One Side Doughboy Leaning Bad

by Richard
(Lake Villa, IL)

I have an 18' X 34' Doughboy where one side is leaning – in a sense starting to turn an oval pool round.

I have included a crude side view drawing. Best I can tell the side has moved 5” in the center of the long side.

At the bottom inside of the pool, a channel has been slowly developing over the 5 years of the pools life. The channel now looks like a 6” piece of sewer pipe cut in half and indented in the liner. It runs exactly parallel to the end of the support brackets about 2’ in from the side. It starts and stops adjacent to the long side that is leaning.

As best as I can tell the ground out the outside seems level and flat. I know stones and concrete were used at the uprights. The opposite side is set 2’ down in the ground and is true.

So – thoughts on what this could be and more importantly can this be corrected without disassembling the entire pool? I am fearful that the installer’s overzealous use of concrete will render many parts trash if I have to completely disassemble.

I would also prefer this to be a DYI as funds are low - at least up to a new liner install if needed.

Hi Richard One side of the pool is slowly sinking and will need to be fixed at some point. When,

exactly, is up to you. Since a proper repair will require a new liner you will need to decide when.

The side braces are bolted to a steel channel that extends into the pool a couple of feet. On top of this channel are pressure plates. The plates work with the blocks under the channel, on the outside of the pool, to keep the wall straight.

If the blocks sink, the channel on the inside of the pool raises. This causes the pressure plates to raise. As a result, a trench develops in front of the plates.

As long as the outside blocks are present the pressure plates should keep the pool from collapsing. That would not be my biggest concern. I would be concerned with the liner coming into contact with sharp metal, inside the trench.

If I saw any signs of liner to metal contact I would drain the pool immediately. A tear in the liner could drain the entire pool in a matter of minutes.

Once the pool is drained, and the liner removed, it is a simple matter of raising the blocks on the outside and adding sand to the inside.

If the liner were younger you could probably do this and reuse the liner. They shrink, and the older the liner the less stretch they have in them. The liner has to have some stretch left for the pool to fill back up. I would plan on a new liner when you decide to do repairs.