Ladder help. Its too high.

[JenfromNC]

My pool builders are a bunch of idiot doofuses and I’m no long speaking to them. I have many bad words to say. Anyyyyway.
we are eventually going to have our auto cover we paid for installed. So our deep end ladder is on hinges so it will tilt out of the water so we can close the cover. The pool builder installed what must be a regular ladder meant to go inside the mount things set in the concrete… but instead the hinge things are in the concrete so the ladder sits on top of the concrete and is too high. the Lowest step in the water is too high up for my older kid to use it and my two younger kids look like monkeys doing gymnastics trying to use the rails to pull themselves high enough to get their feet on it.

ok. So a different ladder must exist, right? Or a longer one that still works on these hinges? Can someone tell me what i need or what it’s called? I looked on INYOpool and didn’t immediately see anything that looked right.



also… should it have a locking pin or something for the hinge? It’s super wobbly and unstable. The pool builder said that’s just how they work and left. Cannot possibly be right. It feels so unstable i worry in a storm it would flip over and smack the cover.

 

[Oly]

How is the hinge attached to the bottom of the ladder arms. You may be able to cut several inches from each of the ladder arms and reattach the hinge. That will make the ladder rungs sit lower in the water.

 

[Newdude]

ok. So a different ladder must exist, right

No way yours is right. I imagine the supply issues / shortages had a lot to do with the PB trying to make do. I would not accept an unusable ladder. Unleash your swimmer safety beast if need be.

also… should it have a locking pin or something for the hinge? It’s super wobbly and unstable

@YippeeSkippy has one. Miss Maddie, what says you ?

 

[JamesW]

Contact the ladder manufacturer for their opinion.

What is the make and model of the ladder, anchor cups and hinged anchor assemblies?

Did they cut the ladder down any?

Here are two hinged ladder anchors that say that you have to cut 4" from the ladder when you use the hinged anchors.

Installation requires 4" to be cut off of the ladder.

Snap-Lok Hinge Bracket Assembly | Pool Parts | S.R.Smith

The Snap-Lok Hinge Bracket Assembly is a pair of stainless steel hinge brackets. The assembly retrofits existing ladders for raising and lowering and is recommended for Snap-Lok ladders. I

www.srsmith.com

Hinged Ladder Anchor | Pool Parts & Accessories | S.R.Smith

Recommended for residential ladders, this stainless steel hinge bracket pair allows raising and lowering of new and existing ladders.

www.srsmith.com

 

[JenfromNC]

Did they cut the ladder down any?

Here are two hinged ladder anchors that say that you have to cut 4" from the ladder when you use the hinged anchors.

Well that makes sense!!


i have no idea what brand the the ladder is. They didn’t bring us a ladder or a handle for two months and when they did show up with them, it’s not what we wanted. i don’t know if supply issues or incompetency.

the hinge visually looks like this one, but can’t verify. PERMA-CAST Johnny Hinge Ladder Hinge in Bronze-JH-0019-B - The Home Depot the photos of it don’t show a locking pin, but i did find a video showing someone pushing it back toward the pool once it’s tilted and that holds it in place better. I guess the guy who installed it didn’t know that’s how it worked. I hate these people. It’s been a complete poop show.

 

[jamjam]

Agree with cutting the ladder down.

 

[PoolGate]

I would have used a Saftron or SR Smith that has cups for the ladder to go into and is completely removeable. You can do that now but it would require your deck be core-drilled. I assume they properly installed the ladder to your pool's bonding wire? My local pool store gave me a quote for installing a pool rail for around $1200 which included the necessary core drilling.

 

[JenfromNC]

It has some sort of cups and the cups were wired in before the concrete was poured. I don’t know if the cups are universal or what as they had the cups long before the ladder showed up, and we have the ladder way before they brought the hinges over. They claimed they had issues finding the hinges, and they may well have, but we were straight up lied to about so much stuff at this point, i put no trust on anything these people said or did.

 

[JamesW]

The ladder treads should have a part number on the top or bottom.

The ladder cups might not be back far enough to create enough tension to make the ladder feel secure.

 

[Bill1974]

Doesn't look like the legs on the pool deck side were cut down to accommodate hinges. Generally I think the top step on the ladder is at the pools normal water level of just above (unless you have a larger than normal distance between the water level and pool deck). Measure the distance between the bottom of the ladder (where it contacts the pool wall) down to where the pool wall start to angle into the pool. If cutting a few inches off of this ladder is not an option, getting a 4 or 5 step is an option (they will also have to be cut down). I am going to suspect hinged ladder are generally more flexible than ones mounted in pockets (mine is more rigid when installed than when it is not. Another option would be a commercial grade ladder, they are typically most expensive but also heavier built.

 

[duckcmmndr]

I am guessing the legs on the deck side need to be cut down the depth of the anchor below the concrete...about 3-4 inches. My top step is right at to slightly below the full pool level.

I agree with you on the make and model. I attached the instruction sheet. It should be pretty straight forward to remove them and cut some off the bottom of the deck side ladder legs. You will have to remove it from the anchors that are in the deck to twist the hinge to get them out...at that point you can measure down to determine how much to cut off.

Technically the PB should do all of this...but if they are goofballs, it might be less headache to just do it yourself. It says for removal turn it counter clockwise 12 full turns then tap out with hammer.

 

[jamjam]

only thing about cutting it down is that when it is folded back the center of balance will be closer to the pool and it might want to right itself - though i agree they need to be cut down.

 

[JamesW]

If you slide the ladder forward, the hinge won't be able to rotate because the front part will be too far forward.

Or, you can create some sort of tie down for the ladder to keep it from rotating back upright when the cover its closed.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Your hinges are a bit different from mine. Mine are contained by a heavy duty locking pin that you pull out to lower it, then when lifting up again you lock it in to position with the locking pin.