Hi All,
My wife and I own a verrrrrry old in-ground pool (1931), which we acquired in June 2010 when we bought our house. (Story: http://www.troublefreepool.com/post185159.html#p185159 ). We got it looking pretty nice, as can be seen further down in that thread.
The first summer was devoted purely to getting the pool in workable condition; and I left the pool filled through the summer of 2011 which kept me from dealing with the ladder.
Below is a photo of the ladder in its current state; as you can see, it's merely iron rebar anchored into the concrete wall. But the iron has corrosion galore, and while pool paint kept that from interfering too much in 2010, last year I constantly fought a recurring metals problem in the water.
When we closed the pool at the end of summer 2011, I drained it fully. We're intending to repaint it AND I'm going to do something about the pool ladder. My plans are to purchase a replacement ladder (the standard 3- or 4-rung type), drill the deck for the anchors, and install the replacement ladder right over the existing one. I'm trying to balance two concerns here, however:
1) Our pool is on slanted ground, which means the water line is relatively low at the ladder end of the pool. A three-rung ladder while mean quite a reach to the bottom rung (I think a 4-rung might, also). So I was thinking that leaving the existing ladder--or at least the bottom rung--in place as a helper rung.
2) If I *do* that, what would you folks recommend as the best way to seal the iron rung so that I can minimize potential metals issues in the future?
And a third question: what would you recommend as the best tool for removing the existing rugs as closely to the wall as possible?
The current state of affairs:
best wishes,
David
My wife and I own a verrrrrry old in-ground pool (1931), which we acquired in June 2010 when we bought our house. (Story: http://www.troublefreepool.com/post185159.html#p185159 ). We got it looking pretty nice, as can be seen further down in that thread.
The first summer was devoted purely to getting the pool in workable condition; and I left the pool filled through the summer of 2011 which kept me from dealing with the ladder.
Below is a photo of the ladder in its current state; as you can see, it's merely iron rebar anchored into the concrete wall. But the iron has corrosion galore, and while pool paint kept that from interfering too much in 2010, last year I constantly fought a recurring metals problem in the water.
When we closed the pool at the end of summer 2011, I drained it fully. We're intending to repaint it AND I'm going to do something about the pool ladder. My plans are to purchase a replacement ladder (the standard 3- or 4-rung type), drill the deck for the anchors, and install the replacement ladder right over the existing one. I'm trying to balance two concerns here, however:
1) Our pool is on slanted ground, which means the water line is relatively low at the ladder end of the pool. A three-rung ladder while mean quite a reach to the bottom rung (I think a 4-rung might, also). So I was thinking that leaving the existing ladder--or at least the bottom rung--in place as a helper rung.
2) If I *do* that, what would you folks recommend as the best way to seal the iron rung so that I can minimize potential metals issues in the future?
And a third question: what would you recommend as the best tool for removing the existing rugs as closely to the wall as possible?
The current state of affairs:
best wishes,
David
