Winter damage in mn!!!

[sjraman]

Hello! So my pool was installed August 2015. It is facing its 3rd MN winter. It has been a very cold year this year with little snow. Snow provides insulation, without it, we are even worse off. Sadly my pool may have been hurt by this. Facts: 30 foot AGP, Resin top rail. I drain my pool 6 inches below my skimmer, I do cover my pool with a winter cover, and an inter tube in the middle. Its frozen now all around it, but the cover did flap and blow a lot this fall. I do have a small maintenance free deck attached around about 1/4 of my pool. Rocks all the way around the edges of my pool 2 feet out.

Okay so problem. My hubby noticed that about 2/3 of the pool has buckled in on the BOTTOM. Causing it to come off the bottom rail. the tracking thing around the bottom of the pool. Its is pulled about 2 inches from the backfilled dirt even. I can see the sand under it. I send the pics I will attach (the very worst part of the pool, not all areas are this bad) to the pool store who seems to tell me its a tear down and hopefully I have insurance OMG I can't imagine thats the problem! He says that it is frost heave. BUT we are completely frozen here! windchill is 20-30 below tonight. and my top rail is perfectly even? How could it be heave from the frost? Did the winter cover pull the wall? I will attach the pics. Please help!

 

[CJadamec]

Frost heave is amazingly powerful. If your wall is out of the bottom track the only way to reset it is to drain the pool and pull the liner.

Right now there is nothing you can do until things stop being frozen. In the spring everything might settle out and your pool could be fine. If I were you tho I would be planning to drain the water as soon as it melts in an effort to save the liner and the wall.

Hopefully someone else has a better plan and experience than I do.

 

[richierich]

Is there a lot of water or snow or ice on the cover? That could cause damage. For example if you didn't leave enough slack in the cover to be supported by the weight of the water/ice and it just pulls down the center of the cover that could be an issue. But yeah I agree, nothing can be done now, wait for the first thaw and assess

 

[sjraman]

We always remove the excess snow and or water, BUT get a LOT of wind here. We did remove the cable to the cover so that it does not add any pressure just in case. I know I have to wait I'm just so worried about it praying for good news from anyone. Thank you for your help tho!

 

[richierich]

This may be obvious but you don't wrap the cable UNDER the skimmer right? You rest the cable along the bottom part of the top rail?

Also, how low did you drain your water below the skimmer

 

[Casey]

This will be a total tear down and reinstall to fix.

 

[sjraman]

Yes we do not go below the skimmer at all. Above and we drain inches below the skimmer. This damage is not on the side of the skimmer at all.

- - - Updated - - -

What makes you think it will be a tear down, please elaberate

 

[CJadamec]

Kim is saying the same thing I did. The only way to get the wall back into the track is to pretty much take apart the whole pool.

After looking at the picture again it almost looks like your cover might be what is causing the damage.
How tight is it?
Is there a large amount of snow and ice on top of it?

If your answer is super tight and tons of snow and ice you should go out there and undo the cable holding the cover on. Winter covers can pull the top of the pool wall into the center of the pool.

 

[Teald024]

What makes you think it will be a tear down, please elaberate

You will need to disassemble the pool far enough to put the wall back on the bottom track. That basically means disassembling the whole thing (except the bottom track). From the one pic above, it doesn't look like the parts are damaged so you should be able to just reassemble what you have. Depending on the condition of the liner, it way warrant or be prudent to install a new liner instead of trying to get the old liner lined up properly with the skimmer / return cutouts. They aren't extremely expensive if you plan to DIY, especially for a beaded liner.

 

[sjraman]

Not lots of snow or ice at all. We always remove when it snows and the bad thing, we have had a pathetic winter here for snow and awful for cold. In other words, no insulation (snow) for the ground and terrible cold. I just noticed a slight buckle on one side of the pool. I'm thinking that the upright there is heaved up a little. One of our footings in the deck by the pool is doing the same as well, and they are dug super deep. I think the frost is really bad this year. Im praying for spring and some better news but it does not look good.

 

[Casey]

If the wall buckled, then you'll have to relevel the pool in that area of "buckle" and reset the paver where the posts sit. This is definitely a tear down and reinstall.

 

[sjraman]

Wanted to update you guys. The wall pushed out a bunch with the MN thaw. Its very close to the track now. Different companies have looked at it and told me to wait until I need the liner replaced. It won't hurt it at all. Fortunately, and luckily, the kiddos have been full on swimming! Pools is filled and working great! We've been very blessed that it was not a big deal as we had some record breaking heat in MN. Thank you all for your help and I will update if things change...which Lord knows I hope they won't! Hope this helps someone else in need!