Need help securing a winter cover to an Empty 27ft round

[BabyfishMouth]

Love this site. I need help securing a winter cover to an EMPTY 27 foot round pool. We installed it using the cable and winch provided with the cover, but it caved after the first rain. We placed a couple of barrels up in the center of the pool to, hopefully, push the water to the edges but it still caved in. I would appreciate any suggestions.

The pool is empty because we purchased it late in the season. When we received it, it was the wrong liner. We had to wait 2 wks for a new liner. Two weeks later we received the correct liner, but it had a seam separation. The company (Swimline) made us cut a 1ftx1ft section of the separated location and send it to them for my warranty claim. So now I have to wait another 2-4 weeks for warranty processing and shipment of new liner. NOW... Its the end of the season and I have an empty 27 ft round with a liner that has a 1 foot hole along the bottom. This entire process has been a nightmare.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to offer a suggestion or two. Ive read and learned so much from this site... and I thank you all for that. BTW... This is my first pool.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

I'm afraid that you're going to have a problem with the wall "caving" in unless you either fill it with water or tie some anchors around it to hold it upright. You could also consider not covering it and just leaving it open until next year. Then the wind may be a problem depending on where you're located. You could try an automatic cover pump but if you get a lot of rain it may overwhelm it and it could still stress the wall.

 

[techguy]

Since you going to need to take all of the top rail off to remove the liner, I would think you could finish taking all of it down, roll up the wall and put it away until spring when you are ready to put the new liner in.

In my mind, protecting the walls of an empty pool is likely to be very difficult and stressful all winter. An AG pool in only strong with the weight of the water but otherwise relatively unstable and fragile. A couple hours of work will save you stress and potentially save the pool from high winds and snow. I know guy wires will help. But the first winter storm and an empty pool could lead to a hundred feet of recyclable scrap steel and bent risers.

 

[Casey]

I agree with techguy. That pool will never stay up all winter if you get high winds.

 

[BabyfishMouth]

Thanks for the advice.. This entire ordeal has been a mess, but could have been worse. Considering we paid 900.00 to have it installed, I think I will fill the pool when the new liner arrives (3-4 wks) and close it. It's a shame we wont be able to swim in it until next season, but based on the boards advice, I think it's worth eliminating the risk of caving in. Now... on to the next thread... "How to close your pool."

BTW... Live in Michigan and our house is surrounded by other homes. I don't think wind would be a factor, but I cant be certain cause we just moved in 3 mos ago.

Thanks again for all of your expert opinions.

 

[mariane]

BabyfishMouth, good luck with your new pool. Hope you enjoy it.
Something to consider and hope the moderators are able to advise: since the pool is in Michigan (where I am also from, welcome fellow Michiganian, -Michigander sounds like a type of duck-) the water will freeze solid this winter. BabyfishMouth will have to lower the water level to 6 in. below the skimmer and outlet openings during the winter due to water freezing. Can he/she only partially fill up to that level and call it good? In order to stretch the liner properly I thought it would need to be a fully filled then dump some of the fill water for winterizing. That's a lot of water to put in and then turn around and dump it right back out. And expensive.
Maybe the best advice is from techguy and take down the walls for the winter.

We were given a pool and literally carried it from the neighbor's yard to ours 2 doors down. We were unable to install it at that time, nor were we able to remove the metal bar that joins the free ends together to "complete" the round shape of the walls. So we wrapped it around a tree in the yard and bungee corded it together. There is stood till the next summer when we were able to install it. Techguy knows what he is talking about. If the wall of the pool bends, you cannot straighten it and the walls will not stand when you try to fill it. We had a friend with one of those partially buried pools, who took out the old liner and did not replace it right away for reasons I can't remember why. Even though the walls were partially buried, they still collapsed and they had to buy a new pool.