Uh oh 😕 more wall problems

[Mdragger88]

I decided to remove/dump my leaf net today & saw that one section of my wall is pushed in on the side that is the most buried. It is slightly separated from one of the uprights. There are places which I could probably stick my entire arm between the pool wall & the surrounding ground in a couple places. We added more backfill & gravel in that area along with putting gravel around the entire pool last season because the original backfill had settled so much so we were trying to remedy the water shed issue which I believe previously caused some wrinkles to form there at the cove. I’ll post a couple pictures but its hard to truly see on them.
I have been refilling the pool today to prepare for “soft opening” aka - run the pool with the cover on until the pods are done falling.
I do believe at one point recently the water level in the pool got too low due to the cover pump pulling water through the cover but I remedied that as soon as I realized. This obviously allowed for some shifting of the wall because of the newish backfill.
The cover is still on - I am scared about what I will see when I remove it. I will update when I do.
The wall is wet because we’ve had alot of rain but you can see the separation from the upright. The deck sits almost on the ground in this area so I can’t hardly get the camera in there

Assuming everything is in the top/bottom tracks when I can get an inside look is it possible that the water will push the wall back out? Externally, from what I can see, there are no creases.
@Casey

 

[Mdragger88]

Ok - i bit the bullet & pulled the cover back some. All those wrinkles have been there since the pool was filled & the cove wrinkles have been there since the 1st winter. There’s now a bulge in the middle of the wall. The wall seems to be in the top track still, the uprights & top rails all appear to still be in their proper places, the bottom track is buried so that’s hard to know.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Just a thought, do you have any friends who are plumbers? They may be able to get their hands on a video inspection system. They use them for drain and sewer inspection.

I did a quick search and it seems the only people who rent them out is home depot and it's quite expensive. But it looks like they sell one for around $100.

I you can get it down between the wall and backfill you'll have a visual of if anything has shifted, any other issue or it is dumb luck. It will also give you a look at the wall from the outside and you may know if you can just pop it back and fill up the pool.

Hopefully it's not too bad and a simple pop and refill can take care of the pool wall.

 

[woodyp]

How much water/inches are you low?

 

[Mdragger88]

I am not low anymore. I’m right at the bottom of the skimmer plate as of today. I guess it’s a waiting game now.
At some point about a month ago the water got just lower than the top wedding cake step which is right about the level of the top of the bulge.
In true southern fashion we had torrential rains followed by subsequent extended freezing temps so i had the cover pump on continuously in advance to try & beat the freezing weather, apparently it was also pulling water through the cover. As soon as the freezing was over & pool thawed I raised the water level some to my normal winter level (about 3/4 inches below the skimmer).

I will see about a camera- that area is basically inaccessible. I’m thinking maybe some dirt/rocks fell & may prevent the wall from going back. I’m going to have my husband bring the transit home to verify the uprights haven’t moved.

I think its a case of low water level during those freezing/heaving temps coupled with the looser backfill/ or perhaps a void in the backfill. I’ve suspected a void because of the wrinkles in the sand cove after the 1st winter. We’ve been working on the drainage around the pool & house but it’s obviously not enough.
I definitely added the deck too quickly & the backfill was still settling- this was a huge mistake! I also mentioned a slurry backfill mix to my husband but I didn’t win that one either.
It wasn’t my intention, I was going to put up a top rail fence & wait for the deck which was only going to be a small platform. Right after the pool was installed our friend’s little girl drowned in their above ground pool, the next day my father inlaw just showed up with lumber & started building. I didn’t want to turn him away.
There are several things I would have liked to do differently (including buying a different pool) but its in now, & if the liner has to come out I would probably just need to replace the whole pool. I am hoping to get a few more years out of it.
Since the deck is basically immovable & very close to the ground in places, I am considering putting a french drain around the whole thing (deck & pool) & all the way out to behind our shop since it’s at the bottom of the hill.

 

[woodyp]

Can you post us up a couple pics of that deck?

 

[Mdragger88]

 

[phonedave]

Just a thought, do you have any friends who are plumbers? They may be able to get their hands on a video inspection system. They use them for drain and sewer inspection.

I did a quick search and it seems the only people who rent them out is home depot and it's quite expensive. But it looks like they sell one for around $100.

I you can get it down between the wall and backfill you'll have a visual of if anything has shifted, any other issue or it is dumb luck. It will also give you a look at the wall from the outside and you may know if you can just pop it back and fill up the pool.

Hopefully it's not too bad and a simple pop and refill can take care of the pool wall.

I have this one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H49JTQ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it for a bunch of things.

 

[phonedave]

I decided to remove/dump my leaf net today & saw that one section of my wall is pushed in on the side that is the most buried. It is slightly separated from one of the uprights. There are places which I could probably stick my entire arm between the pool wall & the surrounding ground in a couple places. We added more backfill & gravel in that area along with putting gravel around the entire pool last season because the original backfill had settled so much so we were trying to remedy the water shed issue which I believe previously caused some wrinkles to form there at the cove. I’ll post a couple pictures but its hard to truly see on them.
I have been refilling the pool today to prepare for “soft opening” aka - run the pool with the cover on until the pods are done falling.
I do believe at one point recently the water level in the pool got too low due to the cover pump pulling water through the cover but I remedied that as soon as I realized. This obviously allowed for some shifting of the wall because of the newish backfill.
The cover is still on - I am scared about what I will see when I remove it. I will update when I do.
The wall is wet because we’ve had alot of rain but you can see the separation from the upright. The deck sits almost on the ground in this area so I can’t hardly get the camera in there
View attachment 478679
Assuming everything is in the top/bottom tracks when I can get an inside look is it possible that the water will push the wall back out? Externally, from what I can see, there are no creases.
@Casey

I assume it will push back. My wall does that in a few places at times as well when my water gets lower.

