We have a 23.5'x13.5' AG pool! Now how to fit top rails?

[zephans]

I'm nearly finished constructing our 12'x24'x54" AG BF pool. Water is in and kids love it. I am putting in the top rails but something isn't working well.

PROBLEM: The top rails are too long around the corners! I have about 8" too much rail even after squishing slack out of the other curved rail sections.


OPTION A: Use drill to extend adjustable slots in each rail until I can get them to fit with columns level.

OPTION B: Cut and re-drill the "center" round top rail section. (Only one top rail rework, but probably prevents several columns from being level.)

<Insert options I haven't thought of here >

OPTION F: Tear down and make pool 12'.
(Option F is a huge task (~2 days that I don't have) that I won't do unless 3 trusted people here all agree leaving as-is will be a catastrophic mistake.)


WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?
My fault. I squared the pool carefully making sure each tower was 42" from each other and corner-to-corner measurements matched exactly. I noticed that corner measurements were a bit bigger than instructions said (169.5 instead of 167), but what's 2.5" as long as pool is squared, right? I think I checked 12" width toward beginning of tower placement but I don't think I re-checked at end of construction. (Note I measured 13.5" from top of side towers. They could be leaning out slightly in which case I have no idea why the metal wall was 6" short. Frankly I had one bottom strap buckling slightly because I didn't stretch the towers farther apart. I have no idea why bottom straps could allow 1.5" extra width.)

When we installed the metal wall we were 6" short! I decided to shorten each round by pushing several of the bottom rails past their stop "bump". I tried my best to evenly distribute these so I don't think roundness or pressures will be a problem. Only side-effect I'm left with is the curved columns are a bit closer to each other. That doesn't matter until you go to install the top rail.


PS: To be honest I though this might happen after I cheated some length (evenly) out of the bottom rails in each round area to make the pool wall connect. What I should have done was stop when wall came up 6" short and re-measured EVERYTHING. However with sand piled in the middle and family coming soon and 4th of July swimming goal comming quickly I decided pulling 6 inches from the rounds was the easiest solution. I just hope it is acceptable.

PPS: Turns out I'm able to rework the metal top rails purely by accident. The "Diamond Star" pool I ordered from http://www.sunenterprises.com/ specifically shows 11" resin top rail (and was part of the reason I bought it). However they shipped metal rails. I'm not happy with bait-and-switch, but it gives me options to solve this problem that I wouldn't have with resin.

I'm going with Plan A in next couple days (after I do my initial backwash). Post if you have any thoughts.

[hoffmans]

Hey congrats so far!
I have a quesion for you - you said:

PPS: Turns out I'm able to rework the metal top rails purely by accident. The "Diamond Star" pool I ordered from http://www.sunenterprises.com/ specifically shows 11" resin top rail (and was part of the reason I bought it). However they shipped metal rails. I'm not happy with bait-and-switch, but it gives me options to solve this problem that I wouldn't have with resin.

I'm going with Plan A in next couple days (after I do my initial backwash). Post if you have any thoughts.

Don't you mean 11" resin top SEATS? not rails?
I would assume that the top rails would be metal & the 11" top seats would be the resin.
If they sent you metal top SEATS I would call, I am sure they would take care of you ASAP.

Way to go on the DIY! We did it too & also from SunEnterprises.
Looking back- we see our mistakes. If we knew THEN what we know NOW, it would have turned out better. But we are happily swimming anyways.

Good Luck!
~Hoffmans

[matt4x4]

Congratulations!
It sounds like you did well, I believe from your description that your pool will stay upright, and it sounds like you have your top seat installation figured out - at least you can go shorter - imagine having to make the top rails longer....hmmmm....

AND - according to their webpage, both the pool you ordered and the one below it should come with resin rails. wondering what pool you actually got....which is making me wonder whether or not it doesn't fit because of receiving the wrong pool parts

[hoffmans]

Ours came with metal top & bottom rails/plates and resin top seats. We bought the Ultima.
You could call them & inform them of the mistake & how you remedied it. But if you brought it to their attention it could prevent it from happening to someone else.

Hope all is well,
~Hoffmans

[zephans]

I'll definitely talk with them. I have one place in my notes that mentions metal top rail so I need to track down when and where I made that remark. The product page clearly states resin.

