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Screws with washers? And turkey-baste undiluted chlorine into the holes beforehand?

The ladder itself looks beat. For now I am wondering if your ladder step itself has stuff growing under it. Is the step solid or is it a sort of sideways C-shape? There might be algae growing under the C also. If so, get the toothbrush on it while we figure everything else out.
 
Marians idea with the turkey baster sounds funny but might just work. Thinking outside the box for sure.

I'd be careful with the screws and washers though. I was thinking the same thing provided you could find stainless steel components. What stopped me from suggesting it is it will leave sharp edges and nuts that someone could possibly injure themselves on. Granted we aren't talking about life threatening injuries but skinned knuckles and toes aren't much fun.

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It looks like there is already some kind of bolt-thingy below the hole. (I am not mechanically literate...)

Also, there is already bent metal (or something) on the lower left rung which led me to say the ladder looked beat. Any progress on digging the steps out, Wheelie?
 
I had a scrape around the bricks and it looks completely solid.

The ladder is not attached in the water - it has plastic discs against the side. I'll have to get in the pool to clean under the stair - that can wait as we have people over at the moment!

The bolt below the hole is where the rung is attached. There is nothing bent - I think it's just the rung showing behind.
 
Silly question Wheelie - How important is the ladder to you? Do you actually use it?
An option I would consider would be removing it completely if its an algae risk and isn't useful then I'd think about cutting it off at the bricks, lifting it out, making good what's left behind and that's another risk out of the way.

Of course if it does get used, then my idea ends right there - lol !!!
 
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I don't have a ladder in mine and certainly don't wish I did.
I want as few foreign objects in my pool as possible - I have enough to deal with with Mother Nature and everything she tosses in.

Fished a dead baby possum out of the skimmer basket last week - I hate to think what that did to my Chlorine levels - lol !!!
And fished a dead adult possum out a couple of years ago - they must think they can swim around here !!
 

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I don't think we can remove the paver without causing damage. I need my husband to help me and he thinks I've gone mad and should stop worrying about the ladder.

SLAM is going okay although I did neglect the pool for five hours while we had lunch and swam. It dropped down to 4.

I'm feeling quite demoralised - if the ladder is the issue and I can't resolve it the SLAM seems a bit pointless and might as well resign myself to adding copious amounts of chlorine to the pool for the rest of my days! I've added 11 litres today. It's not very sustainable.
 
Lets act as if the ladder is there to stay. We can/will get your pool cleaned out.

Are there any holes where water can get INSIDE the ladder?

You say there are plastic disks on the ladder where it touches the wall. Can you pull the ladder out a tiny bit to "clean" around the disks?

Take a stiff brush in the pool with you and clean the underside of the ladder rungs the best you can. REALLY work on the "corners" where the rungs met the rails. Try a toothbrush to get in there good.

Check your local rules before you take the ladder out. So places say there must be some sort of exit from the deep end.

Kim
 
Yes there are holes where water gets inside the ladder. I need to block these.

I can pull the ladder away and clean around the disks. My husband had a look under the rung today with goggles on and said it didn't look dirty or algaefied but I'll get him to clean it tomorrow night. It's a bit hard for me to manage with a baby around.
 
Do you know who built it? If it was an owner build maybe they went with a non standard mounting technique.

Do you ever need to close your pool due to freezing conditions?

Take a look at the pavers on the edge are the thick (2.5 inches or so) or on the thinner side?

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Wheelie- don't be discouraged. Your doing a great job- you also have to work around the other things that happen in life!

Just scrub around the ladder as is for the moment and keep up the FC above 12 checking whenever possible.

We're here to help you through. It seems hard right now but once you've got this sorted you'll be amazed at the difference it will make to looking after your pool.
 
I do not really want to say this out loud but......I think you found why your FC is being used up so fast :( You have an algae farm growing inside your ladder. You can do nothing about it but work on keeping the FC up to "fight".

You can use the turkey baster idea to put "pure" bleach in the holes THEN fill the holes up someway or you can check into replacing the ladder or you can just ride it out and see what happens living with it like it is.

How long have you been with the pool? How has the water looked before you found TFP?

Kim
 
Yes I feel like the ladder is the problem. I want to remove it - I suspect it's been there since the pool was built. I don't know how old the pool is but I reckon 20 years. I know it was here when the last people bought the house over 10 years ago.

We bought the house last May and to be honest the pool looked okay. Not crystal clear like now but pretty good. It was cold from may to October and we had algicide pool drops in pool and the last owner left solid chlorine in the skimmer so it survived. In the summer we've been using test strips and adding chlorine and it's been okay. It's only now since doing the SLAM that I can see the colour of the drainage thing in the bottom of the pool so there is a noticeable improvement.

But with the ladder there it's like throwing chlorine away.
 

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