Plastic Step Repair, Coping Paint, Possible Leak ..

[roboots21]

Newbie here folks. I have been using my pool for 3 years now (this is my third season with the pool). I have a couple of questions for everyone.

I have a 16' x 36' inground pool. First of all, my coping has turn a disgusting yellow color, and my assumption is that it is from the paint wearing off, as it is a nice white under some the coping seam clips. What type of paint is best to use for this to revive bring back the color of the coping to a nice white? Just a regular outdoor epoxy paint? acrylic?

Next, my stairs have a spot in them that is cracked (plastic stairs). The crack does not appear to be all the way through, but it looks as if it could get worse. Is there a good way to do a simple repair to these? The pool guy before that did my liner put some caulk over the cracks that seemed to work pretty well, but it has since worn off. Could I do this again just to put a barrier between the cracks and the water? Or is this something that the pool level should be dropped for to do the repair with the steps dry? Is there a way to do this repair being under the water?

Finally, I just got my pool open this year about a week ago. I appear to be losing possibly about 1" of water over the course of about 3 days. It has been very warm here in MA the last couple of days (mid 80's). I am not sure if this is normal evaporation or if I am experiencing a leak somewhere. It seems like it lost about a 1/4" of water last night while the pump was off. I keep reading about a dye test. What do you use to test for leaks and how would I go about this? I do not have a bottom drain, so it would either be my return line or my skimmer line that would be leaking if anything, as the liner is only 2 years old. I am wondering also if I might be losing some water through my stairs. This is where I feel that being able to a dye test would help me out, as I would be able to see where my possible water loss is coming from.

Any help is appreciated folks, and thanks in advance.

[yerdnaw]

there are people out there that show this kind of repair, drilling holes and back filling with gravel.

Curious if anyone will share detail with me on the tools and tricks to doing this... I need to get it done quick.

[Jackoallmasternone]

This is what i did. Way to much to tell the whole story that goes with it but it worked for me first thing Dont use spray fome i tried it. it stops the leak but doesn't work as a solid support hints the name foam. I was nervous about cutting holes in the steps or cutting cement out behind them there's no telling where the pipes are at exactly so I chose to cut steps three holes 6 inches around in an oval shape in the unsupported steps one step at a time so I could add and compact dirt with a shovel handle packing all directions while splashing water now in then to get the best compaction until the steps where solid then around the holes I cut out I left room to add hydraulic cement and pushed it under the existing edge of my steps-about 2 inches with my fingers then filled in the rest of the hole untill it was flush with the step I also got some paintable window and door silicone to reinsure the patch don't leak and smeared over the whole area after everything is cleaned and dry hydraulic cement is water proof but its still cement and cement is poores use rubber gluves to mix by hand in a butter bowl only mix as much as u can apply it sets up faster than u can use it and that stuff isn't cheap for three steps I needed 3 small buckets and could have had a little more seems to be working fine if u find pipes and happen to cut/drill into one you want to fix it b4 filling the holes in and may still need to cut the decking to bypass pipes around the steps no matter what it's not much fun and only cut holes in the steps if you can't make it any worse than it is

[Jackoallmasternone]

This is what i did. Way to much to tell the whole story that goes with it but it worked for me first thing Dont use spray fome i tried it. it stops the leak but doesn't work as a solid support hints the name foam. I was nervous about cutting holes in the steps or cutting cement out behind them there's no telling where the pipes are at exactly so I chose to cut steps three holes 6 inches around in an oval shape in the unsupported steps one step at a time so I could add and compact dirt with a shovel handle packing all directions while splashing water now in then to get the best compaction until the steps where solid then around the holes I cut out I left room to add hydraulic cement and pushed it under the existing edge of my steps-about 2 inches with my fingers then filled in the rest of the hole untill it was flush with the step I also got some paintable window and door silicone to reinsure the patch don't leak and smeared over the whole area after everything is cleaned and dry hydraulic cement is water proof but its still cement and cement is poores use rubber gluves to mix by hand in a butter bowl only mix as much as u can apply it sets up faster than u can use it and that stuff isn't cheap for three steps I needed 3 small buckets and could have had a little more seems to be working fine if u find pipes and happen to cut/drill into one you want to fix it b4 filling the holes in and may still need to cut the decking to bypass pipes around the steps no matter what it's not much fun and only cut holes in the steps if you can't make it any worse than it is