My pool has been running for about a month now; everything's fine and I'm enjoying it. When I bought the house, I'd planned to remove the pool (it was really an eyesore, but it looks nice now that I've cleaned it up and pulled some trees out that were practically growing in it). Instead, I decided to try it since it was going to be a lot of work to remove (since it's 5' in the ground) and now I like it.

The pool is 16 x 32 and is in fairly good shape; however, it was installed in 1982, so it's 26 years old. It's got steel walls and the original liner, which is in very good shape. There are a couple of places along the liner walls where I can see roughness behind the liner. I'm assuming that the steel walls in those spots is rusting, pitting and puffing up. It looks like there may be some sharp edges back there that may someday put holes in the liner. Since I just bought the house, I have no idea how long this condition has existed, so I can't guage its progress. The pool guys said that when the liner goes someday, they can just install a new one for me. I assume that it will be a little more complicated than that.

The pool has a deck and fence built in. When the time comes, could I just buy some replacement panels for the ones that have rusted? Is there some sort of inner liner to coat the inside of the pool walls to protect the liner? Since the pool is partly in-ground, the steel walls are partly buried in the dirt. Is that OK, or should I do something different? I haven't had the installer out for a price or info yet -- any questions I should ask? Any special liner I should buy? Thanks.

Looks like this is the update :
http://www.wilkespools.com/pages/prod_genesis.php

my pool :

26 years is very old for a vinyl liner. If it is still intact after all that time I would say you are doing really well.

It doesn't sound like there is anything serious wrong. When the liner eventually needs to be replaced you might want to have the steel panels cleaned and painted, but wait till the liner is out and you can really see what is going on before worrying about it.

Jason gave good advice. I have a friend whose pool sounds very similar to what you experienced...the roughness was the inside of the walls rusting/corroding. One of the rusty edges pierced their liner over the winter - they ended up with a new pool this May. So you may have to do something there before you replace the liner. The fencing - it's unlikely you will find replacement parts on a pool that old, but there are so many products out there to re-finish them might be a simple as a can of rustoleum paint? 26 years - that's amazing.....

Looks very nice in the pic.

Not to scare you, but my Aunt's friend's neighbor had an older steel sided AG and there was rust on at least one of the panels. They didn't even know they had a rust problem until one day her kids were swimming in the pool and one of them pushed off the side. The pressure from the kid pushing off was enough to break through the rusty steel and rip the liner. The kid got sucked out(along with most of the water) and had cuts all over his body from going through the rusty hole.

Keep in mind that it was fully above ground and there were no signs of rust on the outside of the pool.

Adam

EEEK! That's pretty scary all right. And you still bought an AG pool?!

There was a little rust on the exterior of one panel. I painted them all with Rustoleum as they were pretty ugly anyhow. They seemed to be real solid when I worked on them, so hopefully they'll be OK.

On examination, I don't see anywhere that the liner will fail at this point unless the rust pierces it in the aforementioned spots. For what that's worth. My pool store owner said that he's seen some liners last 25-30 years with BAQ pools (which this was until this year when I converted it). He doesn't like BAQ --they sell a similar product but don't recommend it. Hopefully, it will be OK for a season or two.

Frustrated, what happened when your friend's pool died - lots of water in the back yard or just a slow leak?

Sue

Slow leak. They took the cover off in May and the water had dropped about 2 feet to the point where the hole was, they looked around and spotted the hole, which had begun to stretch, started out very small as they noticed no noticable water in the yard, and as the liner stretched and shrank, etc., the hole got bigger and eventually was the size of a dinner plate.

That story about the kid getting sucked out - how scary. But I can see that happening, ever see the video of the gal who leaned on the side of an easy set pool that wasn't level and it collapsed? She went sailing across the yard.....

I googled videos of collapsing pools and found a bunch of them, but not that one. This was the funniest I found: Never Invite a Fat Guy To a Pool Party - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaymOSV2 ... re=related
There's a lot of people removing pools by stabbing them -- weird. One guy flooded his shed and washed away his wife's garden. Brilliant.

