Careful building of steps and stair

Press, 14 August 1980, Page 9

Careful building of steps and stair

One of the projects which always seems to cause a lot if trouble to the home handyman is the building of steps or stairs. These are very often essential for decks or patios, or even reaching the back door if the garden slopes steeply, and yet few people seem willing to tackle them. But if the work is approached in a careful and sensible manner, very

workmanlike steps can be built at a cost much below a factory made product. The first step is to decide where the line of approach is to be made — in other words, the depth from the floor of the deck to ground level. Steps are made of fhree basic components — stringers, risers and treads. If you have “open”steps to a deck you can, of course, leave out the risers. It is very important to get the right proportion between the riser and the tread; if this is wrong the whole construction will look awkward. If you have a low deck and want a long and broad flight of steps, think in terms of having 700 mm treads and 100 mm risers. This will give a broad and sweeping approach which will make use of the slope of the ground. If you have a rather high deck, or not too much space for stairs, then think in terms of 480 mm treads, with risers to 100 mm. An even steeper rise can be created by using treads of 400 mm and risers of 135 mm. If you have a steep climb and are very restricted for space then it is possible to use steps with risers of 177 mm and treads of 280 mm. As far as width is con-< cerned; this can range upward from about one but is best to go below this figure, Many woods are suitable for steps but generally pine or hardwood is used as this is easily obtained and works fairly easily. One point here is to keep your tools sharp. Cuts will be made much more cleanly and with much less effort with sharp chisels and planes. Stringers are usually made from 50mm by 250 mm or 50mm by 300 mm timbers, The stringers must be notched to take the treads with the risers fitted at the rear. If this method is adopted the treads can be securely nailed or bolted directly to the stringers, If you decide to have a wide flight of steps;supporting stringers should be placed at about every 12 metres. When built and placed in position the top step should be securely bolted to the beam or post of the deck. With outside steps care should be taken when placing the base of the steps in position. They should be bolted to an anchor post sunk into the ground or fixed to a small concrete slab held in position by bricks, Being in contact with the earth they will be very much under attack from damp and insects, it is worth soaking them heavily in preservative. It is also well worth soaking any cuts in the stringers risers or treads with preservatives as open end grain is always likely to be attacked by rot, Hand rails ’ should always be fitted to outside steps or stairs; they add to the appearance and there is always a danger of the steps becoming very slippery in wet weather. If a soft wood is used it may be advisable to stain or paint the steps with but hardwoodthis is not necessary and they can be

’t to weather naturally.