Brink of Collapse :(

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rodey

0
Jun 3, 2012
12
Oh, I am so sad.

We put up our pool last week (Intex metal frame, 24' round.) Before we bought it, we had a pool installer level the ground with a bobcat.

It was wonderful! We had a good week... and then, today, a huge rainstorm.

The pool legs on one side (which are on bricks, as I read to do) have sunk down into the wet soil and now the pool is about 3" out of level on that side. I didn't realize this had happened until the kids got in and splashed, and TONS of water came out that side.

The wall is bulging on that side and it looks pretty ominous.

I have spent the last four hours digging a 2' by 20' ditch away from the pool, and bailing water out of the pit that water created. (Not an easy feat for a little gal like me.) The water issue is solved, for now. But the legs are still quite far into the ground - like 2".

Hot, dry weather is predicted so hopefully I can somehow pry them out once it's dry. I have about $1800 into this project (including $450 just for water delivery) so I'm hoping and praying that we can solve this without harming the pool.

I can't decide if I should scream or bawl my eyes out.
 
There was a post here a few days ago about some type of Intex pool that you can maybe "jack up" the legs to get a brick under. Maybe you can get by adding another paver on top of the one that sank? If you can post pics, I'm sure someone will give you the best option on a course to proceed. Are those legs just sunk, or is the area under the pool on that side "washed out"?
 
Rodey...Jack it up. Very simple and can be done relatively safely. I just did this to my 22x52 ultra frame this weekend. I had a couple of my vertical legs that had pushed out enough to get close to sliding off their pavers...After alot of research (only thing useful i found on this site) i just jumped in and did it. Jacked each leg up at its tee with a 2x4 cut to length, pulled the paver out, laid down a skim layer of sand to level each one in their new location and set it back down...and i did not drain a drop of water from the pool. You dont need a 50 ton house jack or a tractor boom to do it...my 3 ton craftsman floor jack did it without breaking a sweat. This was so easy in fact that i did a couple of the other legs where the top rail wasn't completly level...my ocd showing itself. Its really not difficult in the least if you are at least a little mechanically inclined.
 
Let me clarify...When i said "only thing useful i found on this site" i meant that i found no other information anywhere else on the internet that helped with my research. If you need info on ANYTHING relating to pool care...This is the spot...Hands down.
 
If they built up the ground it may continue to settle for a while until it finally packs. If its done settling than you can easily jack up each leg in small increments and put more blocks under each leg until it is back level again. It's not so terrible jacking a pool up to get it back to level. Now jacking a pool up that wasn't level to begin with to make it level, that's a completely different problem.
 
Oh my gosh, that link was PERFECT! EXACTLY what I am dealing with!
The bobcat guy dug it out to make it level, and it's pretty deep - the whole thing was a slope about 2' out of level. The end that is sinking is the deepest part, where it is dug deep enough to get to clay. (However, I didn't realize it was clay because it's been so dry here, and it was crumbly just like the rest of the dirt.)

This morning it looks just like I left it last night, which is a good thing because I had nightmares about it collapsing. It really isn't that bad compared to others I've seen (and those ones were just installed out of level!) but it freaks me out.

The ground is starting to really dry up so I will be pilfering the husband's floor jack and fixing the problem! Thank you!!

(In the meantime, I am going to fix the ditch I dug, and add a drain, so this can't happen again.)
 

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