Ok two of the pavers seem to have sunk a little and the rail on the paver and slightly to each side isn't touching the ground. Oddly enough, this isn't where it's bulging or at a low point. The only indication is the floating paver that I noticed as I walked by. The third floating boot is solid on there, the boot is the only floating part.
New AGP sides bowing
- Thread starter somedaypool
- Start date
So the bulge is towards the bottom, and that part actually leans in a bit as you move up the side, correct?
Did your installer measure at every point on the track to make sure diameter was same all the way around? That could be the culprit. Also, from taking down and putting back up, if anything warped it could be weaker in that area. Is wall firmly in track in that spot? Liner not tighter there?
I would be more concerned if leaning out.
Did your installer measure at every point on the track to make sure diameter was same all the way around? That could be the culprit. Also, from taking down and putting back up, if anything warped it could be weaker in that area. Is wall firmly in track in that spot? Liner not tighter there?
I would be more concerned if leaning out.
Whoops, didn’t see your last post because I was typing. So you have a part of the track and an upright that are not being supported at all?
It's leaning out. That's the problem. It's leaning outward in the lowest spot. I don't know that it's exactly a bulge. It's more like that section of the wall is leaning outward. It's not necessarily towards the top or bottom, just that side of the pool. Sorry if I'm not doing a good job to describe this.
I don't know if our installer measured after he had the wall up. I'm going to guess no because if it wasn't in the instructions, he didn't know to do it. The wall is in the track and there's no pulling or anything, it's just kinda leaning.
I don't know if our installer measured after he had the wall up. I'm going to guess no because if it wasn't in the instructions, he didn't know to do it. The wall is in the track and there's no pulling or anything, it's just kinda leaning.
Yes, there are two of the pavers that aren't holding up the track because it appears they sank a little under the weight of the pool.
So, I’m worried. You have a leaning pool, and a wall track that is either suffering from the paver sinking underneath but the weight of the pool not pushing the track down, or more worrisome, the pool lifting away because it is leaning.
That's what's weird. The unsupported part is not the lean out. I didn't even realize there were unsupported parts until I went to check after your post.
Here's what I think happened, I think I have either sinkage along the leanout part or the pool was out of round slightly and has caused it to slightly lean to one side. I apparently have two spots around the pool where pavers have sunk but it's not the low spot (weirdly) or next to each other so it doesn't appear to be hurting anything right this minute although it could be causing strain on other parts of the pool that I can't see since it's designed to bear the weight equally.
I'm thinking to keep an eye on it for the next couple of weeks and see if the water level gets worse or the lean gets worse. If it gets worse, it's getting emptied and it's just going to have to sit there. If it's ok for now, do you think it's ok to wait until maybe September to empty it and try and fix it?
If we attempt to fix it, is it a complete takedown or can I just adjust each of the messed up spots?
I'm thinking to keep an eye on it for the next couple of weeks and see if the water level gets worse or the lean gets worse. If it gets worse, it's getting emptied and it's just going to have to sit there. If it's ok for now, do you think it's ok to wait until maybe September to empty it and try and fix it?
If we attempt to fix it, is it a complete takedown or can I just adjust each of the messed up spots?
If the pool is out of round, it is inherently unstable. I think you are seeing unsupported spots because of it being out of round and pressure in those areas isn’t equal to the rest of the pool. If the weight of the pool was causing pavers to sink, the pool would be leaning in that direction, and there would not be a gap between paver and track.
Calling on @zea3 and @kimkats to weigh in.
Calling on @zea3 and @kimkats to weigh in.
I read back through the thread. I think the problem started when sand was brought in to build up the pool site. Even though the pool was taken down, it says some of the sand was scrapped off and decomposed granite brought in to level the pad. All of the sand should have been removed, the lowest spot identified and used as a reference to level the site. You have to dig down to undisturbed earth since, as you can now see, nothing is going to compact the earth as well as the weight of the pool. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. When the second person came in to level the site, they built on top of uncompactable sand. Since the site wasn't firm and level to begin with, when decomposed granite was added it just compacted down into the soft, built up areas once the weight of the pool was on it. This may also have caused the problem with the bottom rail being out of round.
