I bought a 16x32' vinyl-over-steel wall kit from Pool Warehouse three years ago now. It included a motorized cover from Automatic Pool Covers. Installed it all myself. Mistakes were made: specifically, I missed that the concrete walkway we had poured around it should have sat on TOP of the metal rails that hold the cover and liner tracks. So the entire pool is essentially sitting ~4" higher than it should, and I graded the entire patio (which runs all the way back to the walkout basement door) around it. This wasn't the cause of my issues, but didn't help.
For those unfamiliar, the Automatic Pool Cover designs rely on the water in the pool to support it when it is closed. If the water level drops too low, it puts tremendous strain on the rails that sit on top of the walls. These rails sit on top of the pool walls, and are held on with self-tapping screws. This connection is pretty strong, but not indescructible. Well, this winter, the liner developed a leak and the water level dropped too low. We got an early spring snowstorm of heavy, wet snow, which resulted in three of the rails being ripped off the walls (and tearing the liner).
I bought some new rails to replace the bent ones, but when trying to fit them this weekend I ran into two issues: not only did the weight of the snow rip the rails off, but it actually pulled the walls out of plumb. You can see here that the top of the wall is now an easy 1/2" over from where it should be:
In addition, I can't attach the rails with the self-tapping screws that the rails are held on with. The tops of the walls are also a bit mangled at this point; the rails won't really even sit flat on them.
We had ordered a new liner already. The equipment (filter, pump, cover, cover motor, etc.) is all like-new. I am contemplating buying new walls and rails and ripping everything out (salvaging what I can). I'd set the pool level down 4" where it should have been originally, and have a new concrete walkway poured on top.
Obviously, this is a LOT of work. Installing the first one almost killed me. If there's anyway to avoid it, I'd love to hear any suggestions.
For those unfamiliar, the Automatic Pool Cover designs rely on the water in the pool to support it when it is closed. If the water level drops too low, it puts tremendous strain on the rails that sit on top of the walls. These rails sit on top of the pool walls, and are held on with self-tapping screws. This connection is pretty strong, but not indescructible. Well, this winter, the liner developed a leak and the water level dropped too low. We got an early spring snowstorm of heavy, wet snow, which resulted in three of the rails being ripped off the walls (and tearing the liner).
I bought some new rails to replace the bent ones, but when trying to fit them this weekend I ran into two issues: not only did the weight of the snow rip the rails off, but it actually pulled the walls out of plumb. You can see here that the top of the wall is now an easy 1/2" over from where it should be:
In addition, I can't attach the rails with the self-tapping screws that the rails are held on with. The tops of the walls are also a bit mangled at this point; the rails won't really even sit flat on them.
We had ordered a new liner already. The equipment (filter, pump, cover, cover motor, etc.) is all like-new. I am contemplating buying new walls and rails and ripping everything out (salvaging what I can). I'd set the pool level down 4" where it should have been originally, and have a new concrete walkway poured on top.
Obviously, this is a LOT of work. Installing the first one almost killed me. If there's anyway to avoid it, I'd love to hear any suggestions.
