Dirt under stairs

[mjnorman]

Hi all. I have a strange thing starting to happen in my pool. I have some wedding cake type stairs I think they are called. A solid shell of pvc type material with a few breathing holes around it and no bottom. I've started to notice tons of dirt collecting on the bottom of the pool under these stairs.

The only solution at present is to completely remove the stairs when I want to vacuum. Due to the size and weight of the stairs this isn't really ideal and since I have it bolted to the deck to keep it from moving around, it's really an ordeal.

Any advice you guys can advise for how to solve something like that? Another problem with these stairs is that the vacuum (ez vac kreepy krauly type) constantly gets stuck behind the stairs. Maybe its just time for some new stairs haha.

 

[ajw22]

You sure that is dirt and not algae under the stairs?

Post a full set of test results.

 

[heikejohn]

Try sticking a water-hose with spray nozzle into the holes. That would force out the dirt.
I'm in the process of doing the same thing. But my suspicion it, there is some algae growing there as well. I will have to pull mine out and give them a good scrubbing with bleach water.

 

[Richard320]

What heikejohn said. Flush it out the next time you need to add water. You could even get real clever and buy a female hose fitting and a piece of PVC pipe so you can get in through the holes and really blast things out.

 

[IL_WS]

mjnorman, please keep us posted. My wife would like me to get some wedding cake stairs with a deck (I've been eyeing the temporary deck thread) for her knees and for ease of our parents.

As it relates to a cleaner getting stuck behind stairs, I have a Pool Rover Jr. robot that kept finding it's way behind and around our stairs. Once there, it moved no more for the rest of the cleaning cycle. To keep this from happening, I made a U-shaped structure out of 4" PVC so the cleaner couldn't get behind the stairs. Haven't had a problem since. See the picture at Pool Rover Junior review-aka Lil Kim

 

[mjnorman]

Thanks for the replies all. Love the idea of the hose blasting it out.

To answer the questions:
1) @ajw22 definitely dirt not algae. Been through SLAM enough times to know when I have algae trust me lol.
FC 5, CYA 60 (upping to 80 since SWG), TA 80, ph abt 7.6

2) @IL_WS funny that you mention pvc. I just drafted up a quick sketch of how I could block that section off with pvc attached to the stairs. After really thinking about it though, I am going to go with a new set of stairs. I do like how sturdy the cake stairs are, just becoming a problem lately so after much debate I bought the Confer 6000x . Hoping with the combination of there being less gap under the rails for the hose to creep into along with the blocking support under the new stairs, this will be enough to keep the vac out, and open enough to allow water circulation. I also bought a twister attachment a while back to try to solve the vac problem, so if all this combined doesn't do it man I dont know.

Will report back middle of next week when I get everything installed! Thanks again!

 

[ranger_ric]

I installed the Confer 6000 stairs this year. Everyone (especially the older folks in the family LOVE Them.. I too have noticed it collecting dirt under the stairs. I lay awake at night thinking of adding a pvc pipe along the edge and maybe hooking it up to the return line so some of the returns blow directly under the stairs.. Haven't dreamed up the ultimate solution yet and time is really tight so I just shove a hose under there when I add water. It never gets all the dirt but it gets it moving around.

 

[mjnorman]

Well I got the new stairs installed. However my kreepy krauly is still constantly stuck behind these new Confer stairs!

I have a way older model, I wonder if a newer model that has that blocking ring around it would help? Anyone have any ideas? Not really wanting to spend the bucks for a rover type robot at the moment, I just want a vac that I can drop in the pool and have it work without having to constantly monitor it! I feel like I'd be better off manually vacuuming at this point.

 

[Blacklisted]

Give the PVC idea IL_WS posted above, I think that's a great idea. How I get dirt etc from behind my ladder is I use a flower water wand that has a removable head and put a driveway sprayer on it to shoot under/ around the stairs. It works great, and I use it to spray the seams on my intex pool that overlap and can get dirt/algae in them easily. Links for reference.

Dramm 30 in. Green Touch N Flow Rain Wand 14033732 - The Home Depot

The TouchN Flow Rain Wand efficiently saves water while watering plants, flowers and shrubbery. The TouchN Flow Rain Wand is equipped with a lever activated valve. Simply squeeze the lever to water and

www.homedepot.com

Sun Joe Solid Brass Sweeper Jet Hose Nozzle SJI-1JHN - The Home Depot

Nothing beats the durability of solid brass construction when it comes to power and performance in the yard and garden. Blast the boat clean, eliminate debris from the deck, or pressure wash the patio

www.homedepot.com