Drilling ventilation holes in wedding cake steps

[momov2]

Hi Guys, Love the site..

I will be receiveng my kit this week and I have seen several posts regarding the difficulty of keeping the wedding cake steps free from alge buildup. I am about to be a proud owner of a set. I was speaking with my husband last night about the possibility of taking a small drill bit and drilling a few holes in the strucutre to aid in the flow of water through the steps. I guess to make a long stroy short, I am not exactly sure how thick the step walls are and I don't want to do anything to jeapordize the integrety structure. All of the pics I have seen of the steps are of the same lady chilling on the top step, she can sell them but offers no real info about the structure itself. Guess I had this one coming since I didn't get with my salesman on it. Any opinions on if this would be a good idea or not?

 

[cubbybeave08]

Hi Guys, Love the site..

I will be receiveng my kit this week and I have seen several posts regarding the difficulty of keeping the wedding cake steps free from alge buildup. I am about to be a proud owner of a set. I was speaking with my husband last night about the possibility of taking a small drill bit and drilling a few holes in the strucutre to aid in the flow of water through the steps. I guess to make a long stroy short, I am not exactly sure how thick the step walls are and I don't want to do anything to jeapordize the integrety structure. All of the pics I have seen of the steps are of the same lady chilling on the top step, she can sell them but offers no real info about the structure itself. Guess I had this one coming since I didn't get with my salesman on it. Any opinions on if this would be a good idea or not?

my guess is that they already have vents in the sides of the steps to allow for water to circulate behind and underneath. I would just wait until you got them and see what they look like...if their are vents that are already in them they should be multiple vents and at least a half inch wide...They will allow plenty of water to circulate...You might want to give them a nice diluted bleach spray and wipe before you put them in...just to make sure they are sanitized well before putting them in....let us know how they turned out. What kind did you get and how much?
Beave...

 

[AnnaK]

You can drill numerous 2" holes into the sides of the steps without compromising its structural integrity.

We drilled two 2" holes on each side and two in the front using a 2" auger bit.

Whenever I add liquid chlorine I use my WallWhale brush and push some water against the steps. This brush gets some serious water action going and flushes out the 'old' water under them.

However, you will still get some algae buildup, specifically under the bottom step where it rests on the vinyl liner, under the entire frame work where it rests on the liner, and under whichever weights you use to hold the steps in place.

It truly is not a big deal. I agonized over algae inside the steps for our entire first season, having been particularly grossed out when we moved the steps that August to install different weights. Four years later I've learned to relax about it. If you keep your water balanced and sanitized you will never know about algae under the steps until you remove them when closing the pool. Then, you add some bleach and scrub the pool bottom.

If they should creep out, and it may happen, what you'll see is a very fine dark line immediately adjacent to the steps. Just take a narrow brush or the round one that looks like a toilet brush and swish it around there. The algae will disappear. I can honestly say that whatever might live under our wedding cake steps has never infected the rest of our pool.

 

[momov2]

Thanks for your replys on the steps. I DID find the website for the manufactor of these steps yesterday and it seems that I will be able to keep it under control. I agree, I am not going to stress over this algae thing. I am the master of my domain and my pool will be my domain

 

[matt4x4]

After 5 years of having the dreaded pool step algae along with several other frustrations the steps gave me - I turned them around - nice steps on the ouside - swing down ladder inside the pool - lets just say it's been a great summer since I did this.

I used to throw several pucks into the stairs all summer long, they seemed to work.......in the 10" area around them - but I could have wonderful green algae a foot away.
The steps caused a flow issue where you'd always get algae and dirt buildup just past the stairs no matter what - this could not be overcome since the only way to stop that was remove the stairs.
The vacuum used to love finding it's way behind them and stay there, vacuuming unattended was not an option.
Tried a number of things to help stop the vac from gaining access - lattice screwed to the sides and shaped to fit the wall to floor contours seemed the most viable solution but after installing it and testing it I decided my kid was too young to make it a safe option since the lattice could be pulled out far enough to slip behind it if one wanted to.....so I removed the lattice.

I was always late getting the stairs out and froze my butt off every year so this new way - it's another non issue - they can just stay as is all year long.

 

[newnick]

I drilled about 8 or 10 1 1/2" holes in ours this year. They are big enough to get the hose with the nozzle into. I set the nozzle to a strong stream and push anything out from under the steps. I do this whenever I add water to the pool.

 

[cubbybeave08]

I drilled about 8 or 10 1 1/2" holes in ours this year. They are big enough to get the hose with the nozzle into. I set the nozzle to a strong stream and push anything out from under the steps. I do this whenever I add water to the pool.

That is an excellant idea...have to remember that one...Thanks

 

[momov2]

My husband and I discussed this again last night and we have decided to install an extra jet underneath the steps. Since we have decided to hard plum the pool, whats an extra couple of feet of pvc? I have received my kit (it's alot of stuff) and I got the Wedding Cake II. They have about 6 holes that have been pre drilled. As for the extra jet, I can pick the part and gasket set up at my local pool store. I can't wait to get started... We start our dig this weekend and I plan to start a pool build photo journal.

 

[matt4x4]

newnick wrote:
I drilled about 8 or 10 1 1/2" holes in ours this year. They are big enough to get the hose with the nozzle into. I set the nozzle to a strong stream and push anything out from under the steps. I do this whenever I add water to the pool.

Must be nice to have water! I don't have that luxury being on a well - plus - my pool is about 150 feet from my nearest tap. I let the rain add water to the pool (not a problem this year) use my solar cover religiously - (stops all evaporation), and encourage lots of beer drinking during dry season, then peeing in the pool to keep the water level up.

 

[AnnaK]

Wells aren't all that much of a luxury. For one, when the power goes out you have no water. For another, wells have a tendency to run dry. I can run water into my pool for 2 hours max, then wait 24 hrs for the well to replenish itself. One year we had planted a grove of trees which needed daily watering at first and I learned that my well cannot water 23 new trees every single day So I invented a drip irrigation system: I drilled some holes into 5 gallon buckets, set them next to each tree and filled them. That did the trick.

Our pool is a long way away from the house and the exterior spigots. Our first task was to dig a trench and aly water and electricity lines to within the pool's vicinity. The water pressure is a little, um, soft, since it has to run uphill and I'm not getting a booster pump but OTOH draining the line in winter is a snap. However, "jet" spray is not exactly something I could produce to hose out under the steps.