Coping pulling away from wall panel and concrete deck.

[nachos23]

Hi folks;

I'm looking at having to repair the coping on my pool. It appears that the coping has separated from the wall panel... The coping however has a large overhang so screws aren't visible. I'm not sure if it's a single piece of plastic that is meeting the concrete pool deck or if there's some piece on top/attached to the coping..

Just bought house last spring... Got my pool chemistry working great last yr thanks to this forum and now I'm hoping you can shed some light as to my upcoming repair..

From what I understand from research and assembly instructions I've downloaded, is that the coping screws to the wall panel through a metal top plate. With the C-type coping I've seen in a number of manuals, once you remove the concrete the screws should be visible.. My coping has a big wide top side and I'm not sure how I'll get to the screws.

The liner is still attached to the coping, but as can be seen from the pictures attached, the coping has pulled inwards about 1/2 - 3/4" off the wall panel (I hope that's all that's happened.). The pool is apparently close to 30 yrs old and this is the original coping from what I can see.....I'm hoping the screws have just rusted and I can "pull" coping back into place either pushing using other side as brace or pull using tie-downs or similar method to pull back into place.. It shouldn't be under pressure I would assume... I would also assume, I'll need to unhook pool liner to work on it.

Please note on the attached pictures, the concrete has dropped from approx. the return to the corner of the deck (we are planning to break up remove and repour the deck once the coping is fixed...) The 2 lines going into the pool and the return all run along that side... One jet is on this side of the return and the other on the other side... Not sure if they are leaking; not losing much water when filled....other than what would be attributed to evaporation...

Is that big piece of plastic edging all coping (single piece to the liner)?

Any suggestions? I have a couple of buddies that are in the business (install pools) helping but I'd like to understand the challenge(s) I might be facing as I undertake this project in the next 3-4 weeks..

Thanks!

see the gap that's formed under coping and between concrete:


You can see how it's pulled in along the edge:

 

[nachos23]

bump

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

Sorry you haven't gotten a response yet. I'm not familiar with vinyl pool coping. Hopefully someone will come along with some good info. It will likely be helpful at some point if you add your state to your location, climate is often a factor in pool care.

 

[dw9000]

I installed coping on my pool last summer, the CP-2P coping like below.


I did a concrete block walls, with a treated 2x6 on the top rim. This coping screwed right into the top of that 2x6. Concrete deck was poured directly on top of, and into the C of the coping from behind.


BTW - this isn't my pool, just a handy image I found. The only way I would be able to replace any coping would be to remove the concrete decking (about 1' from behind it) and boy that would be a headache I hope I never have. If I did I would rent a good concrete saw, and cut exactly 12" from behind the coping and later install 'brick' or something else in place of the concrete. I don't think that would look bad and it would prevent the entire deck from being replaced.

It looks like you have some settling, maybe the wall is settling? Is there just a gap or can you tell if the the deck is at a different level than the top of the coping?

Its a big job, but you could take a 10' area and break it out the decking. It is likely screwed into the top of the wall (likely metal walls). It could turn into a big job, pull out the liner, re-level the walls,, etc.

Best of luck to you!

 

[nachos23]

Hi and thanks for the response! That's what I was planning to do and I also think my screws may have gone into the concrete as that would explain why due to it's dropping the coping would move as it has... plan is to get a deck pump (not submersible due to the cover) and drain the rest of the shallow so we can work from both sides and remove the water weight from the liner so it can be adjusted if required..... I guess we open up the concrete and base our plan of attack once we see what's going on once exposed...

Plus ideally I can find matching coping (but mine doesn't look damaged; just not secured any longer....

 

[nachos23]

Some more info... I removed one of the corners as it had separated from the coping and found the screws all rusted. I now will shave those flat to metal pool top rail and install a new one. I am fairly certain I have the same issue happening on the coping elsewhere. I've also discovered that the 4" patio coping is a cap that snaps over the primary coping and I believe I'll find that the screws are also rusted there.... Going to cut the heads and redrill the holes and resecure the coping (that's the plan anyway). I'll report how that goes....

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[dw9000]

Sounds like a plan, if you remove the cap you obviously have access to the 'sunken coping'. You could get a grinder and grind the heads of the screws (or drill out) the screws holding the coping in. If they are a hex head screw, you might be able to use a breaker bar & the correct socket size and just twist the heads off. If I understand you correctly, the wall must have sunk - the coping was likely screwed into the top of the metal wall. If that is the case, your going to have to add something,, treated wood, metal,, filler of some sort (mortar),, etc,, something to bring it up the level of the deck (minus height of coping) and then re-install the coping. Take your time, and make sure things are level you'll be fine. Without a picture, I don't know if it would work but they make a self leveling concrete mix (w/o aggregate) that you might be able to use to add height to the existing 'sunken wall'.

