Lomart Pressure Plates

by Helen
(Mississippi)

I bought a used 18' x 36' Lomart pool. The pressure plates were damaged. What can I use to make pressure plates out of?

One pool place said to use plywood and do you put concrete under the pressure plates?

The pressure plates are expensive. How big are the pressure plates and will 2 sheets of 26 gauge metal roofing put together work? Help please.

Hi Helen Pressure plates come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, but they all do the same job. These pages all show pressure plates.

Pool Deck and Awning

Oval Installation

Oval Pool Installation

Atlantic Above Ground Pool

I would not use plywood, or wood of any type. It will rot leaving you with nothing over your channels.

The channels do not need concrete under them, but they do need to be level.

The best material would be the roofing material. You need to go down the length of the side extending past the end channels by a couple of feet.

You see some of these pressure plates are shorter than others. I would go down the whole side simply because that's what Lomart does. Each brace has a plate that is about 4' long. They overlap and screw together making a continual piece down the side.

These are very important pieces that have to be used, but paying top dollar to Lomart is not necessary.

Oval Pool Hold Down Plates

by Todd
(Illinois)

We just had a pool installed and the installers said that we did not have to use the hold down plates because they run a chance of damaging the pools liner so they left them out all together. Everything else went smooth during the set up. We just shut down the hoses last night and realized that the pool sides had lifted and the straps are now showing under the liner.

We purchased a heavy mat to lay on the ground over the straps before the liner went in. My question is... Do you think that the walls run a chance of failing now and do the straps have a chance of coming through the protector for the liner?

Thanks again.

Hi Todd. I have never heard anything so stupid in my life. Sure, if the plates are not well covered with sand you run a risk of damaging the liner. But if you leave them out you run a much larger risk of a very fast pool failure.

In fact, I would get the water out of that pool ASAP and get the pool installed correctly.

Your hold down plates, otherwise known as pressure plates, are some of the most important components of an oval above ground pool. They take the weight of the water to hold down the inside of the buttress channels. Without the pressure plates the water pushes against the side posts and they start to lean out because there is nothing inside the pool holding the channel in place.

This is so dangerous, I do hope no permanent damage has been done.

I hope they did not try to talk you out of using concrete blocks under the buttress channels, maybe saying they weren't necessary. The blocks are just as important as the hold down plates.

Bottom Structure Felt Through Liner

Just installed a Doughboy oval 12x24 pool. The bottom metal connector rails can be felt through the liner. If I fill my pool up with water will the pressure of the water rip my liner? Or is it normal to feel the metal connector and bolts?

Hi. No, it is not normal to feel the under structure of an oval above ground pool through the liner. Filling this pool will certainly cause liner damage.

The pressure plates, bottom rails and straps should all be covered with a layer of sand or other liner base before the liner is installed. All of these things have sharp edges that could cause liner damage.

If the problem is anything like this photo, yes, drain ASAP. This should not be happening in a properly installed pool. The ground is collapsing around the pool straps and pressure plates and will cut through the liner in a very short time.

This page might help also.

Above Ground Pool Liner Installation