Plan/Timing for Pool Repairs and Liner

[cipher]

With our pool season coming to a close soon, I've got a few issues that I need to address before opening next spring. There are the issues:

• Deep end of pool has sunk 2-3" over the past few years
• One section of our concrete pad has separated
• New liner is required

What I'd like to do during closing this year is:

• Drain the pool
• Remove the liner
• Inspect the concrete structure for any areas that need repairing and fix them now or in the early spring. This would give me time to book a company if more serious structural repair is required (eg sinking issue).

Then, next spring I'd have the new liner installed.

Are there any issues with leaving the concrete pool exposed from Oct-Mar without a liner on top of it? Would the snow/rain etc during the winter season cause any issues I should be aware of?

 

[newdude]

Got pics ?

Did the floor sink, or the walls ?

Is it a full concrete shell like a plaster pool that got a liner instead of a refinish, or just concrete walls with a much thinner concrete/vermiculite floor ?

 

[cipher]

It's the rear of the pool as if the ground underneath it has dropped by a couple of inches. I can only tell as the water line at the deep end is a couple of inches higher than it is in the shallow end, which never used to the the case.

I'm not sure if it's a concrete shell or concrete/vermiculite as it was built by the previous tenant. Is there an easy way to tell?

I've attached a pic of the exposed pool from back in 2012 when the previous liner was being installed.

 

[newdude]

I'm not sure if it's a concrete shell or concrete/vermiculite

It appears like concrete walls (10 inches thick) and then a concrete floor 2 to 4 inches thick and not structural.

Ground water or a flash flood could undermine the floor, and collapse a section of dirt under a wall if left empty.

Here's mine for comparison. I have a sand bottom because thats what they do here, but imagine they troweled 4 inches of cement instead.




Normally the biggest concern with empty liner pools is the steel walls collapsing without the water providing outward pressure. Your walls won't budge from the dirt, but they could be undermined instead.

 

[cipher]

I found some pictures I took from underneath the concrete pad back in 2016 and it looks like the walls are metal instead of concrete.

Therefore, it looks like the pool was built with a concrete base and steel walls on top.

Does this change anything if I plan to drain the pool, remove the liner and repair any concrete issues now and then have a new liner installed next spring?

 

[newdude]

Does this change anything if I plan to drain the pool, remove the liner and repair any concrete issues now and then have a new liner installed next spring?

Yes. Steel walls might collapse from the ground pressure if left empty *and/or* the bottom of the walls may wash pit if the floor is compromised. It's already cracked so a flood could really cause some trouble.

If you planned it right over a weekend it might be ok, but over an off-season there's alot of chances for things to go south.

 

[Mdragger88]

With steel walls & vermiculite/ thin bottom I would wait until spring.
Is the pool/liner leaking?