Keep an eye on the pool by taking a picture of the same spot every day for four weeks. You have a photo showing how one of the posts is not plumb vertically. Mark on the paver where post should rest if the wall was vertical. Use a different colored marker to show where the post is on that date, and once a week check to see if the post has moved. If you are seeing movement then you should take the pool down immediately. If there is no movement you can wait until the end of swim season to fix the pool. In my opinion this pool should be taken down and the site properly leveled on undisturbed soil. If you want to do this yourself, you can make a water level. To make sure a site is level start where the lowest point was identified and use that paver as the reference point. I'll edit this post to include some drawings to clarify the instructions.
In the first picture, the green line is going to be the new ground level. Everything above the green line must be removed.
In the second picture, paver 1 is set where the lowest spot was first identified. This paver is inset so it is flush with the ground. Using a water level or laser level, use paver 1 as the reference point and measure the difference between paver 1 and 2. Keep going around the circle measuring paver 1 against paver 3, paver 1 against paver 4 ect... Make a list showing the difference between paver 1 and each subsequent paver. If you find another paver is lower than paver 1 once you have measured all the pavers, use that paver as the reference and measure again. When you level the pavers, if the measurement shows the paver is 1" higher than the reference point, you will dig down 1" plus the thickness of the paver so it will sit flush with the ground. Scrap away any high ground between pavers so the bottom rail will sit flush on the ground.
Keep an eye on the pool by taking a picture of the same spot every day for four weeks. You have a photo showing how one of the posts is not plumb vertically. Mark on the paver where post should rest if the wall was vertical. Use a different colored marker to show where the post is on that date, and once a week check to see if the post has moved. If you are seeing movement then you should take the pool down immediately. If there is no movement you can wait until the end of swim season to fix the pool. In my opinion this pool should be taken down and the site properly leveled on undisturbed soil. If you want to do this yourself, you can make a water level. To make sure a site is level start where the lowest point was identified and use that paver as the reference point. I'll edit this post to include some drawings to clarify the instructions.
In the first picture, the green line is going to be the new ground level. Everything above the green line must be removed.
In the second picture, paver 1 is set where the lowest spot was first identified. This paver is inset so it is flush with the ground. Using a water level or laser level, use paver 1 as the reference point and measure the difference between paver 1 and 2. Keep going around the circle measuring paver 1 against paver 3, paver 1 against paver 4 ect... Make a list showing the difference between paver 1 and each subsequent paver. If you find another paver is lower than paver 1 once you have measured all the pavers, use that paver as the reference and measure again. When you level the pavers, if the measurement shows the paver is 1" higher than the reference point, you will dig down 1" plus the thickness of the paver so it will sit flush with the ground. Scrap away any high ground between pavers so the bottom rail will sit flush on the ground.
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Thank you for the info. I guess it wasn't clear in my post, all the sand was scraped away until it was down to undisturbed earth. The footings were then dug down and installed from there. The DG was brought in as an extra precaution since it's at a low point in my yard. It wasn't a lot of DG, just a small layer to help in case water seeped in under the pool rails since it's kind of a clay consistency.
I will mark on the paver where the post is leaning out. If we fix in in September, do we need to remove everything and start over or how does one go about fixing a low spot?
I'm not certain what caused that low spot. My husband says one of the floating spots on the other side of the pool is because the hose flipped out when he was filling it and he thinks it washed some of the soil away. I'm not sure if this is the case but it could be I suppose. Now that it's up, I'm not sure how to tell if it's out of round. Would it have a low spot on two sides because it's more egg shaped or would it be on just one side. Do you know if we empty it again and refill it if we can leave the liner up to fix it or do we have to get remove it and get a new liner? We already have the pump installed.
If the hose was able to wash away that much soil it wasn't firm to begin with or that hose was running a long time in that spot. I would check for movement over the next month. If the pool continues to move you will need to re-level the site.
Thank you for the reply. It was running a long time. It was a huge puddle of water. It appears the hose flew out shortly after it was put in and it ran for about an hour before we noticed.
This isn't the low point of the pool though, just one of the slightly floating spots. Not that that's a good thing either.