How to get the pool back in the ground?

[Alpo]

I was talking to a neighbor, and she was telling me about another neighbor. They had drained their pool, and then we had a WHOLE BUNCH of rain, and the pool came up out of the ground.

 

So I'm wondering if this was bad pool design, or just bad luck. I'm pretty sure that, no matter what design, a gunite pool with umpty-ump thousands of gallons of water would not rise, unless we had a volcano forming.

 

Then I got to wondering - how can they get it back down? CAN they get it back down?

 

That got me to thinking about another neighbor. They had a pool. Sold the house. New owner tore the house down. Filled up the pool (didn't "remove the pool and fill the hole in the dirt", filled the pool). Then they built a four-unit apartment house. Hmmmm. Wonder if THAT pool could rise, or if the dirt in it and the apartments on it are heavy enough to prevent it?

[Eyesa Horg]

Knew a guy once ( an old boss ) that the fill it in with dirt trick . Two years later after some week long heavy rains--- he went out to mow the lawn and hasn't recovered his sunken lawn mower yet to my knowledge. He was near the edge and was able to save only himself as the mower disappeared below the surface. Guess they didn't even bother to open the drain . It was dang sure pretty funny to hear him tell the story the next day. He didn't see the humor in it.

[Tennessee Trapper Tom]

I spent about 4 years building in ground swimming pools. During that time I encountered many problems with the hydraulics of the water table. Pools coming out out the ground, pools that the shotcrete or grout buckled or floating the lners off the bottom. We always tried to build on a slope so that water would flow away from the pool. If not then we would build a drainage system for both house and pool to take the water away. we always told clients not to drain the pool unless necessary and then not to leave it empty, the cost of repairs can be enormous.

[Sedalia Dave]

Alpo,

 

Think of an empty pool as an odd shaped boat. Put enough water around it and it will float. Simply the physics of water displacement.

 

Getting one back in the ground can be very hard. To prevent further damage to the pool better call a professional.

 

BTW Concrete boats have been around since at least 1848. I

 

Here is a picture of the Tall Ship Larinda. She was launched in 1996

 

[Dawg Hair, SASS #29557]

I saw that same thing happen in a back yard in the mountains in Puerto Rico about 40 years ago. The pool was not completely finished and empty when a major rainstorm came and lifted and tilted the whole danged thing. The water raised one end by about 3 - 4 feet. Can't remember exactly what was the final fix but I believe they had to destroy it and start all over again. There was fear that if they just tried to correct it by adding another section it would wind up leaking. For a while it was the talk of the neighborhood.

[Willy B.SASS#26902]

If the gophers keep digging under my above ground pool it's going to become an in ground pool.

[Tennessee Trapper Tom]

If the gophers keep digging under my above ground pool it's going to become an in ground pool.

Seen that happen once too. Pool was not repairable ground caved in under the pool after a couple days of hard rain. The sides buckle up and twisted out of shape. That pool only dropped about 22 inches to cause the damage

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Same thing applies to underground storage tanks, as in gas. Tank gets empty and blurp its now an above ground tank. They are usually held in place by a concrete deadman with cable over the top of the tank.

Ike

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

It's actually a simple fix. Attack the existing pool with a pneumatic hammer and remove the pieces. Re-excavate, re-grade, Re-plumb, Re-build the pool then Re-fill it. R-landscap it. Never. Ever. Drain the pool. See ..... simple.

 

Alternate Solution. Attack the existing pool with a pneumatic hammer. Bury the pieces and regrade with a nice lawn. Cheaper.

[Michigan Slim]

We just build a new wastewater plant. The 'engineers' didn't want to install pressure relief valves in the bottom of one of the clarifiers. Not needed they said. I insisted. The contractor did it for me for less than a grand. We drain 100,000 gallons of

groundwater a day from two other tanks when empty. The circular tanks in the upper part of the photo.

[Ventura Slim, SASS #35690]

Moral of the story, do not drain your pool before a deluge. Fill the pool with lead and it will slowly go down.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Ventura Slim, SASS #35690

[Cowboy Small]

About 10 years ago, I saw a pool that came up out of the ground and floated across Interstate 10 down in San Antonio.

 

Lot of rain that week.