Pics of damage, need advice on wall damage

[Mom2Czars]

We finally got our pool installer to come by and inspect the damage we had this winter. They got right into the pool and sure enough, there are 3 failures on the seam. He also said the pool wall needs to be replaced. Having bought the pool at a discount place, I think we're in for a disappointing time getting any warranty satisfaction on this beast.

I apologize for the size of these pictures, but I didn't see a way to size them.

[NWMNMom]

Any tpye of warranty from the installer on their work? Was it for sure the liner that failed on a seam or was there something wrong with the cove that caused the liner to split at the crease of the cove? Did the wall buckle from the water leak/spill or from frost heave?

You have my sympathy - its a mess. I sure hope things turn out the best for you and you can get back to your backyard paradise very soon.

[Mom2Czars]

The heat seam on the liner let go in those spots, according to the installer. We've spoken with the liner manufacturer and he did tell us that if it was on a seam they would replace it free of charge, but now the installer is saying the wall is too buckled to save. I was really hoping the wall was going to be OK.

[NWMNMom]

Is that pic above the worst of the wall damage? If it is, I had worse the night before we filled and a storm came up blowing the walls over backwards and some parts forwards, leaving creases and folds. We were able to take 2x4s with blankets and the wall in between and pound the creases out. You can't even see where any of that was now. How are your bottom rails? Good yet? Is it just wall damage? with bends and folds?

Maybe Dennis can give his opinion, I'm betting he has encountered some damaged pools with walls that buckled like that.

[hrsdennis]

Far more than I care to think about. Many times I have seen pools that were set in the ground and left empty just long enough for the walls to cave in. We dig the wall out, lay it on the concrete and pound it flat again.

Severe rust is the only reason I would replace a wall. Anything else can be flattened out or repaired.

If you feel, even after making the wall flat again, that it could still be a little weak in that area, you could reinforce the inside of the pool with 12” flat aluminum or metal flashing. Just insert it into the bottom rail inside the wall and tape into place.

Based only on what I have seen in your photo I think the wall is fine.

Best of luck, Dennis

[matt4x4]

That wall is fine, however, it tells me the ground under it isn't - it needs to be PERFECTLY level - which it definitely isn't.
I would install a sand cove with a ring of vapor barrier taped to the wall and laid on the floor onto which to build the cove - it'll stop any attempt at wash out...

[NWMNMom]

I was wondering if it looked like it heaved under the bottom rail. There were some pics last year where someone had a wall that was heaving up like that and Dennis or someone had recommened scraping the area under the rail to level with an impliment (that pool was still full) and that pool wall had settled right back to straight after that - since this one is not full, getting it to level along there should not be hard. It may be just that one area?

[Mom2Czars]

That wall is fine, however, it tells me the ground under it isn't - it needs to be PERFECTLY level - which it definitely isn't.
I would install a sand cove with a ring of vapor barrier taped to the wall and laid on the floor onto which to build the cove - it'll stop any attempt at wash out...

That is the side where the seams let go and all the water rushed out, so I'm sure the ground underneath is pretty wrecked. The wall doesn't appear buckled like that elsewhere.

[matt4x4]

Just wondering if possibly, the liner was installed somewhat offset, adding downward pressure to the wall there (thus the crush buckle as well as the stress tear in the liner...). Do you remember if your wall/floor seam on the liner was relatively even all around, or was it further from the wall edge in certain places?
Just like the hoffman's pool, liner was off center, one side would not stretch to fill space behind liner, liner thus pulled wall down. In your case, it may well have filled the space behind it, meaning the liner had just enough stretch in it, but was stretched to it's maximum capacity, winter shifting may have pushed it beyond it's limits, thus it let go.

[CanuckPool]

Its sad to see all these AGP's with spring damage. It seems the key is to get that liner lined up properly as there is a small margin for error.
On an engineering standpoint, I find it interesting how the relationship between the water/liner/floor and walls all make it a stable structure, without one, it all falls apart.