Should bottom of walls be kept clear?

[KarenNJ]

All the posts about Rusty walls have me looking at my pool. Our above ground is 2 years old and we have a bit of crushed stone around the base. I pulled some of the stones away and you can see it looks like the stone roughed up the paint which is bubbling a bit but there's no rust of any sort. I'm wondering if the bottom of the wall should be kept completely clear? Is this just asking for trouble later? Close up picture attached.

 

[mariane]

Does the water drain well away from the bottom walls of the pool? It looks wet like the water is pooling around the bottom. I would think that is a concern. Is the brownish looking stuff the crushed stone you are referring to, or the big rock pieces? The crushed stone could be holding the moisture in around the bottom of the walls. But even if you remove it, if the water still pools around the bottom, it will continue to bubble up and eventually start rusting the walls. Can you scrape those areas and check? You might have to primer and paint them with a rustoleum type paint to stop the rust before it gets worse.

 

[KarenNJ]

The brown stuff is just dirt/sand the pool was siting on. The stone is normally up against the walls (maybe an inch) but I pulled it away to show the bubbles. We don't get water pooling around much but I do notice condensation on the walls frequently depending on the water temp. I suppose that could be pooling at the bottom a bit. I will move all the rock away so I can keep an eye on it.

 

[KarenNJ]

So I looked at it a bit better. The bubbling of the paint only appears to be where the sand/dirt was sitting against the wall. It is annoying because the pool is rated to be buried up to 27 inches! It is purely cosmetic appearing at the moment but I am going to send pictures to the manufacture anyway in case we do have issues down the line.

 

[mariane]

Great to see its not rusting. Trying to keep it dry and water not pooling at the bottom is probably the best option. We have rocks but the water drains well. Hope that helps.