Hi my name is JAMIE I live in LEWISTON MAINE and new to havivg a pool
The coping is pulling away from the pool wall and in one place the coping has snaped the screwheads off that holds the coping to the poolcan anyone help me on this??

Hi Jamie,

This question is hard to answer without pictures or detailed information regarding what type and shape of pool you have, what type of coping you have, what type of pool walls you have and also how old your liner is.

Basically you are looking at either replacing the pool liner and coping - or you can try to repair this problem however any repair done can cause further damage to your pool if the coping and liner are old. It is reasonable to assume that the liner (and coping) are old since you are experiencing a problem that happens with older coping. If the liner were new, I am assuming that you would also have new coping and not be having this problem.

You will want to drain the pool down so that there is between 3-6" of water in the shallow end - NO MORE OR LESS. If you drain your pool too much your liner will shrink and shatter and even if you fix the coping you will have lots of wrinkles in your pool liner. You will need to do this repair in one shot as you can not leave your pool empty like this for very long. Once a liner is exposed to seasons of UV and chlorine it will shrink and shatter like glass if it dries out completely. The older your liner is, the more likely that you will experience a problem when trying to preform this repair job.

With the water level pumped down you can attempt to re-attach the coping to the top of the pool wall (assuming you have this kind of coping) and you will need a few strong people to help you do this . The most typical installation involves using GALVANIZED self tapping hex-head tech. screws. These should be every 6 inches around the perimeter of your pool. Likely the current installation has them spaced much further than this which can contribute to why you are now experiencing this problem.

My professional opinion is to call an expert for this repair, and be prepared to hear that the problem can not be repaired and must be replaced. This is more likely depending on how old and what type of liner and coping you have.

If you are ready and prepared to fix this problem yourself, it can be done. That being said, I recommend to you to not try this repair yourself unless you understand and accept that draining your pool and pulling on the liner as you re-attach the coping may in fact result in you needing a complete coping and liner replacement. That being said, you likely do need a liner and coping replacement soon anyway so give it a try and see if you can get one more season out of your existing set up and start saving your pennies for a repair early next year or late in the season this year.

I hope this information is helpful.

Steve Goodale
Serendipity Pools