Waviness in fiberglass walls

jollyjeff

Member
Feb 16, 2022
6
Hattiesburg, MS
Pool Size
19000
Surface
Fiberglass
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-30
Hi, new to the forum and just wanted to get some opinions on something.

We are currently having a fiberglass pool installed. I'll layout a brief timeline leading to where we are currently.

Our pool was set into the ground, leveled, plumbed, and backfilled a couple of feet with a sand/pea gravel mixture. Water level was within 6" of the backfill, sitting about 1 - 2 feet in the deep end of the pool. The pool then sat for about 3 weeks before backfilling was continued. It was backfilled about 2/3 up, with water matching up to about a foot below the top edge of the pool. A very heavy rain came the following day with 4 - 5" falling in a short time. The shallow end floated up and settled with backfill washing underneath. The pb came out and releveled the pool (ended up being a couple of inches higher than initially set), then completed backfilling.

We're now to the point of where coping and tile will be added. My concern is that there appears to be some waviness on the sidewalls of the pool. I didn't see this prior to installation and verified in photos that it didn't seem to be there. The pb said that he will work this out of the sidewalls before it's finished, but it is still there. Im assuming this was from hydrostatic pressure when the pool floated. During the rainfall, I could see the walls slightly pushing in just before it floated. If this waviness doesn't work all of the way out, will there be any potential structural issues down the road? Screenshot_20220216-102622_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20220216-103216_Gallery.jpg
 
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Welcome to TFP! :wave: FG does have some give to it, but I'm not sure if there would be any long-term problems with what happened. I would be concerned as well though. I would recommend contacting the manufacture of the pool directly since they will be the ones evaluating the warranty and how it was installed.
 
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While you are speaking to the shell manufacturer, ask about their recommended method for backfilling and if there is a problem using sand mixed with gravel. To me, sitting here in Maryland, mixing sand with anything while backfilling is a recipe for an issue with washout. Our installer backfilled with 3/4 crushed bluestone filling with water as he went along.
 
Thanks for the quick responses!

I found the manufacturer's installation instructions online, and they do indicate that sand should be used. This is mostly sand, with trace amounts of pea gravel throughout.

I did think about reaching out to the manufacturer directly. However, it was just totally backfilled and refilled with water up to the skimmer yesterday. My pb is well experienced, so I'm wondering if he might be thinking that the water weight will push it mostly back into shape after it sits level and full of water. I think I might wait a few days and coordinate with him if there's any waviness remaining. Then, I'll get his take on reaching out to the manufacturer. I would imagine that he knows how to communicate with them in a way that wouldn't unnecessarily void the warranty. I guess if it comes to that, it would be me against the pb in any sort of structural failure down the road.
 
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