Leave stairs in the pool over winter?

[Pidge]

Hi
My pool freezes up completely in the winter (I'm in Canada). I've had a pool for 30+ years but getting the stairs out gets harder every year!
I'm thinking of taking the rails out but letting the stairs in for the winter...
Will this damage the stairs? Will they be crusted up with algae in the spring?
Thoughts...
TIA

 

[Selenap]

A frozen pool won’t make algae. As long as you reopen around 16 Celsius. The steps are plastic resin of some sort I’m sure, so I’d be concerned if the weight, expansion and contraction of ice would crack them. Idk

 

[Joe kipp]

I always pull my stairs out in winter so I can get the cover over the pool. The first year I was going to leave them in but I couldn't figure out a way to get the cover around them where leaves would not get in.

 

[Mdragger88]

I have large wedding cake steps & i leave them in. Algea forming isn’t a problem as my fc never goes to minimum for my cya through the winter.
I just remove the hand rail so i can put the cover on. I live in the southern United States so although we do get some freezing (ice in the pool) it’s short lived unlike where u live. I agree with those above that you should probably remove them to prevent cracking/warping.

 

[Ellenb]

I have large wedding cake steps & i leave them in. Algea forming isn’t a problem as my fc never goes to minimum for my cya through the winter.
I just remove the hand rail so i can put the cover on. I live in the southern United States so although we do get some freezing (ice in the pool) it’s short lived unlike where u live. I agree with those above that you should probably remove them to prevent cracking/warping.

I have the cake steps as well. This is my first season to close. Do you have sand ballast bags that you leave in as well? I considering leaving the sand bags and steps in for the winter.

 

[Mdragger88]

I use 4 bleach bottles with dry concrete in them tied to the back underneath with a rope. They are capped with duct tape then the regular cap to prevent water from getting in (creating algae).
In the winter I just sit the bottles on the 2nd step because i have to get wet to remove/put back the rope& bottles when i clean the steps