Hi, I have two escutcheon plates at the bottom of my handrails that bug the heck out of me. They don't fit snuggly around the railing base so everytime I try to pull my pool cover off the cover gets caught on these plates. Bugs the heck out of me. I guess they are decorative plates but is there any reason why the pool builder used plates that dont fit snuggly around the base? Is that done on purpose. And how would I replace them? They're both solid escutcheons. I see no way to remove them without physically cutting them in half. I cannot see any screws underneath them to remove the railings. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanx
Escutcheon plates removal
- Thread starter Adwizard
- Start date
Hey wiz !!!! Slide up the plate and get us a pic underneath.
You can better secure them to the pipe with electrical tape. Use a different tape (painters tape for example) at the height of the plate as a guide. Then wrap electrical tape around the pipe until the plate is snug. This will keep most of the electrical tape below where you won't see it.
It would help greatly to be able to remove the pipes first. With no bolt under there to loosen they may be cemented in place. Or they may pop out with some love taps from below.
If they are permanently in there, you'll have to cut/break the old plates off, but they make hinged ones or 2 piece ones for that exact purpose. They don't look as nice, but a shiny 2 piece-r will look nicer than an old tarnished one.
You can better secure them to the pipe with electrical tape. Use a different tape (painters tape for example) at the height of the plate as a guide. Then wrap electrical tape around the pipe until the plate is snug. This will keep most of the electrical tape below where you won't see it.
It would help greatly to be able to remove the pipes first. With no bolt under there to loosen they may be cemented in place. Or they may pop out with some love taps from below.
If they are permanently in there, you'll have to cut/break the old plates off, but they make hinged ones or 2 piece ones for that exact purpose. They don't look as nice, but a shiny 2 piece-r will look nicer than an old tarnished one.
That looks like debris / sand under there and not mortar. See if it scrapes out. And there is probably a bolt down there
- May 3, 2014
- 58,545
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I suspect there is a clamp, as the railing had to be bonded, but they filled in over it with grout or possibly sand if those are pavers.
Thanks everyone.. I will investigate to see if indeed there are screws under there BUT did the pool builder use escutcheon plates that size for a reason? Or is it simply he ordered the wrong size and was too lazy to order a better fit? Or correct size? Do they need to be that big?
- May 3, 2014
- 58,545
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Not sure on the size. Mine are pretty tight, but I have a composite railing not metal.
A smaller one may have too small of an inside diameter. Or those were available off the shelf at the time. Shop around and you may find a better fit. But you also need to cover the hole so look at both measurements.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,450
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
What you have there is a lazy paver installer that did square cuts on the paver instead of rounded cuts (either laziness or ignorance of how to cut pavers). Then to hide the sloppy job, they used a cover plate much larger than what was needed. Also looks like the rail handle was sunk right into the ground without sleeves and possibly with no connection to the bonding grid.
You can lift all those pavers around it to see what’s going on underneath. But you may be opening a can of worms.
You can lift all those pavers around it to see what’s going on underneath. But you may be opening a can of worms.