Reinforced but need opinions

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KeithP

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Jun 9, 2023
10
New Jersey
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Hello and thank you. I am trying to repair a few issues with our 15x24 aboveground pool. I have holes in the bottom of the wall and originally I thought there were only a few buy has turned into many. There was no rust stains or accumulation, just holes. I have sanded and primered with Rust-Oleum and reinforced the entire inside perimeter with 26 gauge sheet metal and attached bolts and straps. Taped most of the seems but upon further inspection, there are more holes in other areas.
I just don't know how many holes are to many. It seems like my initial thought of reinforcing the bottom and installing a new liner might have been a waste of time. Will the things I have done give me a few more years or is this thing done?
Pics attached
 
Well, of the 16 sections between the vertical supports at least 4 of them have holes in the bottom 6-8 inches pretty much just like in the 2 pictures. There were a bunch of pin holes scattered further up the walls and those areas were sanded, primed with Rust-Oleum and taped over. The skimmer area has not been addressed yet but I was planning to repair that as well until I began moving the soil away from the pool to bolt the seems - a total of 8 vertical 12" seems because I used 4 - 12" x 10ft and 4 - 12" x 8ft lengths of sheet metal to surround the inside of the pool. I read somewhere that any length of metal over 30" should be bolted to prevent the seems from curling inward as the pool is filled. Another concern was that the sheet metal was not slid into the lower rails but just placed on top of them because I couldn't get them into the rails. All of the rails were in great shape and I didn't want to force fit the metal.
 
zea3 said:
I think the condition of the wall at the skimmer will be the make or break point. Is the black on the pool wall paint or some kind of padding?
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The black on the walls I believe is paint or primer, it was like that when I cut the liner. I bought Rust-Oleum black primer and recoated the walls where I sanded the pinholes. It looks the same as what is there so that was what I figured it was. There were probably about 20 pinholes that were sanded and primed and then covered with duct tape.
 
KeithP said:
The black on the walls I believe is paint or primer, it was like that when I cut the liner. I bought Rust-Oleum black primer and recoated the walls where I sanded the pinholes. It looks the same as what is there so that was what I figured it was. There were probably about 20 pinholes that were sanded and primed and then covered with duct tape.
Click to expand...
I was planning on installing the padding to cover those and also the bottom cove until I found the other holes around the bottom of the wall. I figured I would wait to hear the experts thoughts before I continue trying to spend more time and money on this.
Thanks again for your time.
 
Try cleaning up the white stuff and remove the skimmer so you can see what kind of shape the metal is in. If it looks like corrosion that goes all the way through the metal then I wouldn't risk a repair. If you look in my signature under this post there is a link to the demise of my 21 foot pool. That might help you decide whether or not its worth it to continue making repairs.

If the white stuff is just some build up that cleans off then you will need a new gasket for your skimmer. Does this pool have aluminum walls?
 
Pool walls are corrugated steel. I have just finished with the seam supports now. I am pretty comfortable with how they turned out. I plan to now flip to the outside and remove the skimmer and sand down that area to see how it looks. It really does only look like it's surface discoloration, I didn't see anything from the inside in that area.
 
Pool walls are corrugated steel. I just finished with bolting the 8 interior seams. I am going to tape them and then remove the skimmer. I did also just clean, sand and prime the skimmer area. It was mostly surface discoloration but a decent amount of pitting with a few through holes. I suppose I am going to reinforce the area now as well
 

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A couple pics, and thank you for your assistance
 

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Well, pool is back together with a new liner and filled. Water tests are good and the kids have been swimming in it with no issues.
First a big thank you to this site and contributors as the knowledge and posts have been very helpful.

The repairs were done as previously mentioned. 20230730_125040.jpg20230730_125056.jpg
However, a few issues have me concerned. To recap my project...
Towards the end of last summer the two inside buttress straps rusted through and snapped causing them to flip up off the outer blocks about 4-6 inches. I ended up installing 2 - 3" wide heavy duty ratchet straps around the entire outside of the pool which got me through the end of summer and into this summer.
This summer I drained the pool and cut the liner to access the straps and attempt my repair. I placed 2" x 1/4" aluminum flat stock under the broken straps and fastened together thus restoring the strap supports for the walls.
While I was inside the pool making those repairs I noticed a bunch of small holes in the bottom of the wall mostly on the buried 8" deep side. I figured I would place 26ga galvanized sheet metal around the entire inside circumference. I used 72ft x 12" high metal and then bolted all of the vertical seams through overlapped new galvanized metal, the existing pool wall and a galv strap on the outside. A total of 8 vertical seams and the top of the new metal was taped with good duct tape. The inside walls were sanded, rustolium primered and any pinholes were taped and wall foamed and the new liner installed.
I then moved to the outside of the pool and sanded all the lower wall holes and the slight pitting around the skimmer. I proceeded to JB Weld all visible wall holes and skimmer pitting and then painted the entire bottom 12" circumference of the pool with rustolium cold zinc spray paint.
The pool was filled and appears to be complete. Now for the issues, while the new liner was being installed (paid someone to do it) I was watching for any wrinkles and didn't notice 3 of the 4 buttress supports on the repaired side had shifted out of plumb by about 3/8" on the top.
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I'm not sure if I could just loosen the screws on the top and tap a 2x4 to get them plumb or if this is even a concern or finish the summer, drop the level and then straighten them out.
Thanks in advance,
KeithP
 
Thank you zea3, I appreciate your help. A couple things that you previously asked about... I did actually have the metal wrong, it is actually as you said, corrugated aluminum not steel. The skimmer was replaced so there are new s/s screws installed. I also placed 2 - 3ft x 12" galv steel panels from the bottom up to a few inches below the skimmer and obviously taped all seams.
Because I had the wall material incorrect and I used the galv steel (basically HVAC sheets used for ductwork) I am now concerned about dissimilar metal corrosion. I was looking over all of the through bolts and noticed a vertical line a few inches over from the strap. I don't remember which side of this particular strap the seams was on but it got me thinking. The line is just to the right of the strap in this picture and stops right about at the height of metal om the inside. Are galv sheet metal and aluminum that dissimilar and are these going to split?
Keith

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I commend you for all the effort to keep this shell operational. Looks like you should get through this season, then consider any fine-tuning as you prepare to close. Next season do a thorough evaluation to see if all your hard work held or if any new surprises arose. Good luck!
 
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