Wavy Walls

[Izzyntim]

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and desperate. We have been involved with a never ending pool installation and for the past 5 weeks have been stuck with wavy polymer walls and no progress. The owner of the pool company seems to think he has a plan but I'm not so sure. Would anyone mind sharing their opinion. I have attached a picture but since then they have dug out about 2 feet down on all sides and there has been no improvement. The gray in the picture is where they tried to pour concrete coping and had to rip it out because of how wavy it was. The backfill was completed before the liner and water was added to the pool if that makes a difference. I have a feeling that this was done in the wrong order but after watching installation videos and reading installation manuals I can't seem to find anywhere that proves that. I would really love some expert advice to help me talk to the owner from a place of knowledge.

Thanks so much!

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

I think that polymer walls should be backfilled like a fiberglass pool is - as water is added to the pool the backfill is added to the same height as the water. Basically it keeps the pressure on both sides of the walls equal during the water fill and backfill.

Let's see if @jimmythegreek has experience building with polymer walls.

Fiberglass Pools - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[jimmythegreek]

I like steel walls as it's easier to build with. There are several grades of polymer walls and the high end stuff is worth it. The pic you posted doesnt help. I would need pics of overhead where the waves are worst amd what the panels look lime behind them. I want to see if it's on the panel seams or the panel itself. If you can post a pic of the actual backside of a panel if you can find a cleaner one somewhere around the pool. The better panels have X bracing and have additional tie back bracing similar to a steel panel. How does the bottom of panels look where it meets the pool floor? I would hope that's straight as that is cemented into the concrete collar at this point. The only thing that will really wave them is leaving panels to bake in the sun. You can set the liner amd fill once all concrete collar work is done and do cantilever coping. But more care is needed and the backfill is crucial to long term stability to the deck amd coping

 

[sktn77a]

What you really want is for the coping to be straight. I'm sure they can do that before the concrete is poured. The walls may likely remain a little wavy but the coping, at present, is unacceptable.

 

[Izzyntim]

Welcome to TFP.

I think that polymer walls should be backfilled like a fiberglass pool is - as water is added to the pool the backfill is added to the same height as the water. Basically it keeps the pressure on both sides of the walls equal during the water fill and backfill.

Let's see if @jimmythegreek has experience building with polymer walls.

Fiberglass Pools - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thank you for the kind welcome and the input!

 

[offtheclock]

That area does not look properly graded for deck to be going in. Did they run heavy equipment too close to the walls after they were back filled?

 

[Izzyntim]

I like steel walls as it's easier to build with. There are several grades of polymer walls and the high end stuff is worth it. The pic you posted doesnt help. I would need pics of overhead where the waves are worst amd what the panels look lime behind them. I want to see if it's on the panel seams or the panel itself. If you can post a pic of the actual backside of a panel if you can find a cleaner one somewhere around the pool. The better panels have X bracing and have additional tie back bracing similar to a steel panel. How does the bottom of panels look where it meets the pool floor? I would hope that's straight as that is cemented into the concrete collar at this point. The only thing that will really wave them is leaving panels to bake in the sun. You can set the liner amd fill once all concrete collar work is done and do cantilever coping. But more care is needed and the backfill is crucial to long term stability to the deck amd coping

Hi there. Thank you so much for your response. I will do my best to get the pictures you recommended. I have attached a couple of pictures we took the day the concrete was poured around the base. At this point they had been baking in the North Carolina July summer sun for close to a week. You can already see a lot of bowing in one of them. Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to help. I reached out to several pool inspectors in our town but thus far have been unsuccessful in getting somebody to come take a look.

 

[Izzyntim]

That area does not look properly graded for deck to be going in. Did they run heavy equipment too close to the walls after they were back filled?

Hi There and thank you for your reply. The heaviest equipment they had back there was a bobcat. Would that be problematic?

 

[offtheclock]

Hi There and thank you for your reply. The heaviest equipment they had back there was a bobcat. Would that be problematic?

Find out the manufacture of your walls and look up the installations instructions. Our pool stated to keep equipment a minimum of 3 feet away from the walls in order to prevent the soil from compacting and bowing wall.

 

[Izzyntim]

Hi There and thank you for your reply. The heaviest equipment they had back there was a bobcat. Would that be problematic?

Thank you.

 

[jimmythegreek]

You can clearly see the bows between panel supports in the first pic. They haven't even poured collar at that point so not equipment issue, it's a panel issue. They look like decent panels from the backside, I see X bracing and some checker boards. One thing I dont like is plumbing in the collar embedded, that's a pet peeve of mine. But it also looks wavier on the sunny side compared to the shade side. Regardless that is definitely sum expansion, I'd be pretty upset if this was mine.