Hole in liner + rust on wall

[maieranne]

Hi all!
10 year old chlorine AGP with original liner here. This spring discovered this rust spot on outside of wall near stairs. Investigated underwater and found pin-size hole in liner about 1/4 way down from top of pool.
Would like to install patch inside pool to repair liner. What needs to happen with wall? Do we need to do any reinforcing? If so, can we jb weld to outside of pool or do we need to drain water and repair from inside?

 

[ajw22]

@Casey @zea3 I think that wall needs a more serious repair.

 

[Casey]

That's a pretty significant rust spot and I'm not sure how well a patch will do on the area because it's at the top of the pool. The water could shear the wall and then you're going to have a flood and maybe major injuries if anyone is near the pool.

If that rust wasnt so far up and had healthy unrusted metal on the top and bottom, I'd suggest a patch but its already weakened and I think a new pool is in your immediate future.

 

[maieranne]

Thanks guys, I was afraid of that........
Casey what do you mean by shear the wall exactly? Split it open like seam?
Is it possible to replace that whole section of wall, top to bottom?

 

[Casey]

Yep... tear the wall and GUSH! Water everywhere! Above ground pool walls are usually one whole piece. I doubt you'll be able to find a wall without buying a brand new pool and liner.

 

[zea3]

Read my tale of woe "RIP Rusty Vogue Pool", the link is in my signature. That is full thickness rust and the metal wall is compromised. The physics of water tells us that water always seeks level. In other words water wants to spread out in as thin a layer as possible. This causes water to push against the walls of a round container with equal force all the way around. The part of the wall that has rusted through is weaker than the rest of the wall surface, and eventually their will be enough force that the weakend point will tear like a piece of tissue paper and unleash 19,000 gallons of water all at once. That is enough water to cause property damage to structures in its immediate path and physical harm to any person or animal swept up in the flow. It is important that this pool be drained as soon as possible.

You can attempt to repair the pool by getting a similar size piece of sheet metal, cut out the bad section of pool, and rivet the new section in place. This blog will give more details on the procedure:
Advanced Wall Repair for an Above Ground Pool – INYOPools.com – DIY Resources

I can guaranty that you will see more rust on the inside wall of the pool than you see on the outside. To repair the pool you would need to patch the rusted-through metal and remove any surface rust on the rest of the wall.

 

[Casey]

Rust is like cancer. I will agree that you'll see a lot more on the inside once the liner is removed.

 

[maieranne]

Thanks all, this site is amazing. Yes after seeing your reply’s we are going to start taking the water down to below the hole at least. Researching cost of same size full pool (rails/liner/wall/support posts vs buying just the new wall+liner. Almost same price!!

I knew when I pressed on it and it gave and was wet this could be very bad....