marklevinson1

Hi, I have a 21 ft Esther Williams pool I had inherited about 5 years ago. When I had set up the pool back then I had noticed that there were dozens and dozens of tiny holes in the bottom of the wall. When I had helped the previous owner dismantle the pool I had seen that the rocks around the pool had a lot of dirt/sand mixed in with them so I figured the moisture over time corroded the wall. I spent a good amount of time epoxying as many holes as possible before setting up the wall and I also ran a length of sheet metal around a foot high along the bottom inside (not sure how helpful that was but figured it couldn't hurt. I also glued a layer of foam all along the inside of the wall before I put in the liner. This all seemed to have worked great as I have not had any issues near the bottom of the pool wall. In my early learning days with the pool the water had gotten so bad I had to drain it completely and refilled it immediately. Unfortunately the liner probably shrank a bit because within the last couple of years I noticed some tearing under the return and the skimmer. I had patched under the skimmer. All was well for some time until recently I noticed the pool was losing water. That happening along with discovering other holes I have found on the bottom and sides of the liner have made me decide I would change my liner next spring before I open the pool. The problem I am having now is about 3 tiny holes formed under the skimmer, one under the return and one other a couple of feet to the right midway on the wall and were streaming water outside the pool. I have plugged them up but obviously the water is still getting between the liner and the wall causing corrosion and potentially many more holes in my wall! I am not sure of the best way to approach this. Should I drain the pool down and pull the liner away in that area so the wall can dry out and then replace the liner next spring and get a fresh start then? I was considering securing the walls with tethered rope to the ground so the walls don't cave in without water in it (sound crazy?). My greatest concern is getting the moisture out between the liner and the wall as soon as possible to avoid further corrosion. Any advice is greatly appreciated. thanks, Mark

Hi Folks, I had posted this at another forum but did not get any answers. Maybe you guys could help. I have an older 21ft round Esther Williams pool that we inherited around 3 years ago. There are 2 cover pieces for the top rail at the corners of the deck which I have not been able to figure out how to put in place. Below are a couple of pictures of the right corner. I have the inside (water side) pieces which are not the issue it is these 2 odd shaped pieces I have not been able to figure out. They don't seem to fit well in these corners. Any pointers from Esther Williams pool owners would be greatly appreciated. You can see the pics here: http://www.levinsoninteractive.com/pool/ Thanks, Mark

Hi, I have done a lot of research on liner installation and most of them involve tamping down the sand forming a cove and spreading out the liner as best you can with the idea that you will not be able to avoid footprints while you are in the pool. Some advice has been to use a shop vac to suck the liner to the walls and bottom to help avoid the wrinkles. There was only place I saw that differed in their advice and that was Arthers' pools. http://www.arthurspools.com/abovegroundpoo...nstallation.htm Their suggestion is to put the top rails on first, then pull the liner over the rails and clip it on around the pool, start to fill with water and slowly start to lower the liner by removing one clip at a time, lowering the liner at that spot and replacing the clip. The idea being that the weight of the water and the sun will help stretch the liner into the pool. Then once the liner is situated and the water starts to fill up you would then remove 2 rails at a time and pull the liner over the top of the wall, secure it and replace the rails. I like this idea. Any downsides to it? I also wonder, to avoid footprints is it possible just to skip the tamping, smooth the sand level, get out of the pool and with the help of a couple of people somehow get the liner in place stretched over the rails without getting back into the pool to avoid footprints. I would think the weight of the water would then settle the sand down nicely as the pool fills. Your thoughts? thanks, Mark

Hi Pathfinder, Thanks for the advice. I do have a new liner coming. May I ask what a geotextile fabric is and where one would find that? thanks, Mark

Hi, I have inherited an Esther Williams above ground pool. It is around 10-12 years old. Everything on the pool was in great shape except for the bottom tracks (I ordered new ones) and I recently noticed dozens of small holes near the bottom 6 inches of the aluminum wall. The previous owner had dirt up against the wall. I cannot afford to replace the wall. What would be the best way to approach repairing this? Thanks, Mark Here is a link to a picture of the holes in the wall: http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/plans/poolwall.html