Is it safe to install a new liner in an above-ground pool if there are slight dents and bends in the steel side walls and can it puncture the liner or cause pool walls to split?

Answer 1

== Most older inground pools are made to not buckle out from the water pressing against the walls-as opposed to buckling in. We had severe buckling on several panels over the years and came up with a simple way to repair AFTER DRAINING POOL ABOUT 4 FEET DOWN:

1. break up concrete above buckled panel (Home Depot electric jackhamer $60 for 4 hours-easy to use)

2. Dig down apprx 3' to the concrete sill (its surrounding the entire inground pool) Clean out enough width so you can stand in hole and work.


3. find the triangle looking brace that holds the wall from buckling out-you'll notice the metal panel is not bolted to it and is probable 2 inches or more buckled away from it. Clear all dirt 3 feet to left and right of metal triangle(you may need to break more concrete) all the way down to concrete sill.

4. remove white plastic cap that covers your vinyl liner in area above buckle and pull or work out the liner from the groove it sits in in THAT AREA ONLY. You can stretch out the liner away from the wall with a plastic whiffle ball bat or someone can hold it out for you.

5. drill 3 holes (top middle bottom) in triangle brace and all the way through the metal panel pool wall into the pool-(have someone hold out liner so it doesn't get torn and also hold hand under where drill will come through to catch metal shavings)

6. Buy a 2' long by 1/8" thick aluminum yardstick looking thing (Home depot-$5 near all the metal rods and bracings isle)

7. While holding that aluminim bar in pool-under the liner of course- cover the 3 holes and mark it with a pencil pushed from the already drilled holes on the outside. Pick up the bar and drill matching 3 holes.

8. hold aluminum bar in place and push each of 3 1/2"x8" round head galvanized lag bolts (threaded from top to bottom-some home depots only sell bolts threaded at very end) You may have to make the holes in aluminum bar wider to accomodate the squared area near rounded heads of bolts so it sits in better)

9. Push bolts through till they enter through steel triangle support-use galvanized 1/2" washer and nut and tighten each till pool wall touches the steel triangle support.

10. Cover all with Duct Tape, and then put liner back in groove, cover with the white plastic cap-fill in hole-pour new concrete-DONE!!!!-I've done this in several areas of our 30+ year old inground pool and it works GREAT!!! housedad1967@hotmail.com for questionsAnswer Dents in pool walls == We have the same issues with our above ground pool. The pool is brand new, but while constructing the 52" high walls of our 33' round pool, the wind caught one area, and put a pretty good crease (or bend) near the bottom of the steel wall. We called several pool dealers in the area, and their general consensus was that when the pool is filled, the weight of the water is distributed evenly throughout all of the walls, and therefore, no extra strain is put on that particular spot, and other slight dents that happened during the construction of the walls. Each assured us that it would still be quite safe to insert liner and fill with water. I would also like to hear from others who have had dents, bends and/or creases in their metal pool wall, and have enjoyed their pool with great success and integrity of the pool walls. My pool had been abandoned for years by the previous owner of my house, and I did nothing with it for a couple of years. The pool had lost all water and the liner had disintegrated. I had a big crease in one area of the wall and several areas where the backfill had apparently pushed the lower part of the wall in. I carefully removed the backfill and pushed out the dents and bends from the inside of the pool. The majority of them had to be persuaded with forceful blows from the bottom of my foot. I straightened the large crease the best I could using a similar technique. After I replaced the sand, installed new liner, and refilled with water I moved the backfill material back into place. I have had no problems since. This will be the fourth season since making the repair. After thinking about it, I believe that the wall is not supporting much vertical weight which would be what would pull the wall down. Instead it is containing the outward force of the water, which tends to stretch the circumference of the wall. The dents and creases that I had worked on are not detectable from the interior of the pool. If you did not know where they had been you could not see them from the outside either. I guess time will tell the rest of the story.