As usual, my handrails are wedged in so tight, I am unable to get them out. I have pushed, pulled, used silicone spray, put water in the holes, etc - all to no avail. Any suggestions? To me, this is the worst part about closing my pool! I have three of these darn things to get out.

WD40. I use it all the time and it takes the lime away that is around your rail holders.

I have already sprayed them with it, still stuck. I always clean out the holes and the lower parts of the hand rails each spring before inserting them, but always end up like this.

Did you try dishsoap. That works too.

Sorry, been trying that.......no go

CLR?

Thanks for the suggestions. Took 3hrs, but finally after enough "foot" power, managed to loosen them enough to yank them out. What a job. There has got to be a better way..... perhaps a better way to prepare them before setting them out in the spring?

Once you get them out, I take a drill with a wire brush attached to it and brush all the rust and lime away and then use CLR to finish taking it off. That makes them smoth and not as rusty when you put them into the hole in the spring. I still have to tug them back and forth to get them in and out, but its sure much easier when you clean them up before storing them for the winter till next spring. Thats what I do anyway.

I coated my ladder and hand rails this spring with a thin layer of marine grease. They came right out. In years past, I didnt do this and they were a pain to get out. This year with the grease, it was really easy.

The other thing I noticed was that you removed the bolt completely. If you only screw it up half way, then tap it down gently to release the brass wedge, it may have come out easier. If the wedge didnt get pushed back down, pulling on the rail just made it tighter.

That rail can be rotated back and forth while someone pulls up. If the rail had the crossbar, then rotation would not be possible.

Just removing the bolt part way may have been the solution -never thought of that. It did feel like they were "stuck" down at the bottom, as the top area was loose. I always clean the posts off every year after removing them from the concrete, and there is no rust on them. Again, thanks for the suggestions.

bk406 gives excellent advice in not removing that bolt. If you just loosen it about 1/2 - 3/4" and then tap it down it releases the wedge. Also makes it much easier to reinstall the bolts next Spring if you just leave them in or at least put them back in after you clean and grease them.

I also put a little grease on the insert portion of the rail this year, too. I will remove them next week and see if that worked.....my thinking is it will have helped a good bit.