Rusted wall. Pool 5 years old!

[KrisIL]

I just noticed last night two rusted holes near the bottom of my pool. I can see the linear thru them. The worse part is that the pool was purchased brand new in January 2014. Pool comes with 5 years warranty. Can this be fixed? Also can I do it after the season?

 

[Texas Splash]

Ugh, just past the warranty. Go figure. I think it will be okay for this season. The way we generally see owners tackle something like that is to cut-out the rusted area and protect the newly exposed opening with a rust inhibitor. Then they will install a sheet metal on the inside between the shell and the liner. It's a patch job but it does the trick as long as the rusted area isn't too big, and I don't think yours is yet.

The other concern to keep in mind though is lowering the water that low to do the repair. You probably have two concerns - an empty pool shifting or popping-up due to the local water table and/or the liner shifting out of the rails. Obviously you need to dismantle some rails and liner to get in there (inside) for the patch job, but you don't want the rest of the pool/liner to get "wonky". So those are thoughts that come to my mind. Hope it helps.

 

[zea3]

If this is your pool you still have a warranty. Have you talked to the manufacturer about a warranty claim yet? The first 5 years is free except freight charges, and the next 55 years are pro-rated. I think you could make the argument a few months out of the initial 5 years that the amount of rust you currently have started well before January! Here is a copy of the warranty.

If they won't budge and/or freight charge is ridiculous, Here is a guide for replacing the rusted out area. Advanced Wall Repair for an Above Ground Pool

Its early in the season and pool failure with this amount of rust through is unpredictable, but I have seen 3 rusty pools fail after prolonged heavy rains. My opinion is repair it now or close the pool. The amount of force expended when this much water is released is incredible. When my pool failed it broke one of the 2x4x8 horizontal supports on my wood fence. Near-by pool knocked off a whole section of fence. Sister's pool rolled a 300lb sand filter 20 feet away.

You can read more about my rusty pool here: RIP Rusty Vogue Pool

 

[KrisIL]

I don't know why but I thought I suppose to receive email when someone replies.
Anyway thank you guys for the replies. I took some pictures last night and filed a claim this morning. We will see what they say. I know it's not going to be easy to get it replaced. We might replace the liner next season so if the pool will hold on and they won't do anything about it then I'm going to install a sheet of galvanized sheet like described in the article. I'm just really ticked off that I have to deal with this kind of stuff so soon. I hoped the pool will last at least 15 years.

 

[KrisIL]

Warranty asked me for bunch of pictures. Since I took them here is the full side view of the damage

 

[KrisIL]

Good news. They told me since pool was purchased in 2014 and it's 2019 they count it as 4th year. The only thing I have to cover is shipping and handling. Which is $430. I'm happy with the service. I thought I will have to cover the wall cost myself.