options from the manufacturer you are dealing with. You would then measure across the top of the rail. This may mean eyeballing down to line up with the edge of a curve. In other words, take the widest possible measurement. It should closely match up with one of your options.

Another way to go about it would be to take a close look at the design of the different options by your manufacturer. They usually vary from model to model. So a "Starside" 6" top seat pool will have a different look and shape than the "Lakeside" 7" top seat model.

Hopefully you know who made the pool and you can research their products. You could also take a top ledge off and take it around to a few different pool stores and see if they could help you identify it.

Doughboy Top Rail

by Ron
(Des Moines, Iowa)

We have a Doughboy. Shortly after it was installed there was a loose top rail. It had pulled loose from screws holding it. That was 2 years ago. Now there are 2 more. They are each about 1/2" to 3/4" from being able to screw them back down to supports. What is going on?

Hi Ron

It sounds like you may have the resin top rails, they do that sometimes. The usual cause is slight leveling issues or on an oval pool with the sides not being straight.

The fix is to drain some water out of the pool, maybe half way, so that you are able to push the rails back into position. You can then use multiple self tapping screws to secure the rails. If there is not enough good rail left to attach a few screws on each one you may need new top rails.