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After a bad back got much worse (partial disc collapse collapsed the rest of the way), we discovered that walking into the pool was too dangerous, unstable, and painful for me. The pool was essential hydrotherapy, and it is the zero gravity characteristic of this type of exercise that made it crucial. I cannot use any exercise equipment because I cannot sit at all and cannot exercise under full gravity conditions. So it was the pool or nothing, and my doctors and physical therapists warned me not to ever get less than 30 minutes a day of an aerobic workout. Of course, collapsed and herniated discs are only one of a number of maladies whose sufferers might profit from steps like the ones you see below. People that use walkers and cannot get into their pool anymore—now they can. People with leg, butt or back injuries that make normal steps (house: 7.25", pool: 11") painful. Or how about kids? How about just plain elderly with limited stepping? How about little people (a.k.a. midgets)?
So we tried having someone hold a 15 foot long aluminum pole that went from 5 feet above the pool deck to the bottom of the pool. I'd steady myself getting in. This was much safer than nothing, but still stressful and painful. Once I couldn't stand the stress, I used Ez-Architect to design pool steps that would allow me to enjoy a safe, nonstressful entrance and exit to our pool. You can see it below. The smart, talented, super-capable genius who built it is at bruiserbuilt.com (site is kaputsky). His prices are very reasonable, and he is very quick. It's 100% aluminum and it boasts a 4" rise per step. Compare that to the standard 11" rise for normal pool steps, all the while pondering the ouch factor. My steps are one third the step up and step down, and my back sings James Brown's
I feel Good all the way up or down these steps! I use the 2-feet-on-each-step method, since there's a bit of stress using the one-foot-per-step method.
Why didn't I just go find a low-rise stairs online? I tried. I couldn't find a category, phrase, or expression that was useful for Googling to find low-rise aluminum steps much less low-rise aluminum pool steps, even though I tried low-rise steps, low-rise stairs, walking challenged, accessibility steps, step disabled, step restricted, difficulty with steps, step problems, walking challenged, accessibility stairs, stairs disabled, stairs restricted, difficulty with stairs, and stair problems. It became apparent that no one had such a stairs product, and if I wanted it, I'd have to design it and get it built. So I did.
