Hard Winter Caused Pool Damage

by Dianne
( NY)

The wall on my 27' round pool has damage from this years hard NY winter. Part of the wall under the deck has bulged out away from the pool. It appears that the bottom of the wall is bent downward, and the top of the wall where the liner is attached is pulled out of the track.

There does not appear to be a tear in the liner, though there must be a slow leak as I lost water over the winter. How do I fix this? Drain more water out of the pool? Remove the top rail, and try to put the wall back into the track?

Will I need to straighten the bottom part of the wall that is slightly bent, or once I get the wall back into the top track will this hold it in place? We are still having cold weather here, should I wait for warmer temps before trying to fix this?

Thank You, Dianne

Hi Dianne.

First off, I would wait for warmer weather before I did anything. The vinyl will be warmed up and more pliable.

The repairs for the top damage you describe would, in most cases, require the top rail, or maybe a few, to be removed. The retaining rods and coping can be pulled off and the wall straightened back into shape. It's helpful to use cloths pins to hold the liner in place while you reinstall the coping.

The bottom damage might go back into shape by itself as the ground thaws, at least you can hope so. If not, minor kinks will probably not hurt anything, and they can always be straightened out the next time a liner change is needed.

I would leave the water a little low for a while, until the top repair is done, and then fill the pool up. That is unless you notice a wet spot around the outside of the pool that leads you to a hole in the vinyl that needs repaired. If you think you know where the hole is you might want to take a little more water out of the pool and repair the liner. Be sure to not drain the liner all the way or it will shrink.

Once the pool is full again you can check your water level daily and see if you really have a leak or not. If you are not sure use the bucket method and check for evaporation. Fill a bucket with water and use a marker to put a line at the water level, do the same with the water level in the pool. They should both evaporate at the same rate.

If the liner loses more water than the bucket after a week or so, it is probably leaking. This page should help in finding a leak in a vinyl liner.

Holes in Vinyl Pool