How many steps do I need?

Question

I have a wood deck off of my kitchen, but there are no stairs to get into the backyard. The "floor" of the deck is exactly 3 feet off of the ground. Can I buy something pre-fabricated? What do you suggest?

Answer 1

You can purchase the stair rails from home depot or lowes. They are by the ballisters and fencing material.I would buy 3 of them so you can make you steps at least 4 to 5 feet wide. I use the brackets for hanging 2x6 studs to attach to deck and you can lay some stepping stones under them so there is no contact with the ground(recess the stones in the ground to make it level)If you go with 4' wide you will need (3)8' 1x6's for the treads. If 5' wide then (3) 1x6x10's for the treads. Leave about 4-6" overhang on the sides and center the third stair form.

Answer 2

3 feet, plus or minus, will give you a riser height of 6", with 6 risers. 6 risers require 5 treads. If you allow a nosing of 1-1/4", and include solid risers (you cannot have a gap of 4" or greater between the risers, so you might as well close them, it makes the stairs more rigid, anyway), your tread depth would be a total of 11-1/4". This gives you 10" of run for every 6 inches of rise; with a total run of approximately 50", depending on where you install the risers, in front of the stringer, or behind it (I know a lot of carpenters who insist on installing the risers from behind the stringers - don't know why).

You are allowed only 3/8" difference between the shortest & tallest riser, & the same discrepancy for the treads. This makes it almost impossible to install stairs using any type of pre-fabricated stringers.

Most of the time, it's easier to pour a concrete landing (with frost protection where it is required). This way, you don't have to worry about how level the ground is at your landing area.

Don't forget to adjust the stringers for the tread thickness; you just cut an amount equal to the tread thickness off of the bottom of each riser assembly. (Another good argument against the pre-fabricated stair stringers.)

You can either take on the challenge of learning to cut stairs, or hire a pro. It shouldn't take long, but don't expect to get a price break just because it is less than a full day's work. After all, the guy has to find something to do with the 3 or four hours he'll have left; not always an easy thing to do. Maybe you should have him install the stair rail and balusters, too.

Answer 3

You need only one step and the sell prefab steps at home depot Good Luck

Answer 4

Those stores do sell pre-cut stringers, but remember - stairs are all supposed to have the same riser height to prevent tripping,  which is why carpenters cut their own.