Recommendations on fixing up these stairs/ railing

[superdave5599]

Last summer we were given these steps by neighbors who were redoing their liner and pool.

The lady said that the chemistry had damaged the paint on the railing, and they'd tossed the other one altogether.
(I bet they maintain the pool just how the store recommends, lol.)

Anyway, the paint is flaking and there seems to be some sort of corrosion or reaction. Both of which cause junk to float around in the pool.

Any ideas or recommendations for cleaning up/whitening the plastic a bit?

How about for repainting the railing?

 

[Mdragger88]

Use barkeepers friend spray on the plastic - looks like iron stains.
& replace the metal hand rails with pvc - you can build it yourself for cheap. Use schedule 40. You can use acetone to get the ink printing off the pipes.
use stainless steel nuts & bolts to attach them.

 

[Mdragger88]

Its a blend of oxalic & citric acids - that orange will just melt right off - you probably won’t even need to scrub.

 

[superdave5599]

Thanks for the tip on the barkeeper's friend! I'll consider the PVC route, but may first try painting the existing pole one time.

 

[Mdragger88]

It looks like some of the hardware is/has rusted so be sure to replace it all with new stainless. The tiniest bit of rust can cause stains all over the pool. I neglected replacing my hardware for too long & I regret it. It only cost me 5 or 6 bucks.
When i used the bkf it was like magic
I had always used clorox cleanup when I pulled mine out at the beginning & end of each season but it didn’t get everything off then it dawned on me it was iron! This realization didn’t come to me until my pump basket & robot basket started turning brown/orange also.
My handrail is plastic & the replacement costs over $100 so if it ever breaks I will be going the diy pvc route.

 

[superdave5599]

Good note on that hardware, I'll grab some stainless for it.

Anyone have any specific recommendations on paint to try? If not, I'll probably just pick up some Rustoleum primer and paint.

The metal that is/was above the waterline where paint has scratched off seems like it is shiny aluminum. It is non-ferrous. Too bad the old pool's chemistry has messed it up, though maybe that oxidization would have happened to aluminum that was under any water for a long time anyway.

 

[Mdragger88]

There are aluminum etching primers so may wanna look for that. Clean it up as best you can first with a scotchbrite then wipe with acetone or alcohol before applying primer. Some have successfully used a pressure washer to initially clean flaking paint on aluminum as well.
Don’t forget to post your work we love pictures!

 

[superdave5599]

Took the sander to it last night to get all the flaking stuff off.

Some of the pits are pretty bad!

I got an aluminum primer and gave it a good coat to make sure some got in the pits. I'll need to sand some ribs tomorrow as this primer says to wait 48 hours to do another layer, so I imagine that it would also be good to let it cure that long before sanding.