Repairing wedding cake stairs

[mjnorman]

Hi all! So I have these wedding cake stairs that we absolutely love.

They have weighted cylinders that slide down and hang on a little lip in one of the steps. The only problem is that where the weights "hang" that little lip has started to tear off.

Is there anyway to repair this or somehow replace this lip ? These weights are full of sand so quite heavy. Any smart folks have any ideas? We haven't been able to find ANY wedding cake stairs that are anywhere near this. We HATE the ladder we had to replace it with!

 

[Mdragger88]

What does the lid of the cylinder look like.
Could u just glue/ epoxy the lid & that loose piece back in place (so you still have a solid step) & then weigh the steps down another way? Ditching the part that holds the sand.
I have similar steps & i do put vacuum sealed packs of sand in it but not as much as it will hold if it were loose (cuz algae ) then i also have 4 sealed bleach jugs filled with concrete that i hang from the inside with a rope. That coupled with securing the handrail keeps them in place.

 

[Mdragger88]

These are the steps i have

Smith Pools & Spas

 

[mjnorman]

These are the steps i have

Smith Pools & Spas

Thanks for the reply. I attached some more pictures. The steps themselves are hollow inside, so I don't know if bags of sand would work.

I did think about putting some kind of metal loop around the top of the cylinder that could both keep it from sliding down and be supported to either side. I just hate to spend 600 bucks when they are fine except for that

 

[Mdragger88]

My steps are hollow on the inside too- i loop the rope through the bleach bottle handles resting the bottles on the pool floor (i make the rope long enough that i can reach it from the outside of the pool).
I then tip the steps & fish the rope through the holes in the back of the steps so the bleach bottles are now under the steps. Then i pull the bottles/ rope up & tie it between 2 holes so they are now hanging from the steps & weighing them down.
Sand bags aren’t recommended because they will get filled with algae. You need something that can be filled & sealed.
Here’s some pics- mine are just sitting on the steps right now because I haven’t connected the handrail yet

 

[mjnorman]

Yeah that does make sense. If I were to just use the top of the cylinder and glue or somehow fasten to cover that hole it would have to be very strong, as it would need to support someone's weight. I wonder if epoxy would do it. Or if epoxy would do it, I wonder if just epoxy on that lip where it's torn would do the trick...hmmm

 

[Mdragger88]

Yeah that does make sense. If I were to just use the top of the cylinder and glue or somehow fasten to cover that hole it would have to be very strong, as it would need to support someone's weight. I wonder if epoxy would do it. Or if epoxy would do it, I wonder if just epoxy on that lip where it's torn would do the trick...hmmm

Stainless screws from underneath through the lip of the cover & the side of the circle.
Also - i put the little vacuum sealed bags of sand IN the ballast (cylinder) - i only have one.
The pool installer filled it with loose sand against my wishes & it was a green nasty mess in short order so i came up with the food saver plan.
It wasn’t ever enough to weigh them down anyway which is why i have the bleach jugs.
Here’s some more ideas for weights

560532A2-9A76-466A-A72D-32B214DD927B.jpeg

• Mdragger88
• Jul 27, 2021

EA14A0FE-77E5-46E7-9BCB-0DFA7B10328C.jpeg

• Mdragger88
• Jul 27, 2021

C332B251-795C-460B-A7EC-8B48BAD25AB1.jpeg

• Mdragger88
• Jul 27, 2021