Big Problem - Major water loss

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labhaven

labhaven

0
Apr 16, 2010
18
Syracuse, NY
I have a 30' round that was properly winterized. The pool is only a few seasons old and was professionally installed. All was well until about a week ago when the air pillow started to "disappear". I thought it had popped. We have had the severe cold weather and snow and the pool is out away from the house quite a ways so I didn't suit up to go take a look until yesterday. It is obvious now that my liner has had some sort of major failure. The center of the pool that wasn't frozen has almost completely drained out. The perimeter is a still a block of ice. When this melts, I'll have no support for the walls and the first windy day is going to be a complete disaster. Does anyone have any ideas for damage control or am I really up the creek here? Man I can't believe this. I just don't see that I have any options with it being the dead of winter.
 
Wow ! One thing comes to mind..... If you could take some lengths of rope, attach to the top rail and attach the other end of rope to tent stakes or something in the ground around the perimeter of the pool.

I guess the ground is probably frozen making this idea hard to do.

Somebody else may have some other ideas.
 
Just a few minutes ago, I noticed I had the same problem. Late yesterday afternoon there was water in my pool that rose to slightly below the return but, today, the water has drained to just a few inches on the bottom of the liner covered by some ice and ice on the walls. I decided to add water with the hose, though, given its still so cold, I'm hoping the water doesn't freeze overnight. I have a 12 foot round above ground so I can usually get a good amount of water into the pool within a few hours but I'm not sure I'll find any pool service to repair a leak or leaks at this time of the year.

Any suggestions?
 
Yes, labhaven, I'm also wondering how you're making out. I'm not doing so great. Though I added to water to my pool, it looks like most of it drained out overnight. We're having another snow storm in my area (Long Island, NY) and I don't think I'll be able to get the leaks repaired that quickly.

Regarding the suggestion to tie ropes around the top rail of the pool and attach it to stakes around the perimeter of the pool, would these stakes have to go all around the pool or would a stake on each side be enough?

I ask because there are some old cyclone fence posts around one side of my pool and a pretty good sized bush on the other - I'm wondering if tying the top rim on two sides of the pool would be enough to keep the walls from caving in till I can get the leaks repaired.

Thanks!
 
I'm thinking four to six places for you at least. The more the better. Your pool dia is smaller than OP's This is a bummer for you both I know.

We are having the same storm. 10 inches here so far.

One more thing did you have a plug in your return and is it still there.
 
swimcat said:
Yes, labhaven, I'm also wondering how you're making out. I'm not doing so great. Though I added to water to my pool, it looks like most of it drained out overnight. We're having another snow storm in my area (Long Island, NY) and I don't think I'll be able to get the leaks repaired that quickly.

Regarding the suggestion to tie ropes around the top rail of the pool and attach it to stakes around the perimeter of the pool, would these stakes have to go all around the pool or would a stake on each side be enough?

I ask because there are some old cyclone fence posts around one side of my pool and a pretty good sized bush on the other - I'm wondering if tying the top rim on two sides of the pool would be enough to keep the walls from caving in till I can get the leaks repaired.

Thanks!
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Hard to say, since it is dependent on how much water is left in the bottom and how much wind force you will get. I would definitely put more than two anchors around the pool circumference, two will do little to stabilize the pool.
 
Thanks, I'll keep an eye on the return plug in the future then. Fortunately, there's ice around the side walls of the pool right now and about a foot of wet stuff on the bottom (I can't tell if that's some water, some ice, and some snow because the snow is covering it up). It's not windy here today, just snowy & cold. Maybe, the snow falling in the pool is a good thing but it sure makes putting braces up difficult. :)
 

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At the moment, there is ice around the perimeter to support the side walls. All the water has completely drained out so adding water is not an option for me. I'm thinking it was a blowout towards the bottom because when I walked around the back side, one section of gravel was very mushy like alot of the soil under it has washed away. I won't know until spring when all the ice has melted and I can get the winter cover out of there. We are supposed to get a foot or so of snow so that will add some more bulk to the inside. I'm going to try to tie off the top rail to some stakes in the ground. I need to come up with some sort of hook to slip over the lip and then tie off to the rope. I have alot of rubber tie downs with the s-hooks on the end. I'm thinking they might not be bad so that there is a little bit of give.
 
Sounds like a plan. If you can get it supported that'll be big win. Then just deal with the liner in the spring.

Hope everything turns out well. Keep us posted on how things go or if you have any questions.

Good job !!
 
labhaven said:
At the moment, there is ice around the perimeter to support the side walls. All the water has completely drained out so adding water is not an option for me. I'm thinking it was a blowout towards the bottom because when I walked around the back side, one section of gravel was very mushy like alot of the soil under it has washed away. I won't know until spring when all the ice has melted and I can get the winter cover out of there. We are supposed to get a foot or so of snow so that will add some more bulk to the inside. I'm going to try to tie off the top rail to some stakes in the ground. I need to come up with some sort of hook to slip over the lip and then tie off to the rope. I have alot of rubber tie downs with the s-hooks on the end. I'm thinking they might not be bad so that there is a little bit of give.
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How did things work out with the staking? I had to put my staking on hold because we just had too much snow down here on Long Island. I would imagine in Syracuse you also have lots of snow now. What a winter!
 
swimcat said:
Just a few minutes ago, I noticed I had the same problem. Late yesterday afternoon there was water in my pool that rose to slightly below the return but, today, the water has drained to just a few inches on the bottom of the liner covered by some ice and ice on the walls. I decided to add water with the hose, though, given its still so cold, I'm hoping the water doesn't freeze overnight. I have a 12 foot round above ground so I can usually get a good amount of water into the pool within a few hours but I'm not sure I'll find any pool service to repair a leak or leaks at this time of the year.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
What kind of pool do you have. I am assuming it is a hard sided 12' pool? You could brace across the top of the pool with some wood screwed together and some clamps. 12' is a small pool and shouldn't be to hard to brace.
 
I'm sorry for not replying to your message sooner, 1380Ken. Had some problems getting on the internet after I upgraded my browser. Less of a problem than the pool problem, fortunately. Yes, I have a hard sided 12 foot pool. I'll look into the wood brace as well - am on my way to the hardware store. I'm not that adept mechanically, though, so I may not have the skills to attach the clamps but I'll ask for some help at the hardware store. If I can't figure out the braces, I'll stick with some kind of tie down and stakes. There's ice and snow on both sides of my pool walls but only up about 1 1/2 feet. That might be enough to hold up the pool but the weather prediction for this area is 40 mph gusts for tomorrow so I think I should add some other kinds of braces as well. I'm sick of the cold but the ice around the pool seems to be a friend of sorts, now. :)
 
How did others who lost water from their pools during the winter fare? I was lucky. I braced my pool on five sides and the walls withstood the winter. Will be having a new liner installed in 2 weeks. Hope everybody else on this forum was able to fix their water leakage problem without further damage to their pools.
 
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