The posts lean in...the posts lean out....

[TonySe]

A few summers back we put in a 24' round above ground..since then some of the posts are leaning out and one is leaning in ..like bad...it's some 4" off plumb...when I try to level the posts one by one the "slack" never seems to go to the one that's leaning in.....it also appears that the frost might have pushed that post up as it seems to be .75" higher than it's nieghbors.

Once it's all full of water, how does one go about straightening the posts again?
Given this piece of jenga is very depenent on the bottom of the pool wall staying in teh retaining ring, how does one drop a post without screwing up the sand on the inside...I'm worried that if I dig out under the post, that the sand inside the pool will run out under the retaining ring and then it will turn into a s**t storm.

Tony.

 

[Casey]

Tony, if the pool wall is not staying in the track, it means one thing and one thing only. The pool is NOT level, therefore, could be the reason your post are going in and out. The worst part for you is that you will not fix it while the pool is full.

Could you post a pic?

 

[TonySe]

Casey: Thanks for getting back to me...yes, I can can get a picture to show you..in addition I'm going to get the laser level out and see how far out of whack those posts are.

T.

 

[Casey]

Looking forward to seeing them.

 

[TonySe]

Here are shots of the worst offenders...note they look a lot worse in the photos than they do in real life.

 

[AprilNC]

IMO - I think you are going to have to drain and re-level that pool ... and make sure you are putting those posts on something solid - like concrete pavers ... Not sure if they are on them now.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I agree...that needs to be taken down before it takes itself down!

 

[gotsno]

water is cheaper than a new pool.

 

[TonySe]

They are on 1' pavers now but I guess the frost did some magic over the winter on me.

Thanks for the advice guys...the pool is up and running and since it's a total takedown I'm hoping to wait till the fall to drain the pool and re-level them.

T.

 

[TonySe]

I never had a pool as a kid and I didn't know if I'd find it too much work for the upkeep...I bought the pool used 3 years ago for $200 and then spent $2K to put it in (Excavating - $500; Sand - $200; Electrical - $400; Liner - $200; Water - $200...). To be honest, I don't care too much how long this pool lasts....my test was to see if the family would use it and if it was too much to keep up, esp with how much camping we do in the summer. Now that it's been in a few years I've found it to be a good investment of our time, so now I'm looking for *THE* pool that I'll finish off properly and hope for years of service on (I'll start a new thread on that). If the pool makes it through summer that's ok by me. If it makes it another year I'm ok with it too, but I'm not planning on this being a 10 year pool or anything.
T.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Where is that water going to go, if the pool collapses? That is several inches out of plumb and is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

 

[Casey]

Seriously. You got the advice you were looking for and you're not going to heed it?

 

[TonySe]

I'm not trying to be an a##....I thought there would be some trick to dig out from underneath the pavers and bottom rail and push the post down.....now it's lookin' like a lot more effort.....how likely do you think it is to let go? If the water takes off I don't think it will be a big issue...drainage isn't an issue as there is a drainage ditch in the back that the water will run into..but I certainly don't want someone to get hurt by it letting go.

T.

 

[TonySe]

To add, the steel wall is (presently) in the track. I imagine having the wall leaning like that would try to pop the wall up out of the track, no?

T.

 

[TonySe]

Spent some time doing some measuring tonight....

From the earlier photos, the post leaning in is 5" off plumb., the post leaning backwards is 2" off level.

The feet have settled like the attached graphic....



being off 2" in two posts isn't cool.....it looks like there are 5 feet that need love, some worse than others.

Called water guy and he's going to come over on Sat an pump the pool onto his tanker, give ma a few ours to work with the pool, and put the water back pool on Sunday.

To lift the out, I'm assuming I empty the pool, remove top caps, loosen liner, put something under the feet to jack them...then shimmy the bases up with something, backfill under rail with sand and stonedust. Tighten liner, replace top cap.
To drop the feet, I'll pull out the paver, dig out underneath, replace paver. Dig out under rail to drop it, tighten liner, reinstall top cap.

Thoughts?

Tony.

 

[laceygirl]

I'd go further and totally re-level it.... If you are going to pull it down, there's no shortcut way to do this..... Have you got any spare mates that could help you?

 

[Casey]

I'd just dump the water and do a total tear down after marking the supports that need major attention. I'm sorry your pool heaved but it needs the utmost attention if you're going to allow your children to swim in the pool.