 

[nachos23]

The wall is intact.. The screws holding the coping to the wall have rusted, so the entire length is detached frm top of wall I suspect. The concrete along that section has dropped, so I'll need to fill the gap once the coping is secured again..... I'll update the post once I've started the project

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[nachos23]

Well.

Finally decided to pull off the plastic covering from the coping and see what was causing the coping to pull as it was.... As I suspected, it was the retaining screws had all rusted after some 25+ yrs of holding the coping to the top of the retainer wall..

Removed the coping (completely off unhooking the liner as well) and realigned and re secured using metal self-tapping screws and then painstakingly heated a kettle and 6-8" at a time heated the liner and pulled back into place.

14' along the one side and 6' along deep end near diving board.

took a buddy and approx 7 hours from start to finish; most spent on the liner and particularly for the kettle to boil...LOL

while coping was off, I put new screws along entire side... going to pull opposite side capping off and screw down that side was well it's showing first signs of pulling but is still lying flat, so hopefully a couple quick whacks to pull corner back into alignment, then re secure and no having to pull the liner off this time....

now waiting for pool to refill so I can start the pumps and heater as we have family coming by tomorrow....

I anticipate a midnight start time....

LOL

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[mickey4paws]

Wow, it looks beautiful! You did a great job. Looks like it was hard work.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Nice work & you got very lucky!!

Tampering with extrusion & "universal 8" coping is risky biz...
Looking at the 6" radius, it appears the extrusion was change with last liner replacement... Anyway looks like you had some fun!!
Ray

 

[duraleigh]

I would not call that work "lucky". meticulous and professional come to mind, though.

 

[nachos23]

Wow, it looks beautiful! You did a great job. Looks like it was hard work.

Thanks! It was driving me crazy... tried to plan for the worst and hope for the best... LOL.. I had done my research as best as I could on pool construction for vinyl pools so had an idea what lied beneath the coping, but wasn't entirely certain until one corner piece started to break so I removed and I could see the construction... I was pretty sure then what had happened, but I only verified when I pulled the capping off the coping... then the fun began....

Nice work & you got very lucky!!

Tampering with extrusion & "universal 8" coping is risky biz...
Looking at the 6" radius, it appears the extrusion was change with last liner replacement... Anyway looks like you had some fun!!
Ray

Hey Ray. The pool store that has maintained the pool for the previous owner said the liner was replaced about 12 years ago and those rusted screws look older than that. The new corner pieces I've replaced as the old ones are cracked from the coping being pulled inwards.. THey said they only replaced the liner and when I had the owner of the store over to see the problem in the spring he recommended I wait till I had them replace the liner in a "couple of years".... the coping would have been pulled into the pool long before that or tore the liner as it was almost an inch off the wall.... and leaning on a 30 degree angle inwards when I started the job. A quick call to a friend of my son-in-law that's in the pool installation/maintenance business provided some key advice about dropping the water about 12" and using boiling water rather than a heat gun (pool buddy offered to come by Sunday to help)...but it happened that another buddy was free .. so off we went learning as we tackled each obstacle... getting the liner back in was a PITA.....but with some patience, diligence and a lot of perserverance we managed to remove and reinstall 14' of liner as well as fix a couple of other spots that had started to pull out... put new screws along entire length which should hold it in place for another 15-20 years... LOL If only I can get the liner to last that long..

I would not call that work "lucky". meticulous and professional come to mind, though.

Thanks sir! Definitely a little luck, but had I not attempted it, it would have just continued to pull inwards and downwards until it snapped and just fell into the pool probably tearing the liner in the process and probably cost me big bucks! When the one corner got broken and I removed all four of the retaining screws were completely rusted.... That's why I figured that would likely be the cause of the coping pulling and not a leaning wall and some of the other things people suggested....Doing the opposite side on the long weekend, but it's just started to pull at the corner and hasn't started to lean, so should only have to remove the plastic capping and tap it back 1/4" and then re secure...but will add screws along entire length to avoid future problems.

Took until 3:30am for pool to fill enough to start pump and then fiddle with heater for 15mins to get it started (need to replace pressure switch I believe; acting up) as I had family coming by today for a swim... I had to stay up and get that heater gong or the pool would had been freezing today.... pool was a comfortable 82 when everyone arrived! WHEW! LOL