Author Topic: I also built stairs out of lumber!  (Read 4800 times)

Syonyk

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I also built stairs out of lumber!
« on: May 03, 2016, 08:55:57 PM »
I can build more than just cinderblock stairs!

For the front of our house, I had a bit more of a drop, so I built a set of redwood stairs. :)

https://syonyk.blogspot.com/2016/04/building-temporary-stairs-with-redwood.html

I used a set of deck blocks (buried) as the base, 4x4 uprights, 2x6 sides, with 2x4 crossmembers (admittedly overkill).

In retrospect, it would have looked a lot better if I'd used redwood 2x8s or 2x10s for the top, but it's not going to last that long before I replace it with a proper deck (I may keep the stairs, though).




paddedhat

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Re: I also built stairs out of lumber!
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2016, 06:47:55 AM »
Looks good. If you reuse the stairs, think about adding another foot board back at the heel. If you study the grain on your stringers, you will see that only supporting the toe results is pretty weak support. Granted, it doesn't fail catastrophically, since it only has 1-1/2" to fall, but cracks running with the grain and split, ruined stringers are pretty common without support at the heal. On large, outdoor stair runs, I occasionally add another piece of 2x, as a stiffener, attached to the stringer, under the first tread, with the grain parallel to the tread.  Oh, and what's with the plumber's strapping heading into the dirt?

Syonyk

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Re: I also built stairs out of lumber!
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2016, 08:14:03 AM »
Looks good. If you reuse the stairs, think about adding another foot board back at the heel.

Not a bad idea, thanks!

Quote
Oh, and what's with the plumber's strapping heading into the dirt?

Explained in the blog post. ;)

It's looped under the deck blocks to anchor the stairs down.  I have no idea what the usual method of anchoring a deck to deck blocks is, but this was the best method I could come up with easily.  The goal is to keep the stairs from flying, and it's a small enough set that a windy day could disrupt them if they weren't anchored down.

lthenderson

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Re: I also built stairs out of lumber!
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2016, 08:54:41 AM »
I have no idea what the usual method of anchoring a deck to deck blocks is, but this was the best method I could come up with easily.  The goal is to keep the stairs from flying, and it's a small enough set that a windy day could disrupt them if they weren't anchored down.

The most common way I've seen using deck blocks is to install several ground anchors and then loop tie downs up and over the joists.

bacchi

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Re: I also built stairs out of lumber!
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2016, 02:52:10 PM »
Are the stringers from a 2x12?
« Last Edit: May 05, 2016, 02:54:41 PM by bacchi »

Syonyk

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Re: I also built stairs out of lumber!
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2016, 04:25:28 PM »
Not sure. I bought them precut. Probably.