Keeping Pool Stairs from Floating: Tips and Tricks

If you’ve got a sweet set of pool steps, you know they’re vital to your setup. Not only do they keep you safe and steady as you enter and exit the pool, but they also add to the overall pool experience.

But let’s face it, we’ve all had those annoying moments when those pool steps won’t stay put and keep floating to the surface.

Well, fear not! Here are some tips on how to prevent floating pool steps.

How to keep pool steps from floating

Fill them up

Most pool steps come with a nifty little fill hole built right in. This feature makes adding weight to your steps super easy to keep them from floating away. If you’ve got a ladder with a fill hole, the first step is to remove it from the pool and locate the cap or screw that leads to the fill hole. Once you’ve found it, go ahead and unscrew or open it up.

There are two options for filling up that hole to keep your steps weighted down.

First, you can use sand. But let’s be honest: Sand can be messy and painful when emptying your ladder.

So, the better choice is good old H2O. Just open that filling hole, stick a hose inside, and let ‘er rip! Once you’ve filled it up with water, screw that cap back on tightly.

By adding water, you increase the ladder’s overall density, making it more difficult for it to float away when you put it back in the pool.

No Fill Hole? No Problem!

Some pool steps don’t come with a fill hole. That’s okay; we’ve got a solution for that, too. Your best bet is to anchor the ladder to the bottom of the pool.

Start by finding a waterproof container that can be sealed tightly. If you don’t have one, you can easily pick one up at your local pool supply store. Fill it with sand, then seal it tightly. Rinse it off to eliminate any excess sand particles that could cause problems with your filtration system.

Once your container is ready, position it at the ladder’s base to add extra weight and keep it from floating away. If you can’t place it at the base, try tying it to the bottom of the steps with fish string or pool-safe material.

If you’re still having trouble, don’t worry! You can always add more sand-filled containers to your ladder to add more weight and keep those steps anchored down tight.

In the past, I have used some spare plastic-coated exercise weights and tied them to the bottom of the steps. They worked well.

Weight them down outside

You can anchor the steps outside the pool as well as weigh them down from inside the pool.

This will help prevent the steps inside from floating and make them much more stable when climbing into or out of the pool.

If the pool is level with a deck, then you can probably screw the stairs to the deck to prevent them from floating.

In Conclusion

Pool steps are a crucial part of your pool setup. They make it easy to get in and out of the pool safely, but they can also be a pain when you find the pool steps floating up.

By using some of the tips we’ve laid out here you now know how to keep pool ladder from floating up.