Anyhow, the thought of a collapse while someone's in or around is quite scary. Thankfully, mine has only 2 or so feet above ground. I re-examined the side walls; they are not bowed and appear to be in good shape on the exterior. I will try to be mindful about it.

Very similar to the one I saw....Do you think the owners were upset?

Yeah, we still bought an AG pool, but ours is an Easyset, so even if it broke and someone got sucked out, I don't think they'd get cut up.

I have also watched many of those videos(Intex on Youtube). That's why it's very inportant to get them level, even more so with the newer ones(thinner material, more wall bulge). We have made some big waves in our pool. Take a Boogie Board and push it up and down and the whole walls of the pool go down when the wave goes to the middle and back up when the wave goes out. It's pretty cool! Also, only once has our pool had enough water over the side that it spurred a mass flood. I over filled it and it got to high on the ring and the pool half-emptied itself.

Adam

Check this out -- 30 year liner warrantee --

Heavy Duty Pool Liner
Kayak Pools warranties it for 30 years! So you know this winterized, beaded virgin vinyl liner is tough.

Each liner passes the most rigorous inspection in the industry
Fully 25 ml thick, with no reprocessed plastics added
Ultra-violet ray inhibitor prevents deterioration
Anti-bacterial liner retards growth of fungus, mildew and algae
Double-welded overlapped seams
Super smooth, snag-free
Installation is a snap – do it yourself and save
One continuous seal
New "bead-lock" vinyl edging locks liner in place

Unknown to my aunt and uncle, a gopher had burrowed under the edge of their AG pool, unstabilizing a section. My aunt and her mother in law were in the pool, along with my 2 yr old and 5 yr old cousins. The pool collapsed; fortunately, no one was hurt. My aunt and her mother in law were both standing up when it collapsed; they were able to stay standing, and each was close enough to a kid they each grabbed one as the water rushed out. It made a big mess, though, and even moved their pool shed a foot back.

The OP has a similar situation to me. I have a FantaSea and I went for the "forever" panels, an aluminum and plastic honeycomb 3/4" thick--instead of 3/4" marine plywood with plastic outer layers. I can FEEL the aluminum corrosion under the liner (in year 6 now) and know that when the liner goes, I'm going to have to replace over half the panels in the pool. However, here's hoping Leisure Living honors the warranty and I have no reason to think they won't. (they have so far on the solar panels, replacing 8 or 9 at their cost). The advantage of these is that with the thickness, and the fact that they are 4'x4' and are supported every 2', means the likelihood of the failure where the child was sucked out is virtually non-existent--the structure of the honeycomb and the back side of the panel, plus the supports prevent that.

BTW, they support Kayak as well as FantaSea.

26 years out of a liner is amazing! It can fail ANYTIME and it's still all gravy!

26 years out of a liner is amazing! It can fail ANYTIME and it's still all gravy!


Well, it was all gravy for the previous owner who had it for 25 years. For me, who just purchased it, not so much....

I have the original PB coming out Monday to see what repairs they deem necessary (and when).

Sue

Ouch, Sue!

I guess not. That's what a home inspector is supposed to catch--let you know the liner is doomed and give your attorney grist so you can make the seller give you an allowance for it...if they so choose.

Yeah, I would have, but inspectors around here don't do AG pools.

PB was just here and said that it looks great for an older pool. They were surprised that it was the orginal liner since it looks so good.

He basically agreed with Jason -- leave it until it becomes a problem. I should be able to get through this season without problems, maybe through several years. When it leaks, replace the liner and do whatever maintenance needs to be done to the interior of the panels. Otherwise, it's in good shape.

He said that when they replace the liner in cases like mine, they usually line the interior walls with a foam liner to protect the liner.

Apparently my panels are well-supported and solid as well.

Your issue will be trying to get the PB to stand behind giving you a new liner if you tear-to-be is caused by the corrosion.

If you ever sell your house, check your pool warranty to see whether it's transferrable. Mine has a lifetime guarantee, but it's not transferrable. So the former owner could have had work done for free; I cannot. Of course, if they'd drained the pool to work on the walls, it likely would have required replacing the liner which then would have cost some $ that the former owner didn't want to spend.