Is it worth trying to fix?

[Wntrequinx]

I'm trying to figure out how long I can keep using the AGP at my new house.. its not in the best condition, and while it needs a new liner,, I am not sure its a good idea to put money into this pool next year. I'm considering trying to go as long as possible with this one, to save up for a in-ground... or a partially in-ground agp.

Anyway, as for the current pool:

My liner is wrinkled to all heck, with the color bleached out of the bottom except where it had shade from the sun due to the ladder or dirt.

The bottom of my pool is filled with grooves and tiny pits, and is a foot deeper in the center of it, and has a wierd depression near the filter return/skimmer where there was a leak (there's a patch in the depression).

Next to the depression with the patch the two sidewall supports are raised up about 3 inches, creating a gap between the pool wall and the top edge of the pool. (Leak led to frost heaves is my guess...) These supports are likely rusted off the bottom ring thing, as one is like an inch+ away from the pool wall at the bottom

I've included pictures of most of these:
The one with of the pool bottom with the ladder has dirt at the bottom... each spot is a small 1/2 to 1.5 inch deep depression the dirt is collected in. The side and bottom originally had the same pattern but now the bottom is just white.

The picture with the bottom depression/liner patch and skimmer has the wierd leak-hole-depression and shows a bit of the liner wrinkles. The liner has vertical wrinkles every 1/4 to 1/2 inch of varying heights (1/4 to 3/4 inch usually) and a 1-2 inch horizontal wrinkle all the way around about 6inches to a foot off the bottom of the pool.

The picture with the water surface and skimmer shows where the two supports are lifted up. You can see out under the edge above the pool wall.

The last picture shows where they painted over some rust spots. I assume those aren't an issue, but just in case... (the rustier ones are harder to see under the ladder... sorry I can take more pictures tonight if you need)

 

[Newdude]

Can we get some pics of the rust areas ? I’m concerned because rust is like a bullet hole. Not so bad from the part you can see but tremendous tissue damage internally.

 

[Wntrequinx]

Can we get some pics of the rust areas ? I’m concerned because rust is like a bullet hole. Not so bad from the part you can see but tremendous tissue damage internally.

I'll get them this afternoon...

 

[Wntrequinx]

Pictures: found another rust spot under the skimmer that had been painted that I forgot about, and got some shots of the bottoms of the raised posts....

 

[Wntrequinx]

And here is the bigger rusty part from the original images (cropped to keep files small enough to upload)

 

[Wntrequinx]

Lastly, I took a video to show the liner wrinkles , and finally got a clear still by taking a screenshot, since mp4s aren't allowed filetypes

 

[Newdude]

Pictures:

Oooof. Calling @zea3 and @kimkats, both who had blowouts.

 

[kimkats]

I have a sad for you If you are seeing that rust on the outside the inside will be much worst. We made the mistake of replacing our liner that was just like yours in that is was bleached out. When we pulled it out we saw rust all along the inside the pool. We worked hard to sand it off and put spray paint on it. It did not last long before the rust "ate" all the way through the wall and it went BOOM and all of the water rushed out taking out the our brand new liner and the walls with it. Fortunately it was a night and no one was in the pool. In hind sight we should have replace the wall when we replaced the liner. For now we don't have a pool at all.

 

[zea3]

It looks like they did not repair the rust, just covered it up with some paint. You have a lot of rust, and in the area where the skimmer is located the wall is starting to crease at the bottom. I can guaranty the rust on the inside of the wall is more extensive than what you see outside. When the steel is bubbled up like it is on those larger spots, the rust is all the way through the thickness of the metal. I'm sure you could poke a screwdriver through those spots with very little effort. As for you liner it looks typical of long term low pH due to chlorine tablet use. Chronic low pH will cause those horizontal wrinkles in the wall section of the liner. Feel up under the skimmer where it connects to the wall. I have a feeling it is still leaking. I would not put any more money into this pool.

How long will it last in this state? I can't say, and that's the problem. Pools in this shape are unpredictable. It could go tonight or it could last another year as it is. If you have kids who play in the pool, or if your pool is close to your home, garage, or neighbor's home/garage, the best thing would be to take the pool down and plan on replacing it. I think the skimmer is the weakest point at this time, so whatever the skimmer is closest to is what is going to get the brunt of the water if this wall gives out.

In my signature is a link to my pool story "RIP Rusty Vogue Pool". It has a lot of photos, plus photos of my sister's pool that only had one thin line of rust from a long term leak when it broke, and a different pool failure caught on camera.

 

[Wntrequinx]

Well, I had a feeling... *sigh*...

 

[Wntrequinx]

Well, I had a feeling... *sigh*...

So we just noticed that one of the spots is actually a tiny leak... planning on trying to use some flex tape or flex paste to plug the liner hole this weekend (moving the big liner wrinkle on the other side of the causes it to squirt out faster as a tiny jet instead of weeping down the pool wall).

I think we're going to see if that stops the inside leak and if not we'll have to take it down before the end of the summer.

Added to a copy of the above image to note where the leak is... its now a bit paler (not much) because I think its slightly faster after we poked it a bunch and messed with the liner. Poking any of the rust spots did not cause anything to break off, at least, and the skimmer is not leaking (had to wait for a day with no rain to see if it was dry still).

 

[kimkats]

When the pool lets go where will the water go?Make sure it will not go into the house or take something out. If you think it that amount of water will do harm to something you might want to think about taking it down soon. Our just flooded the pool yard. We got lucky

 

[Casey]

For now we don't have a pool at all.

Girl... you need to tear a page from my crazy book n get an inground pool like me!

 

[wireform]

I think it's a danger waiting to happen. Say you have a few rough bathers in there and puts obvious pressure to the walls you could have a catastrophe on your hands.