Looking at possible catastrophic failure...

[coffeegoddss]

We’re in the Midwest and, as everyone knows, it’s been stupid cold here this winter. Our pool has frozen absolutely solid. The cover ripped weeks ago and I knew my water was going to be a mess in the spring. But, that, I can handle. Today I went out and took a good look all around the pool and discovered that one of the wall sections has bent. I released the rest of the pool cover since it must’ve been pulling at some point and, like I said, my clean water is already a loss. But I also noticed that the water level is significantly lower that where I lowered it to on the fall. So I’m guessing we’re going to have a major mess on our hands once everything thaws.

Has anyone else dealt with this? What happened? What did you do? I’m seriously torn between fixing and relining the pool and just taking it out completely...

 

[splashpad]

We’re in the Midwest and, as everyone knows, it’s been stupid cold here this winter. Our pool has frozen absolutely solid. The cover ripped weeks ago and I knew my water was going to be a mess in the spring. But, that, I can handle.

It has been ridiculously cold!

Today I went out and took a good look all around the pool and discovered that one of the wall sections has bent. I released the rest of the pool cover since it must’ve been pulling at some point and, like I said, my clean water is already a loss. But I also noticed that the water level is significantly lower that where I lowered it to on the fall. So I’m guessing we’re going to have a major mess on our hands once everything thaws. Has anyone else dealt with this? What happened? What did you do? I’m seriously torn between fixing and relining the pool and just taking it out completely...

Sorry for the mishap! That is no fun to deal with!
Was the cover not resting on the water for support?
Just asking, as it's not usually recommended for the walls to be used to support the cover suspended off the water, especially if there is "guaranteed" winter precipitation, like we have in the midwest (we thankfully learned our lesson before too much damage was caused our first winter)

That being said, I am not sure how easy/difficult hard-wall repairs are. (sorry not helping there!)

eta: I did find this info from another thread (edited for relevant content):

... I do not know if short sections of pool wall can be purchased, but if so, you would most likely have to configure the repair in the same way that a normal pool wall would meet (a lot of bolts). It might be better to purchase a new pool wall, or new pool that is less expensive and use just only the wall...

 

[coffeegoddss]

The cover was resting on the water - with the pillow as well originally. I have the worst time with cover pillows. Before the first freeze, they always wiggle free and float off to the side. Lol.

 

[kimkats]

I am almost of a mind to tell everyone to take their covers off once the leaves stop falling. This has happened before. The weight of the cover pulls and a wall buckles

I would see if there are any sharp creases in the wall that could poke the liner and go from there. You might need to undo the coping in that area to give you some wiggle room to move the wall. It is going to take time and sharp eyes but it might be saveable. It is worth a try.

 

[splashpad]

The cover was resting on the water - with the pillow as well originally. I have the worst time with cover pillows. Before the first freeze, they always wiggle free and float off to the side. Lol.

Yeah... we learned our first season the pillow isn't necessary, what we actually do is leave the solar bubble blanket under the winter cover, problem solved (it "floats" the winter cover) and we can easily siphon off excess water if needed, but since our cover is resting at water level, the excess water usually just flows off. (We've only siphoned off twice?, I think, in 2+ midwest winters...
That's the good thing about getting "true" winters in the midwest, we have little if no reason to uncover the pool, until late Mar/Apr when the temps finally stay above 50's!
For leaves/buds/etc we now swear by our leaf net, it keeps the biggest crud out!