WallUnrolled and set into the bottom track all the way round.
LinerIt covers the floor and the inside of the wall. It is held at the top of the wall.
Top ledge (top rail)Makers call it the top ledge, top rail or top seat. It is not a walkway.
Top cap (top cover)There is one over every upright; it hides the screws.
UprightsEach stands on a bottom plate and carries a top plate.
SkimmerA basket inside it traps waste from the water.
Return fittingIt sits in a hole in the wall, below the waterline.
Top of the wall 3
Top plateThe ends of two top ledges are screwed down onto it.
Stabilizer railIt stiffens the wall and holds the liner on it. Some makers call it the top track.
Coping stripThe strips are pressed on over the liner. It is hung over the wall.
Foot of the wall 5
Bottom track (bottom rail)Curved lengths of it make the full circle. They are joined at the bottom plates.
Bottom plateAn upright stands on each one.
Patio blockIts top is flush with the ground.
CoveIt stops the liner creeping under the wall. It keeps the liner off the metal edges.
Sand baseIt protects the liner from the ground.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where two makers or sellers use it: the installation manuals of two steel-wall pool makers, read as archive.org full text (https://archive.org/details/manualzz-id-1278607 and https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5757449: wall, liner, top rail and top ledge, top cover, top plate, bottom plate, bottom rail and bottom track, stabilizer rails, uprights, coping strips, skimmer, return fitting, cove, sand base, patio blocks), and a pool seller's component guides (top ledge also called top rail, top cap, top plate, uprights, bottom track also called bottom rail, coping strips, inner stabilizers). What the skimmer and the return do: Wikipedia, Swimming pool sanitation (text only). Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's pool, nothing traced. The two cut-through views are not to scale: thin parts are drawn thick. Licence: own work
How it works
A round above-ground pool in three drawings. First the whole pool, then the wall cut through twice, at the top and at the foot, to show the parts a finished pool hides.
Read the full guide
From the rim to the ground
Numbers 1 to 7 are on the whole pool: the wall and liner, the top ledges and top caps round the rim, the uprights, the skimmer and the return fitting. Numbers 8 to 10 are at the top of the wall: the top plate, the stabilizer rail and the coping strip. Numbers 11 to 15 are at the foot: the bottom track and bottom plate, the patio block, the cove and the sand base. In both cuts the water is on the left.
Names differ by maker: the flat top is the top ledge, top rail or top seat, and an upright is also called a vertical.
Do not walk or sit on the top ledge: makers say it is not a walkway.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of an above ground pool called?
A steel-wall pool has a wall standing in a bottom track, uprights round the outside, and top ledges with top caps round the rim. Inside is the liner, over a sand base and a cove. A skimmer and a return fitting pass through the wall.
What is the top rail of an above ground pool?
The flat band round the top of the pool, between one upright and the next. Many makers call it the top ledge or top seat. Under it, over the top edge of the wall, is a thinner rail called the stabilizer rail.
What is the cove in an above ground pool?
A wedge of sand or sifted earth built all round the inside of the wall, at its foot. It stops the liner creeping under the wall and keeps it off the metal edges of the frame.
What holds the liner on an above ground pool?
An overlap liner is hung over the top of the wall and held by plastic coping strips pressed on over it. The stabilizer rails and the top ledges go on over that. A beaded liner snaps into a track on the wall instead.