Crap! The sides of my oval above ground pool aren’t straight.

If you have found this article, then chances are you are having some issues with the way your new oval above ground swimming pool is looking. The quick good news is that the pool is probably fine. It’s just not looking perfect.

In most cases, when an oval above ground swimming pool’s long sides aren’t straight, it’s because one or more of the buttresses aren’t level. In many other cases, the pool isn’t straight because the design of the pool model wasn’t precise enough.

ABOVE GROUND POOLS AREN’T SWISS WATCHES. DON’T EXPECT PERFECTION

As at least a semi-perfectionist and builder of above ground swimming pools for more than 35 years, I can tell you something without any uncertainty. “Above ground pools aren’t perfect”. In truth, they’re not even close to perfect.

The term “perfect” means something different to each of us and it may depend largely on what you do for a living and/or your personality. For a machinist making parts for NASA, perfect may be something within 1/1000 of an inch range. A really talented rough carpenter can build things in his trade that are off a full inch and that’s considered perfect.

In the realm of installing above ground swimming pools, “perfect” is something closer to the rough carpenter’s definition over the machinist. I think it’s important to know this when attempting to DIY a pool install.

OVAL SHAPED ABOVE GROUND POOLS ARE MUCH LESS PRECISE THAN ROUND POOLS

The difference in design from a round pool to an oval one is considerable. Ovals have two to three times the amount of parts, need to be rounded AND squared, and have a portion of the structure that needs to be leveled from front to back instead of only side to side.

There is no part of an above ground pool that has to fit together perfectly with the exception of the wall. It has to come together and bolt somewhat perfectly. Every other part that goes together is made to have some play and is not machined to go together very precisely or even well most of the time.

So with an oval pool then, the end product can be off more because it has more non-precise parts coming together, which means the overall tolerance can add up to more. This can often result in the straight sides of the oval-shaped pool not coming out perfectly straight.

FIVE REASONS WHY THE STRAIGHT SIDES OF AN OVAL POOL ARE OFF

There are only five ways an oval above ground pool’s straight sides can be off or crooked.

1 The pool design is poor and/or the parts were machined poorly

For me, this is the only reason that my oval installs don’t come out straight. And this is a more common cause than you might think.

The straight sides of a metal-walled above ground pool consist of buttresses that are bolted together from many parts and then connected by many other parts. For most, this includes metal straps that run under the pool and connect to the opposing buttress.

An example of what I’m talking about is with the straps. Many years ago, these straps for ovals came in one piece and each end was bolted to the front of each buttress. This was better as it was just one piece, so there was only one length or variation of that length.

Almost all buttress straps now come in smaller pieces that bolt together to make the one long piece needed. Each buttress strap is now made up of 2, 3, 4, or 5 smaller pieces that are each bolted together. And each of these pieces don’t bolt together at perfect lengths. This makes it where some of the straps will have slightly different overall lengths. And these slightly different lengths can aid in the dimension of the oval not coming out perfectly straight.

The other parts that have to bolt or screw together to make up the sides of the oval can be a little off and together, those variances will add up to make the end product different widths and lengths.

2 One or two of the buttresses are off level

This is probably the most common reason do-it-yourselfers ovals aren’t straight.

To put it as basic as I can, picture each buttress as an upside-down “T” shape. This upside-down “T” needs to be level, so to make that happen, it has to be leveled in two places – front and back.

It’s not easy to level buttresses as they have to be buried some in the ground and they are all connected in the front with water plates which can get in the way of leveling. Leveling the buttresses is certainly one of the hardest parts of an oval installation, and many won’t get them very level or at least level enough to make a nice straight finished product.

3 The buttresses weren’t properly squared

An oval above ground pool consists of two straight sides and two radiuses. These straight sides are what we are talking about in this article.

The straight sides have to be squared up with each other. If they aren’t, the pool can still go up and will probably stay up, but it will be “racked” and will most likely look off, crooked, and the sides not straight.

Squaring the buttresses is very important. During installation, I square them a minimum of three times to make sure.

4 The structure was bolted or screwed together wrong

This is the rarest of reasons, but some of these pools can bolt together completely wrong and the DIYer(or inexperienced pool installer) won’t know it until the pool is complete and full of water.

The possibility of this happening depends on the model of the oval. Some models almost can only go together one way (almost), while others are more prone to get wrong.

5 One or more of the straps were buried too deep

Most oval pools have straps that connect to each opposing buttress on the other side of the pool. These straps have to be buried a little so they are not felt or seen in the pool’s floor.

Sometimes, one or more of these straps will be buried a little deeper than the other straps. A strap buried deeper will slightly decrease the width of the pool where it is attached to the buttress(a portion of the straight side of the pool) resulting in sides not coming out perfectly straight.

THE SIDES OF THE POOL ARE STRAIGHT, BUT THE RADIUS IS OFF

If the sides of your oval above ground are straight, but it’s off where it starts to curve around(the radius), then that is a different issue.

