I'm writing this post to document the demise of my AGP in August 2017. I noticed the rust when the pool was 6 years old, and it failed 5 years later.
My Vogue pool was installed in 2006. This photo is a couple of years later, but notice how straight the fence on the side is at this time. The back fence is my neighbor's.
In 2012 I noticed rust beginning to form near the bottom on one side of the pool. Two small spots, about a foot off the ground, and a couple of blistered areas close by. Pool was not leaking, even though the rusty areas were weeping.
I kept an eye on the rust development, which of course grew and more blisters formed and grew as well. This was 2014.
I had drained the pool in 2016 in order to make repairs, but life got in the way and I was unable to do it at that time. I don't have a picture, but the rust was all the way through the wall and liner was visible underneath the golf ball sized hole.
Fast forward to August 2017. Rains over the last year had refilled the pool about 18". The hole is now the size of softball, but the liner is still intact.
We started the week with excitement about an eclipse, and ended the week with Hurricane Harvey. In anticipation of Harvey I borrowed a submersible pump and started draining the pool again. The pump was running when Harvey started dumping rain on us, the rain was filling the pool faster than the pump could drain it out. After 36 hours my pool was 3/4 full again. The local water authority was struggling to manage all the storm run off and asked residents to limit showers, flushing, and laundry washing as much as possible the next few days, so I shut off the pump. I figured if they were concerned about us flushing toilets they would not be happy with me draining 8000 gallons of water into the storm sewer. That evening the heavy rains started up again and around 11:00p.m. my sons heard a loud cracking, banging noise. They thought a tree fell, but it was my pool splitting open and lashing the fence and house like a whip! The steel wall split upward from the hole, torn like a piece of paper. The force of the water and wall hitting the fence broke a 2x4x8 top fence rail and scrapped the brick on the corner of the house. Notice how the fence on the side is leaning!
I knew the rust was bad, but I didn't know how bad until I saw the inside of the pool wall. Below left is the section of pool wall where the pool failed and tore. On the right is the same section of pool flipped over to show the inside wall.
That amount of rust covered at least 1/2 way around the inside pool wall.
Had I known how bad the rust was in 2016 I would have just taken down the pool and started over when I could.
The following images are not my pool, but pools near me that have also failed, and a link from youtube of a pool rupturing on a surveillance camera.
My sister had the same brand and model AGP as mine, but one year newer. It had a small leak at the return that left a thin line of rust all the way down. During a heavy thunderstorm in 2014 it opened up like a zipper! Notice how high the water line is on the shed and fence. The 300 lb sand filter was on the concrete pavers and ended up next to the fence. You can see a little of the pool wall were the pool split. No rust other than that thin line from the return.
This next picture is one I took driving by a nearby neighborhood about a month ago. We had heavy rain and flooding the night before, and I was driving around checking things out when I found this. You can't see it in the picture but I could see some rust where the pool failed. When this pool wall gave way, it took a section of fence with it! Someone picked up the fence and leaned it against the still standing fence, as I'm sure it ended up in the street. This was along a road that normally has a lot of traffic.
Finally, surveillance film of an AGP failing. Notice how far the water pushes the shed back! You can see a crease in the pool wall in the return area before the pool fails.
If you have a rusty AGP, I urge you to replace or repair the walls before they fail. It is hard to part with your beautiful TFP water, but when it is unleashed all at once it can do some real damage!
This blog post outlines how to repair rusty wall sections.
www.inyopools.com
My Vogue pool was installed in 2006. This photo is a couple of years later, but notice how straight the fence on the side is at this time. The back fence is my neighbor's.
In 2012 I noticed rust beginning to form near the bottom on one side of the pool. Two small spots, about a foot off the ground, and a couple of blistered areas close by. Pool was not leaking, even though the rusty areas were weeping.
I kept an eye on the rust development, which of course grew and more blisters formed and grew as well. This was 2014.
I had drained the pool in 2016 in order to make repairs, but life got in the way and I was unable to do it at that time. I don't have a picture, but the rust was all the way through the wall and liner was visible underneath the golf ball sized hole.
Fast forward to August 2017. Rains over the last year had refilled the pool about 18". The hole is now the size of softball, but the liner is still intact.
We started the week with excitement about an eclipse, and ended the week with Hurricane Harvey. In anticipation of Harvey I borrowed a submersible pump and started draining the pool again. The pump was running when Harvey started dumping rain on us, the rain was filling the pool faster than the pump could drain it out. After 36 hours my pool was 3/4 full again. The local water authority was struggling to manage all the storm run off and asked residents to limit showers, flushing, and laundry washing as much as possible the next few days, so I shut off the pump. I figured if they were concerned about us flushing toilets they would not be happy with me draining 8000 gallons of water into the storm sewer. That evening the heavy rains started up again and around 11:00p.m. my sons heard a loud cracking, banging noise. They thought a tree fell, but it was my pool splitting open and lashing the fence and house like a whip! The steel wall split upward from the hole, torn like a piece of paper. The force of the water and wall hitting the fence broke a 2x4x8 top fence rail and scrapped the brick on the corner of the house. Notice how the fence on the side is leaning!
I knew the rust was bad, but I didn't know how bad until I saw the inside of the pool wall. Below left is the section of pool wall where the pool failed and tore. On the right is the same section of pool flipped over to show the inside wall.
That amount of rust covered at least 1/2 way around the inside pool wall.
Had I known how bad the rust was in 2016 I would have just taken down the pool and started over when I could.
The following images are not my pool, but pools near me that have also failed, and a link from youtube of a pool rupturing on a surveillance camera.
My sister had the same brand and model AGP as mine, but one year newer. It had a small leak at the return that left a thin line of rust all the way down. During a heavy thunderstorm in 2014 it opened up like a zipper! Notice how high the water line is on the shed and fence. The 300 lb sand filter was on the concrete pavers and ended up next to the fence. You can see a little of the pool wall were the pool split. No rust other than that thin line from the return.
This next picture is one I took driving by a nearby neighborhood about a month ago. We had heavy rain and flooding the night before, and I was driving around checking things out when I found this. You can't see it in the picture but I could see some rust where the pool failed. When this pool wall gave way, it took a section of fence with it! Someone picked up the fence and leaned it against the still standing fence, as I'm sure it ended up in the street. This was along a road that normally has a lot of traffic.
Finally, surveillance film of an AGP failing. Notice how far the water pushes the shed back! You can see a crease in the pool wall in the return area before the pool fails.
If you have a rusty AGP, I urge you to replace or repair the walls before they fail. It is hard to part with your beautiful TFP water, but when it is unleashed all at once it can do some real damage!
This blog post outlines how to repair rusty wall sections.
Advanced Wall Repair for an Above Ground Pool
Above ground pool repair is rarely easy; but advanced pool wall repair can be made easier by following these easy steps and guidelines.
www.inyopools.com