 

[Mdragger88]

I assume it will push back. My wall does that in a few places at times as well when my water gets lower.

That makes me feel much better.
I almost bought one of those little cameras when we dealt with the termites so I could see in other parts of the walls without disturbing anything but never did.
Off subject, do you have a picture of your plumbing set up? I am reworking mine & it still isn’t as aesthetically pleasing I had hoped.

 

[phonedave]

That makes me feel much better.
I almost bought one of those little cameras when we dealt with the termites so I could see in other parts of the walls without disturbing anything but never did.
Off subject, do you have a picture of your plumbing set up? I am reworking mine & it still isn’t as aesthetically pleasing I had hoped.

I will see if I can grab a picture today or tomorrow and put it up. It really is nothing special. It is all under a deck, so there is not much of anything to see.

 

[Mdragger88]

I will see if I can grab a picture today or tomorrow and put it up. It really is nothing special. It is all under a deck, so there is not much of anything to see.

I'm trying to make mine look decent but it's currently run as the crow flies!

 

[Casey]

If you change that liner, make sure you do it when it's BONE DRY out. I may be wrong but it looks like it's caving in where it's buried. You have an excess of ground water. I'm going to assume the ground water n soil pushed the wall out of the track during a hard freeze/thaw and you can't see it because it's buried. When I had my above ground at the last house, I kept the dirt away from the base of the pool at the slope where I built my deck.

 

[Mdragger88]

If you change that liner, make sure you do it when it's BONE DRY out. I may be wrong but it looks like it's caving in where it's buried. You have an excess of ground water. I'm going to assume the ground water n soil pushed the wall out of the track during a hard freeze/thaw and you can't see it because it's buried. When I had my above ground at the last house, I kept the dirt away from the base of the pool at the slope where I built my deck.

It’s the deepest buried point & the back fill there just seems to keep settling like a never ending pit. I have a feeling that a liner change would result in a whole new pool anyway by the looks of the condition of the outside of the pool wall. Rust has begun to show where I can see it even where its not buried at all. There aren’t any leaks, I think it’s just because the pool sweats so much. & its a Mighty Sun pool, not really a top notch line.
I think this winter i will plug the skimmer & keep the water level higher so i don’t risk that happening again. We seem to keep having more major freeze events that didn’t used to happen as often. Lots of rain that turns to snow then ice/freeze in a short time frame. I am planning to do a french drain around the entire deck to control the water before it can get near the pool. Obviously depending upon the natural slope & adjusting the fall didn’t work as well as we’d hoped.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Too late now but that half buried side of the pool needs a retaining wall. You are getting water build up there and freeze/thaw cycling is just making it worse. The native soil isn’t capable of holding itself back and basically all that ground is slowly sliding into your pool wall. Since your pool wall can’t hold it up structurally, it’s just going to keep pushing and bulging the pool. Your pool is basically just a ziplock bag full of water, it’s not going to hold it back much either. A retaining wall with drainage is necessary to get the ground dry behind the pool.

I like watching this guy’s DIY channel because, as says towards the end, he’s a “safety second” kind of guy -

 

[Mdragger88]

Too late now but that half buried side of the pool needs a retaining wall. You are getting water build up there and freeze/thaw cycling is just making it worse. The native soil isn’t capable of holding itself back and basically all that ground is slowly sliding into your pool wall. Since your pool wall can’t hold it up structurally, it’s just going to keep pushing and bulging the pool. Your pool is basically just a ziplock bag full of water, it’s not going to hold it back much either. A retaining wall with drainage is necessary to get the ground dry behind the pool.

I like watching this guy’s DIY channel because, as says towards the end, he’s a “safety second” kind of guy -

I like that guy too - I think he’s in Canada so some of his rules are different on some projects.
We didn’t dig the pool ourselves so there was no opportunity to put a retaining wall since they dig & install the same day.
but you can bet if we replace this one we’ll put one in. Unless something better comes along by then I would go with a fully resin Aurora & the largest one is 30’ so I would have space for a wall.

 

[Newdude]

I heard a certain someone has a certain backhoe sitting there as we speak.

 

[thefloatqueen]

How’s the pool? Is it at least swimmable for this summer?

 

[Mdragger88]

I heard a certain someone has a certain backhoe sitting there as we speak.

My husband is strictly “I don’t do pools”. So he didn’t want to be involved at all even though he did play a major part in the deck. I couldn’t find anyone to do the dirt work & install the pool separate that they didn’t sell me so I couldn’t buy the pool I wanted from the pool factory & instead had to go with a chain here for the whole thing as a package. Doughboy isn’t that far away but I also don’t have doughboy $$ for the one they offer that is “salt friendly”.
He helped me level the last 6k gal intex (which we had to drain 3x’s to get right ) so doing this diy was a no bueno after that fiasco.

 

[Mdragger88]

Every thing that happens to it he asks if we can just get rid of it now…