Sometimes an oval pool will have a bit of a “dog leg” where the pool starts to curve around from the straight side. The radius or rounded part of the pool won’t be a consistent shape of round on one or two corners. In a few cases, the bottom track will come away from the wall in this area.

These issues resulted from either the pool not being properly rounded or the manufacturer got the dimensions wrong, so the wall forced it out of shape when installed and bolted together. This is a different issue not covered by this article.

HOW TO FIX CROOKED STRAIGHT SIDES OF AN OVAL ABOVE GROUND POOL

Fixing this issue depends on why it’s crooked to begin with. In many cases, it’s not fixable, not harmful in any way, and you should lower your expectations so you can live with it and be happy with your swimming pool. Here’s a step by step:

1 Check the buttresses for level – The first thing to find out is to see how level the buttresses are. Use a torpedo or two-foot level and see if each buttress is level from front to back.

If any of them are off level, investigate to see that if you made them level, would it make a difference in the issue of the sides not being straight. In many cases, you’ll discover that a buttress or two is off level a little, but if made level, it would make the sides of the pool even worse.

If a buttress is off-level and you think it would make it better, then you’ll want to try to level it. Look below for “How to level an off-level buttress”.

2 If the straight sides(or just one side) are just a little crooked, then try to adjust the top rails – Depending on the model of the oval, you may be able to adjust the top rails of the pool and make it look perfectly straight.

For this, you will have to remove the top caps of the straight side in question. This will expose the screws that hold each top rail to each buttress. In many cases, you can unscrew the top rails and screw them in a slightly different place on the connector on top of the buttress. With this, you will be able to line the top rails up to make more of a straight line. Then, when you re-install the top caps, the pool will look perfectly straight.

Note: When the pool is full of water, the top rails may not adjust to where you want them. You may have to drain the pool down some so the top rails can move and be screwed in new places.

Another note: The holes in the top rails may not line up when you make them straight with each other. You may have to make new holes in the top connectors by using self-taping screws(recommended) or drilling some new holes. This will not affect the pool in any way as everything will be hidden when you replace the top caps.

3 If the straight side/s are off a lot, then inspect the inside of the pool – If you have checked the buttresses for level(step 1) and they are but the sides are way crooked, then something might’ve been assembled wrong.

With the pump off and the water still, look at the inside of the pool. Check the pool’s bottom in front of the buttresses and look for anything that doesn’t look flat or looks off in some way.

Usually, if something was put together wrong it will be very noticeable when the pool fills with water. Water is heavy, so it will quickly expose any major mishaps.

If anything looks bad, the pool will more than likely have to be drained and fixed with the liner out of the way. This would be a major issue and is rare.

4 If the straight sides aren’t off too much, the buttresses are level, and you cannot adjust the top rails, then it’s fine. Learn to live with it.

This is where I will lose some of you. Some of you will not want to agree with me here and I get it. You paid a lot of money for this pool and you want the sides to be straight.

I ask you to remember that an above ground swimming pool is not a Swiss watch. And it’s not something built from scratch out of mostly raw materials like an inground concrete pool. This is a product made of several non-precision machined parts designed to have gaps and big tolerances. It’s not even close to being perfect.

If the pool was assembled poorly, then that’s one thing. With that, it can be taken back down and put up better. But, if it was installed well and one or both of the sides didn’t come out nicely straight, then it won’t be worth the aggravation of trying to make it better.

Sometimes, a seasoned installer will do what it takes to make the sides straight because of a Karen. They may make the sides straight in the only way they can, which is to make one or two of the buttresses off level. This you won’t notice but will weaken the pool overall.

HOW TO LEVEL AN OFF-LEVEL BUTTRESS WHEN THE POOL IS FULL

In most cases, when a buttress is off level front to back, the fix can be fairly easy.

Hopefully, you or the one who installed the pool put pavers or cap blocks under the buttresses during the leveling stage. If they did it well, they(or you) put a block in two spots under each buttress – in the front and the back. You will not be able to access the front of the buttresses for adjusting the level without draining the pool and removing the liner. And you don’t want to have to do all of that.

So you’ll only want to re-level the buttress by adjusting the outside or back of it. This is where the buttress sticks out away from the pool on the outside. Dig up where the block was placed and either raise it or lower it depending on what direction it takes to make it level.

Note: When the pool is full of water, the outside bottom of the buttresses will have downward pressure. This may make it hard to adjust its level. If you cannot raise the buttress due to this pressure, you will have to drain the pool down at least halfway. This will take some of the pressure off and you be able to move the buttress up and secure it with the existing leveling block/stone.

This method of leveling buttresses works well. If they are way off though and need to be completely re-leveled, you will have to drain the pool, remove the liner, and have access to the buttresses from front to back. This will suck.