She Crashed In !!!!!!

[hoffmans]

So sad,
The pool went up on Firday. All went splendidly once we got some brute force to come help us. Here is that day in picutures if you haven't already seen the thread http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...5554#post45554

Then all Heck broke loose.
Here is what we have now.







DH braced her back up.





It really really seems like the liner is too small or short.
When we hung the liner and got the seams straight and all that jazz- there was still a half a foot to a foot between the liner and the foam cove and also between the liner and the wall.
The worst area was where we last hung the last part of the liner- it was foot away from the wall and the cove.
We thought it was maybe the wind between the liner and wall, we thought- well this is the way liners should be- they are meant to stretch into place under warm weather conditions.

So we started adding water. Thinking the water and the sun will strech that liner right into place.
NOT !!
By that night we were worried- we saw the liner pulling on the top rails, so we stopped the water & went to bed. We still weren't sure if it was a liner problem or a wind problem.

Saturday morning we turned the water back on. The water made it worse. It started pulling the top of the wall in. Turned off the water.
Then came the big winds and she crashed in.
Tom braced her back up and she held for the day and all night. It rained & stormed all night, there were tornadoes everywhere.

Today it is still pouring rain. The more rain water that goes in the more the walls are buckling in & the liner is pulling the top rails in and down.

At first the problem only seemed to be there on the south side where she crashed in ( also were the prevailing winds we blowing at the pool), But now all around the whole pool the walls are buckling.
If you look under the Top Seats you can see some of the Top Rails twisted inside the Top Plates.


There is not 2" of sand in the bottom b/c the foam cove and Happy Bottom didn't call for it.

We are currently siphoning out water to relieve the liner pull. But the rain is relentless. Tom just left to buy a pump from Lowes.

If there is a break in the rain I'll see if i can get pictures of the other walls sucking in.

Don't know what to do.

Tom wants a professional pool installer to come out here and make an assement of what is causing this- wind or liner.

I will call the internet sales people tomorrow and ask them what they think.
Soooo Sad.
~Hoffmans

[Watermom]

I don't have any words of wisdom for you. Just want you to know how badly I feel that you guys are having such a hard time getting this pool up. You will eventually get it. Just keep thinking about the enjoyment you will have when it is finally fixed, filled and you are floating around in it soaking up the sun. Keep your chin up! We are all rooting for you! And, hopefully somebody here can offer you some advise to help remedy the situation.

[hoffmans]

OK
Tom said it is not the top rails that are not pulling in. It is the walls that are being pulled down & out of the top rails & in in towards the water.
We only put 2-3 inches of water in from the hose.

Then We got 5" of rain in 24 hours.
Flood warnings everywhere.

The pump in there and we got some water out. One of the wall sections that was *sucking in* just popped back out and into it's proper position.
I am hoping that removing some of the water will relieve the pressure on the liner & walls.

We've got to figure out the reason for this problem.
Could it be that we didn't install the liner properly? But the seams were staight.
Could it be that the liner is too short?
Could the liner be too short b/c we followed the Happy Bottom instructions and did NOT put 2" of fill material on the bottom?
Could it be something else??????

Can't wait to hear what the sales lady says tomorrow....
So sad,
~Hoffmans

[hrsdennis]

Hi, I too am sorry you are having problems. The two inches of sand could make a difference but not that much. You will have a much better looking pool with a liner on the small side, such as yours, rather than a liner that is to big for your pool. That's the thing with beaded liners. You never know what you will get.

Your liner needs overhead direct sunlight. The liner has a lot of stretching to do. It will do it, it just needs a warm sunny day. You would not believe the difference the sun makes.

Be sure also that the bottom of the pool is smooth. Push all of the wrinkles to the outside, this will create more liner at the walls.

The post I made today about my job could never have been done without direct overhead warm sun. That liner was a full 25 mil and took every bit of strentgh my wife and I had to get it over the top rails. After 30 plus minutes of pulling, the liner had warmed up enough to fit the pool. Had I not had overhead sun I would never have attempted it. The difference between 80 degrees and 110 degrees is just amazing.

Hope it works out, Dennis

[matt4x4]

Ouch! You have no idea how bad I feel for your situation right now, my best advice at this point in the game is to empty it and wait for a full sun day, you can hold the framework in place by tying it back from under the top rails (used wire bent into hooks to overhang wall) to stakes in the ground - like a tent.
I thought I had a pic of mine in that state on my PC, but after looking - I don't.
Mine stayed that way for 2 weeks waiting for the right warmer sunny day to install the liner - finally, I'd had enough and installed it on one of those grey spring days where it was threatening to rain, and I end up fnding out that my J hook liner is actually oversized - when we had it hung all around, I had almost a foot of material left over - now since we had tugged it as we hooked it on, we ended up untugging it all around and it ended up seating perfectly.
Yours needs full sun, if you put it in with full sun - likely a morning job, then let it hang until noon or 2 pm before adding water, it should stretch plenty for it all to come together.
Your wall looks ok, no real big creases. from what I can tell, it'll all work out just fine.

[NWMNMom]

Yikes. I feel so bad for you! That is what was happening with ours and we stopped and the next day at about 11:30 began again when it was HOT and sunny - man, that liner stretched like ever. All is not lost, it will go and it will be good. Just waiting on the sun - I see in the forecast that it IS on its way - this afternoon or tomorrow it should be perfect for that liner. Fingers crossed for you.