Aluminum walled AGP - Dozens of pinholes

[fast_ed]

Hello,

This is my first post to this forum, and unfortunately may lead to the demise of my 24' above ground pool.

Short story, I was planning to replace the liner on the AGP we "inherited" from the previous owners of our house. We have lived here and operated the pool for 6 years and the liner was clearly at the end of its life. When the old liner was removed, however, I noticed that the return and skimmer holes are "missing a lot of metal." I also noticed that there are dozens of little holes in the aluminum walls around the pool, which appear to be caused by corrosion.

Is it time to retire the old girl?

I have read that it is possible to run 75' of aluminum flashing around the base of the pool wall, stuck into the "lower rail" and rivet in place. Then you would duct tape the edges for protection. I have a rivet gun and am perfectly capable of installing something like this. But are the walls just going to get worse at this point? Maybe all those other corrosion specks are places where new holes will appear?

I have looked into a 15' intex inflatable pool as a possible cheap replacement. Heck, the ground is already pretty level, and the wiring is in place.

[PoolDoc]

1. Sorry I'm just now getting around to your post.

2. If you've got "dozens of pinholes", you need to see if you can determine why. Three possibilities that occur to me are galvanic corrosion, or stray current induced corrosion, or using a salt system (SWCG) with an aluminum pool. If there's an ongoing cause for the corrosion, repairs might be futile.

3. Don't get an inflatable pool; they seem to have a short life expectancy, apparently due to birds, squirrels and cats, all of which seem to stick sharp pokey bits of their bodies into the 'doughnut'. Instead, get an Intex Ultra, which lasts up to 5 - 6 years for many people:

18' x 52" Intex Ultra

4. However, IF you can find, and correct, the cause of the corrosion, and IF the structural integrity of the pool is not compromised, THEN it probably can be repaired. If you do so use HIGH QUALITY duct tape to cover seams, rivets and joints, not the cheap junk which will disintegrate under the liner.

3M 2245-A 2-Inch x 45-Yard Heavy-Duty Duct Tape