How to build/make outdoor stairs?
Question:I am looking to find outdoor stair leading to a front porch, how to make. I'm not sure yet if I will be doing concret or wood. Depends how much it entails. Any help/info would be awsome.
Answers:
What i would do if your doing it your self is to cut stringers out of pressure treated wood and let them land on a l concrete slab
Cutting steps is pretty easy job the trick is to know the math that goes into doing them
First off you need to establish the total rise of the step that's from the top of decking to the ground after you have established your total rise you need to calculate the unit rise
first off the codes where i live say the maximum rise for steps is 8" but i usually try to go 7.5 inches lets say we want are unit rise to be 7.5 take take your total rise and divide it by 7.5
for an example lets say are total rise is 96 inches 96/7.5=12.8
so round to 13 and that's the number of risers that's in your steps now take your total rise and divide it by the amount of risers in your steps which in my example is 13 so 96/13=7.3846 subtract the 7 and multiply .3846 by 16 .3846*16=6.1536 which is 6 six tenths so your riser heights are gonna be 7 3/8 and the amount of risers in your step is 13
know you need to calculate the unit run which is your tread depth i try to make mine 10.5 but you can make it what ever just make sure your steps stay around 36 38 degrees you don't want them to shallow or steep i like to keep my steps one step down from the top of my deck so if you want that subtract on riser off of your step's
Know just cut your stringer out i am assuming you know how to use a framing square put it in place and mark where you need to put your slab the dig the hole about 2' deep get you some quick mix and there you have email me if you need a more in depth guide
You can get premade treated step stringers from your local home improvement center, then its a matter of getting the treated 1 x 10's to make the steps.
Should be a couple of hours at most to assemble.
Woods cheaper.
They have a kit
at home depot.
If not near you,
they can still give
you all the info you
need at your local
hardware.
problem with kits is the rise seldom works out right, you need to measure the distance up and devide by how many stairs you think need to go there, this gives you the proper rise.
If you are going to go with wood you need to cut the measurement of the thickness of the wood off the bottom of the first jack,,,wha la,,stairs!
Pre-made concrete steps is the way I would go. They look good and are pretty much maintenance free.
You can have them delivered.
Like 'littlebi' said, your house needs to conform to the premade stairs. If you buy 3' stringers, you must have 3' from the ground to the finished floor or they wont't work. You'll end up with one big step or one small step.
Cutting stair stringers is pretty easy. You measure from the porch decking to the ground/landing. Set a 4' level on the porch and let it stick out over where the stairs will land. Measure the distance to the ground. Divide that number by 7. That gives you the number of steps you'll have. Say it's 38 3/4", div by 7" equals 5.53. That's five steps. Now div 38 3/4" by five, which is 7 3/4". That's how tall each step is. If that's too tall (if you're short/crippled/etc), div by 6 instead. That makes each step 6 1/2" tall.
Regardless of which type you make yourself, that's how you figure the rise (height) for each step. Concrete, however, is a bit more work to implement than wood is, and you won't really know if you've done it right until you strip the froms and try them out. At least with wood, if you screw up, it's not too hard to tear them out.
BTW, six and eight are the magic numbers. Your steps should be no shorter than six inches or taller than eight inches. That's why you aim for seven and adjust from there. Eight is pretty tall for a step, though, which is why in my example above, I'd have chosen 6 1/2 instead of 7 3/4. Old people and kids have a harder time with taller steps.
stair cases are tuff.
All kinds of answers are given.
Hire a dude to finish, and watch.
This is out of your league
This is definately a tough job. I am a carpenter and when cutting stringers(step supports) I always make a template out of scrap wood just to make sure it's going to work before wasting a good expensive piece of wood.
There are many things to take into account and you really shouldn't try it yourself, your making yourself liable if its not to code and someone gets hurt walking on 'em. Check with your local building department about codes and permits required( in MI you need a mechanical permit for stairs)
At the very least get 3 estimates from local contractors. Ask lots of questions about the rise(step up) and run (where your foot goes) dimensions.
Seems everyone forgot an important item when figuring out stairs, once the stringer is cut for wood, it needs to be shortened on the bottom to compensate for the thickness of the tread.
Good luck.
You can give the 10 to Shooshfi. It's all you need do. They are sold in various heights and can be subtracted from or added too, and the store can aid you in determining the better size by having your measurements from Ground level to porch level.
They can be supported at ground level on concrete poured footers, or pavers set level. They can be braced with the same stock you'll use for the risers and treads, and can be attached to the house structure if possible with a "ledger, at the house.
This should all be treated material, galvanized decking screws, and to them you can add rails if you choose.
Steven Wolf
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