I need some advice! My pool is getting half drained tomorrow to replace a light, and I have to DIY the step patch since no one will take such a small job. I bought pool plaster patch powder and paint, but I’m worried about chiseling out the whole top half of the step. Is there a way to just patch the holes without removing the entire section? If I only patch the holes and paint over them, will they just fall out?
Thanks for any tips!
Use a pressure washer. They operate well even in the water 
You should chip away loose delaminated plaster and adhere to the plaster repair kit’s instructions instead of painting the plaster, in my opinion. It is not necessary to chip all the way through to the gunite; you can skip the entire top step.
What is your question? “I know what I need to do but I don’t want to do it and it will fail if I do it the short cut way”
Seriously, who empties a pool to repair a light?
@Umbrielle Obviously someone that does not understand what they are doing 
@Umbrielle I drained my spa because it just took a few minutes and I didn’t need to get wet.
@Umbrielle Our regulation is that water must be 78° or greater. You can either warm up the pool or empty it halfway so we can enter with waders. Also, if there is anything inside the conduit that has to be chipped out, it must be drained, and if the screw is stripped, it must be drilled out. Lots of reasons to empty the pool to repair a bulb.