Putting in steps?

[britinusa]

I am buying some new steps this year, I was thinking how do you all place the pad in the bottom of the pool?
Do you also put the sand bags in the steps then lower them into the pool?

 

[poolgirl22]

I don't use the pad. It was an algae trap constantly. I move my stairs a couple times a week and it just got to be a pain.

Please avoid sandbags. They are a mess when they break in the pool and they harbor algae as well.

This year we filled bleach bottles with pea gravel and poured bleach in them. We're hoping that does the trick this year.

Do a search for 'stair weights' and you'll find some other suggestions.

 

[Lolly]

We had a terrible problem with algae w/ our drop in steps, with or without the mat. By the second half of the pool season, it was a non-stop loosing battle. Then we found this link last summer and had much better luck!

http://www.ellerbach.com/Pool/Steps/

We used the mat and tried to brush as much under it as we could, but could only get around the edges. We only found a little algae under it when we took it out at the end of the season, and none actually inside the steps! One thing that we did almost every time we got in the pool that I think helped a lot - we'd take our vacuum hose in the pool with us, put one end in one of the 2" holes in the steps then hold the other end to one of the returns and let the water circulate in the steps for a while. Every now and then (maybe once a week), I'd pour a cup or so of bleach in the end of the hose that I put by the return to inject some extra bleach in there just in case! Good luck!

 

[NWMNMom]

Yep, we use the PVC step weights too and a 4x5 sheet of what is called a "plumbers mat" under the steps. I guess I have never had problems with algae around my steps but they are the Biltmore Steps with the flow through design - there are other brands that have this kind of design as well.