UPDATE: I think I found a different root cause for my metal rails not lining up properly. Turns out two of my towers (the two closest to my yard) are slightly tilted at the top. The bottoms are 42" center-to-center but the tops are about 1.5" off plumb. This explains why two of my rail tops are 1.5" too short to connect these two towers AND my rail tops get scrunched (too long) only on this one side of the pool.

This would be trivial to fix if the water wasn't filled up yet. However the pressure from the water has the wall pushing so hard that I can't budge the column enough to connect the top rail between center tower and this outer tower.

OPTION A: Temporary buttress: Lay one 2x4 vertical against side I want to nudge tower toward, then use another 2x4 angled against nearby dirt bank to make a very temporary makeshift buttress. If I can push the wall far enough to releive the tower I can nudge the tower then carefully release pressure from temporary buttress.

I tried this once but the bank gave way with very little budge in the wall. Man, that's a lot of pressure! I'll put on my engineer cap and think of a way to shore up the buttress base then try again. I am worried about making deep scratches if I push the tower top while side still has some weight against it.

OPTION B: drain water half way, adjust towers, refill. I'd really REALLY hate to dump 4,600 gallons of perfectly good water. I have no idea what our water bill will be for this month (since we just filled the pool) but I don't want to increase it by another 4,600. HEY, I have my old 12' easy-set "doughnut pool" I could set up just for this job. I might have a place level enough, then use the pump + pool vacuum to pull out the water and pull it back in when I'm done. Liner has only been filled for about 3 weeks so it shouldn't shrink any (and I won't drain down too far). Still this sounds like a ton of work for my silly 1.5" off-plumb mistake .

Please post if you have any better ideas (or confirmation/cautions for either option above). I'm working more on plan B as soon as I find a spare 30min and the kids and neighbors aren't all playing in the fully operational (if not fully finished) pool.

[matt4x4]

Zephans,
Option B sounds like your best bet, once you have the water transfered to the other pool, using method A to move the column plumb will be easy.
While you do this, the swimming will not be interrupted since everyone can use your temporary pool that you set up just for them
Use option A to perform the fix if needed - although I believe at this time you should just be able to move the column by hand.
Refill and toss the swimmers from the little pool into the big pool - they won't even notice!

[NWMNMom]

I agree with Matt. A small amount off plumb can lead to bigger problems down the road when everything settles and shifts, especially after the first winter/spring cycle. You may not get a freeze, but I'm betting you get a rainy/wet season where your ground conditions are much different than right now. Better safe than sorry.

[zephans]

OK, I got some 1 1/4" fuel hose to hook up to my waste port and I'll do the deed tomorrow.

Yes, we do get a substantial rainy season around Seattle . Funny enough, we're even having record rainfall over the last couple days. (Usually July is relatively dry and in 70's to 80's in Western Washington.)


PS: Neighbor kids now love coming over. However they scream each time they get in our unheated ~65-70 degree pool . For now I tell them to swim two laps with crawl stroke (repeat as necessary). Once I solve this top rail connection issue (and underlying support tower plumb issue) I'll start hooking up the 4'x20' solar panel currently sitting in my garage unopened. My wife and I would also like to start using the pool (without wetsuits ).

[NWMNMom]

Well we are all anxious to see some pictures that include the family INSIDE the pool enjoying all the benefits of your hard work!!!

[zephans]

UPDATE: Mission accomplished!
We drained ~2,300 gallons to our 12' doughnut pool, then wasted maybe 300 gallons to the yard. I was then able to push the side wall enough to adjust the side towers. That got the side sections of top seat rails to connect. We then pumped all 2,300 gallons back into the pool and refilled the little we had to waste. Went like a charm!

Second problem was curved rails. Here we needed to actually compress them more than adjustable slots allowed. Only one end of the pool needed this treatment. The other end barely squeaked in with existing adjustable slots... I guess I took out about 2" more curve from one end than the other. SOLUTION: I drilled a hole just past the slot on one side of each top seat rail along this end. The collective effect was just enough to work out. Yeah!!! Too bad it took me 3+ weeks to get to it.

Rail caps are installed and the pool looks 100% finished! (Just don't look for the final #10 screws to attach bottom of each rail cap... or the landscaping for that matter. I'm still working on these and other cosmetic touches )

Our kids and all the neighborhood kids are happy as clams (and a bit clammy after swimming in 65-70 degree F water).

Alright nwmnmom, you asked nicely for pictures and were very patient... so here you go...






Next mission: Get hardware to install solar panels so kids can stop playing "Penguins and icebergs"... but that will be a separate thread .