Resin Above ground pool wall collapse

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Poolgirl2023

Member
May 8, 2023
10
canada
Hello everyone,

We had a terrible winter/ice storm and our resin pool couldn't withstand it. The pool manufacture won't cover the damage and told us our complete pool needs to be replaced. We had a pool guy come and say he may be able to heat up the resin pool wall and put it back to its original form with little imperfections. Does anyone have any experience or tips and tricks. Would heating up the resin walls work?

Thank you

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If it truly is resin walls it wouldn't hurt to try to heat the area being careful not to melt it. People bend plastic by heating all the time. I don't know when this photo was taken but if you're still dealing with freezing temps I would wait until it's warmer to keep the resin from cracking. Does the sun shine on the pool wall? If so I would also probably put a large black sheet of plastic to absorb the sun's energy and heat a larger area. Having a larger pliable surface may work better than smaller areas.
 
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hwy17 said:
Is the wall of your pool resin or steel? That looks like steel to me. But I haven't seen a lot of closeup pictures of what a true resin pool wall looks like. A lot of pools are sold as "resin pools" although they only have resin components, not a resin wall.

If the wall is rust free I would try to revive that pool.
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I looked online and it says completely rust free resin built walls. I've attached more photos
 

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VinnyinNJ said:
If it truly is resin walls it wouldn't hurt to try to heat the area being careful not to melt it. People bend plastic by heating all the time. I don't know when this photo was taken but if you're still dealing with freezing temps I would wait until it's warmer to keep the resin from cracking. Does the sun shine on the pool wall? If so I would also probably put a large black sheet of plastic to absorb the sun's energy and heat a larger area. Having a larger pliable surface may work better than smaller areas.
Click to expand...
Thankfully the weather has changed drastically this week and is warm, all the ice has melted. We started to drain the pool a little to reduce some of the weight.
 
Looks like ice froze into the skimmer and when it shifted/melted, it didn't let go of the skimmer and took the wall with it.

It also looks like an aluminum wall (possibly resin coated) with resin posts/rails. At one point that was the best and sold as 'all resin'. Now, with resin walls available the new ones are usually called 'hybrid' pools, versus the true 'all resin' pools.

You need a new wall and at least some toprail and maybe a leg or two. Liners often need to be replaced to do so. That very well could put it into new pool money to fix it.

Hang tight for more thoughts.
 
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I would remove all the top hardware (rails/caps/tracks) and see if I could pop that back up, and then probably add a supporting structure for the skimmer since the wall's compromised. Then reassemble top hardware if it worked. But I am willing to take more risks with my AGP than most people.
 
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If the pool wall is metal based and the top and leg hardware are OK I wonder if taking 2 blocks of 2x4s (2x2s ?) and working gently around the affected area will straighten it out. It's an effective technique in certain situations and at this point there may be nothing to lose. Since the wall is curved the smaller the area being "straightened" the better it will be. I've seen videos of auto body repair doing something similar and I've seen videos where roofers use a 2x4 for flattening a metal edge seam. If it works I like the idea of bracing the skimmer to take the pressure off the wall.

Also, a couple of things I noticed on the second set of photos. The return plug needs to be on the inside to keep water out of the return, the eyeball unscrews and that plug screws in to replace it. And it just be my opinion but I would change up that under the skimmer valve to where the union is between the skimmer and the valve. I tend to want a clear path for water to easily pass through in the winter.
 
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VinnyinNJ said:
If it truly is resin walls it wouldn't hurt to try to heat the area being careful not to melt it. People bend plastic by heating all the time. I don't know when this photo was taken but if you're still dealing with freezing temps I would wait until it's warmer to keep the resin from cracking. Does the sun shine on the pool wall? If so I would also probably put a large black sheet of plastic to absorb the sun's energy and heat a larger area. Having a larger pliable surface may work better than smaller areas.
Click to expand...

It depends on the plastic. There are two main types - thermoset and thermoplastic.

When thermosets cure, they undergo a chemical change - reheating them just lights them on fire.
Thermoplastics on the other hand can be re-softened with heat, and remolded.

I have no idea whatsoever what that pool is made out of however.
 
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phonedave said:
It depends on the plastic. There are two main types - thermoset and thermoplastic.

When thermosets cure, they undergo a chemical change - reheating them just lights them on fire.
Thermoplastics on the other hand can be re-softened with heat, and remolded.

I have no idea whatsoever what that pool is made out of however.
Click to expand...
That helps a lot. ill find out which one
 
VinnyinNJ said:
If the pool wall is metal based and the top and leg hardware are OK I wonder if taking 2 blocks of 2x4s (2x2s ?) and working gently around the affected area will straighten it out. It's an effective technique in certain situations and at this point there may be nothing to lose. Since the wall is curved the smaller the area being "straightened" the better it will be. I've seen videos of auto body repair doing something similar and I've seen videos where roofers use a 2x4 for flattening a metal edge seam. If it works I like the idea of bracing the skimmer to take the pressure off the wall.

Also, a couple of things I noticed on the second set of photos. The return plug needs to be on the inside to keep water out of the return, the eyeball unscrews and that plug screws in to replace it. And it just be my opinion but I would change up that under the skimmer valve to where the union is between the skimmer and the valve. I tend to want a clear path for water to easily pass through in the winter.
Click to expand...
We were thinking something similar. Would you be able to send me the video's of the car repair to get an idea. Already put wood beams under the simmer to avoid further decay. We had it installed by the company that way but not surprised they did it wrong.
 
richierich said:
any idea how this happened so it can be prevented next time? If the water/ice got into the skimmer you need to cover the opening so water can't get into it with a skimmer plate or aquador
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not idea, we have had the pool for 3 years and nothing has happened. This year we had a huge ice storm for 3 days and than the weather shifted to 10 degrees. so we think the huge shift in temperature. We also had styrofoam blocking the simmer hole but the ice and water pooped it out.
 
Newdude said:
Looks like ice froze into the skimmer and when it shifted/melted, it didn't let go of the skimmer and took the wall with it.

It also looks like an aluminum wall (possibly resin coated) with resin posts/rails. At one point that was the best and sold as 'all resin'. Now, with resin walls available the new ones are usually called 'hybrid' pools, versus the true 'all resin' pools.

You need a new wall and at least some toprail and maybe a leg or two. Liners often need to be replaced to do so. That very well could put it into new pool money to fix it.

Hang tight for more thoughts.
Click to expand...
yes exactly. we bought it two years ago because they were no longer selling the aluminum. That is what the pool company told us also, basically cost the same as buying a new pool. Think it could be possible to repair it similar to an aluminum one? cut out the panel that is crumbled and bolt in a new sheet?
 
Poolgirl2023 said:
We were thinking something similar. Would you be able to send me the video's of the car repair to get an idea. Already put wood beams under the simmer to avoid further decay. We had it installed by the company that way but not surprised they did it wrong.
Click to expand...
They were random videos that popped up in my feed. I looked on YouTube and I found this:

He's using a specialized tool for the curve but the concept is similar. If you are extremely handy or can do woodworking you could make a curve template of the pool wall similar to that tool and use that for the bend. I don't do metal work but I would think if you started from the bottom where the dents are lighter and worked your way up to the more severe areas you may get it straighter.
 

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