Small depression in pool

[mrmrshenke2005]

I am hoping to get a few opinions on what to do. I just bought a house that has a 36ft round above ground pool. It hasn't been maintained this year so it is quite green with leaves and gunk at the bottom as it wasnt covered or winterized. Before I start slamming it I was trying to get the leaves out. With my foot I felt a depression near the center. It is maybe 2 in wide by 3 to 4 in and about 1in deep from what I can tell. It is roughly the shape of a foot so is more narrow on one part. The edges if the hole are mostly straight down. I am trying to decide if I start slamming or drain and attempt to fix it.

I am not sure if it has a leak and don't know if the water level is maintaining very well at this point. Any thoughts?

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I guess there's really no right or wrong answer. If it was my pool, I would drain. It will not only allow you to get a better look and feel of the problem area, but it will allow you to remove debris more easily and accelerate the SLAM process.

I don't know much about AGPs, but I do know a full drain is not recommended. Leave about 18" of water to keep the liner in place.

 

[Mdragger88]

That is a large above ground pool! It must be older as the largest they sell now is usually 33’. It will likely be tricky to find a replacement liner that size. I noticed that even 33’ liners are not as easy to find as the smaller ones.
If u are considering draining to ease the burden of your slam - If the pool is buried at all you only want to drain down to the level of the surrounding ground or you risk the pressure from the ground collapsing the walls if there’s no support from the water.
As for the divot - it could have been a leak there in the past that was patched or there could be moles. Some round pools are “dished out” in the middle so they are a little deeper but that doesn’t sound like what u described. If there is a current leak you may notice an area around the pool that stays wet even when the rest of the yard is dry. Also u can do the bucket test to determine if u have a leak.

Leak Detection

A number of things can cause leaks in your pool. You can learn tricks for leak detection and how to pinpoint where your pool is losing water.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mrmrshenke2005]

Thank you both for your thoughts, my biggest concern is that the edges of the hole will cause wear in the liner. Is this a valid concern? The pool is pretty new (2020 model) and at most 1 foot buried. I am not opposed to draining it but want to make sure I get some benefit out of it. Should I be considering removing all water and filling the hole so I don't have that hole in the sand under the pool? If so, not sure how hard that will be.

I will try to do the bucket test once I can figure out how to get the bucket to sit at water level.

 

[Mdragger88]

If the sand is still squishy at all you can try manipulating/massaging the surrounding sand towards the divot or using something like a weighted baseball bat (wrapped in a towel) to tamp down the edges & make the transition less extreme. I would not drain for one depression. Draining risks the liner.
Yes, any lumps/bumps/wrinkles in the liner have the propensity to wear faster in that spot. This won’t be extreme, it will be no different than the wear at the factory seams.
If u are concerned about the liner being punctured because of that spot u can add a patch there to reinforce it.

 

[mrmrshenke2005]

Thanks for all of the input. I think I will start the slam

 

[Mdragger88]

SLAM ON!

 

[mrmrshenke2005]

One quick update on this. I talked to the previous owner and apparently that depression is a foot print left by the installers. Also, the pool is blue and starting to get clearer. I can faintly see the bottom in the right light.

 

[phonedave]

One quick update on this. I talked to the previous owner and apparently that depression is a foot print left by the installers. Also, the pool is blue and starting to get clearer. I can faintly see the bottom in the right light.

Makes sense, you can still try to massage it out a bit if it really bothers you. I have small dimples in my pool bottom. If I stand on my heel, I can create new ones too.