Above Ground Pool Emptied - Help!

[ccfc1986]

Hey all,
I am am pretty new here and I believe I may have done something to close my pool that caused it to leak and empty.
I woke up this morning after a very very strong wind storm overnight to see my pool cover 2/3 into my pool and water all over my grass/yard. I tried to see what was going on inside by the pool cover is still on (i don't want to remove it just yet based on the responses here). I can see on a couple of he wall panels that its caved in and around the edge of one side of the pool i see a large amount of fine sand (likely the base of the pool).
What should I do here? Should i remove the cover to reduce the strain on the upper portion of the pool (the pool cover has about 3-4 inches of water/ice on top)? And i could then see inside what is going on?
Obviously the liner has a leak or its pull from the top?
The temps warmed up over the last couple of days (live in Chicago) put next week is due to get back down to freezing again.
Any thoughts or recommendations here so i can attempt to keep the pool intact as much as possible?
Thanks again for your help!

 

[wireform]

You can do nothing except keep it from getting damaged further by carefully letting the cover fall in and relieve the wall panels from further pressure. When the warmer weather arrives investigate what needs to be done to bring the pool back.

 

[Texas Splash]

Yikes. Those walls caving in aren't good. They need to be supported. I would think removing the cover would be important to remove the tension on the top of the shell walls. The ice would be a concern. Any way to remove the ice that is still on the cover just to reduce the likelihood of anything sharp falling against the liner? The sand is interesting though. Maybe there's a tear at some part of the lower liner where sand was able to seep back into the pool? Maybe @Newdude has some thoughts?

 

[Mdragger88]

Pics if possible - of the cover, affected part of wall, & this sand.
This will help us determine if u need to just go ahead & drain to prevent other damage from possible collapse.

 

[ccfc1986]

Slight correct to original post... the cover itself contains just water. However, i can feel underneath and there is definitely ice still in the pool (under the cover).

Pictures for the issue are posted here as well. Thanks again all!

 

[wireform]

Looks like your doing good by draining cover but new precip will cause the same issue again. I'd let the cover be loose and completely sit on the pool surgace but most likely you don't have enough tarp material left to allow for it, or remove it altogether as the foliage problem is behind you anyhow.

 

[ccfc1986]

Looks like your doing good by draining cover but new precip will cause the same issue again. I'd let the cover be loose and completely sit on the pool surgace but most likely you don't have enough tarp material left to allow for it, or remove it altogether as the foliage problem is behind you anyhow.

So the recommendation would be to remove the steel cable from the pool cover entirely and just loosely place the cover back into what's left of the pool (if anything)?

 

[wireform]

So the recommendation would be to remove the steel cable from the pool cover entirely and just loosely place the cover back into what's left of the pool (if anything)?

Yes or just pull it off cuz when it sinks it'll be a job to remove it.

 

[Newdude]

Sorry I'm late to the party, but wireform has you well covered above.

+1 to getting rid of the cover altogether. I'd rather have a battle with the pollen than buckled walls. You will have to pull the cover If the draining continues. it will also continue to wash away your base causing further damage.

Thank goodness gracious the walls are only a little stressed. I was imagining way worse.

If the water continues to drain, the issue is below the current water level. If it stops, that's the level you need to inspect.

 

[ccfc1986]

I have loosened the steel wire that keeps the cover over the pool and just pushed the cover into the pool.

What is rather interesting - is that the pool is just completely frozen (live in Chicago) and it looks to be frozen at about half the pool depth. I had the pillow in there - and its frozen into the pool (maybe i did that part wrong) with some of the warmer weather i guess some of it is melting and there is a tear in the liner somewhere. I guess once the rest of the pool melts I will have a good idea of the tear location.

The other thing that might have happened is that rain run off from some large rain storms washed away some of the base, exposing harper rocks etc. Again - at this point all just guesses until the water thaws and i can look inside.

I am very sad/frustrated as i had done so well all summer and after opening the pool for the first time (ever!) and to have this is so demoralizing!!!!!!!

As always, thanks to all the feedback from you all. This forum and group is just amazing to be a part of!

 

[kimkats]

I have a sad for you BUT am hoping it is just a slight step back as the wall was nothing like I feared. You did the best thing in putting to cover inside the pool to take all the pressure off the walls and such.

 

[Newdude]

@kimkats what do you feel is the best way to fix the walls ? A drain and gentle pressure ? I seem to remember reccommeding a paint roller that worked well for an OP.

 

[kimkats]

Right now there is nothing he can do safely due to the ice in the pool. I am hoping the wall will "bounce" back once the sun has a chance to do her thing-melt the ice and allow the liner to to stretch back to size. They can use a paint roller to help ease it back if needed. They already did the best thing by throwing the cover in the pool.

What kind of liner do you have? Overlap, hooked? That will make a difference as well.

 

[ccfc1986]

@kimkats I am unsure about the liner. This isn't my pool (in that i didn't buy or have it installed) - it came with the house when I bought it last year. Is there a way to check what I have. I was curious - as looking at replacement liners is confusing due to the install types.

 

[kimkats]

since you dropped the cover you should be able to see the inside of the pool. Here is what I want you to look for:

-does the liner come over the wall of the pool with a bit of it on the outside of the pool? There should be some kind of "liner lock" over it to hold it on the wall. This is called an "Over Lap" liner as it over laps the wall on both sides.

-Next could be the "J hook" liner- The end of the liner gets "tucked" into the "hook" of the j to hold it in.

See if there is any way you can a pic showing the inside of the pool where the liner ends under the coping.