Stair choice

[moppymo]

We plan on building an inground pool- 16 x 28' vinyl liner style- with salt system, I believe. The work should start in the next few weeks.

We were offered the choice of cake style stairs that would have the liner run over them or entry stairs from a side. What would you recommend? We don't have a ton of space- thus the very small pool and one pool guy thought the cake style stairs would give us more space around the pool. Our pool is going to be about 5-6 feet from the house on two sides because of space.

A said note-We have two dogs- not sure if either one will EVER get into the pool but they may....? (one is a boxer, the other a shih tzu) The pool guy said if they do to put a towel over the stair under the water for them to walk on. Not sure if this will even be an issue.

Do the entry stairs tend to deteriorate over time? Do they stain? If one color better than another? Someone once told me to stay away from white- maybe because they discolor, I can't recall. ?

What about cake style stairs? How do they hold up? Will the liner running over them thin or wear faster?

Thank you!

 

[harleysilo]

What material are these stairs going to be made out of? Are the concrete/gunite or plastic molded or steel?

So the wedding cake steps with have the liner over them, the side entry will not?

Are you going to have handrails for the steps?

Our steps have a different vinyl material called Tread-Tex. Page 32 of this show it http://www.scribd.com/doc/77233264/2012 ... r-Brochure

If i could do over my new liner i would have gotten Tread-Tex for the entire bottom of the pool. The difference in slippery vs. not slippery is very subtle but noticeable. We are playing a lot of volleyball and the normal vinyl liner is quite difficult to move on if you are trying to move your body at an angle diving for a ball, feet just slip out.

 

[reesedj]

We had the same decision come design-time as well...

We chose the side entry stairs; in a color matching the liner. While we liked the look of the in-pool steps with liner going over, I didn't want to take away any swimming space in the pool. Our pool dimensions are around the same, and the in-pool steps would have taken away too much of the swimming area given the relative size (our preference).

I would post pics, but we are in the same pre-construction point as you.

 

[moppymo]

Thank you both for your replies! I don't know how I missed them.

Good luck on your pool install Reesedj!! I hope it goes well!

We are actually thinking about fiberglass now as an option. The stairs would already be in the pool and not take up any additional space. We have VERY little surround space- the three feet of concrete is even going to be a tough squeeze!!!