Help with repair to inground pool stairs

[humongous]

Bought my house about 4 years ago and hadn't had really any issues until this summer. The previous owner said his 450 pound friends entire foot went through the top stair and his repair seems to be 2 layers of bead board and putty around that also some decent size cracks in the bead board where he said the foot when through and a bunch of looks like underwater epoxy he slapped on it but it's still cracked. After opening to the pool this summer I noticed alot of green algae around the putty so I scrubbed it away but some of it appears to be embedded into the putty. As a rule no one steps on that step at all but it seems it's run it's jury rigged course. I tried to pull the bead board up once but I would have to put some serious force on it to get it up and worried about what's underneath. Having a baby this year and recently going through bankruptcy I just don't have the funds to pay for a repair or drop 250-300 bucks on a kit. So I am looking suggestions for a cheap quick fix to get me by. Perhaps a new layer of a different material? Or should I just scrape up all the old putty and put a full new layer all the way around the bead board?

Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated,
Thanks

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Our experts will always give you their onion on the best method for repair. In this case, it may still be expensive, but if there is a work-around, @jimmythegreek would know. Good luck!

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[humongous]

Welcome to TFP! Our experts will always give you their onion on the best method for repair. In this case, it may still be expensive, but if there is a work-around, @jimmythegreek would know. Good luck!

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks for the welcome! I don't mind putting in the work or draining down past the step to get to it. I don't care if it's ugly just functional. hopefully he can give me some sound advice.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Drain down another step. Pry that junk up. Fill the void with concrete to just below level of step. Be very careful to not overfill. Sand the edges a little lower to receive new material to be anle to feather it in. Get some bondo amd some fiberglass matting. Body supply shop or online has larger chopped strand mat. Layer it in and keep adding layers. Plenty of YouTube videos of it. You can even shape the top coats amd make the pattern with a file/dremel to match the rest of the steps. Then top coat with white gel coat. It will cost you 100 bucks tops amd some labor. It's the only proper fix.

 

[humongous]

Drain down another step. Pry that junk up. Fill the void with concrete to just below level of step. Be very careful to not overfill. Sand the edges a little lower to receive new material to be anle to feather it in. Get some bondo amd some fiberglass matting. Body supply shop or online has larger chopped strand mat. Layer it in and keep adding layers. Plenty of YouTube videos of it. You can even shape the top coats amd make the pattern with a file/dremel to match the rest of the steps. Then top coat with white gel coat. It will cost you 100 bucks tops amd some labor. It's the only proper fix.

Excellent sounds very doable, thanks for your advice!