On This Page: Deck Basics... Building Stairs... Building Handrails... Old House Porch Rebuilding...
Building A Simple Deck
When this new house needed a way to reach the front door, the quick-and-cheap solution was to build a small deck with stairs.
Extending An Existing Deck
When a new hot tub used up most of the existing deck, this family decided to simply add a 6-foot strip of new deck. Expanding the deck only required 2 rows of posts, a row of deck joists, and some new deck boards.
A Heavy-Duty Concrete
Footing For
A Deck Or Porch
It only took a few minutes to build the forms for a 16"x16" poured concrete footing. With an L-shaped anchor bolt and metal post bracket, this footing will resist uplifting forces (from wind) and should never settle.
On This Page: Deck Basics... Building Stairs... Building Handrails... Old House Porch Rebuilding...
How To Lay Out Stair Stringers:
The hardest part of building stairs is figuring out how to cut the notches in the stringers, which are the angled support boards that hold everything together.
Building Short Stairs For A Porch Or Deck
This long set of steps was built from 4-step pre-cut stair stringers, which were cut in half. Two posts were set deep in the ground to support the lower end of the stairs. Handrails were added later.
Building Deck Stairs With Composite Treads And Risers
While extending a deck, I built new stairs and used the maintenance-free deck boards for the finished surfaces.
Tall Stairs For A Second-Story Deck
Originally, the deck on this house could only be reached by walking through the house.
We removed part of the handrail and built a small extension to the deck, and supported it with long 4x4 posts. Then we cut 4 stair stringers from 16-foot 2x12s and anchored them with 2 pairs of 4x4 posts set deep in the ground.
On This Page: Deck Basics... Building Stairs... Building Handrails... Old House Porch Rebuilding...
Installing Synthetic Handrails:
While rebuilding the deck we installed handrail posts and a maintenance-free railing system.
Building Simple 2x4 Handrails
For many years this deck above a walk-out basement had no handrail. How do building inspectors miss that? The new owner just wanted a quick-and-easy handrail, so the solution was this simple painted 2x4 railing.
Building Sections Of Handrail Using
Traditional Turned Spindles
Building your own sections of handrail from scratch can seem daunting, but some common-sense techniques and a little planning remove the frustration.
Building Handrails With A Simple Jig
To Speed Assembly
Whenever I need to build something with repeating elements, such as a fence or handrail, the engineer in me wants to create a jig to simplify layout and guarantee accuracy.
On This Page: Deck Basics... Building Stairs... Building Handrails... Old House Porch Rebuilding...
A Heavy-Duty Concrete
Footing For
A Deck Or Porch
It only took a few minutes to build the forms for a 16"x16" poured concrete footing. With an L-shaped anchor bolt and metal post bracket, this footing will resist uplifting forces (from wind) and should never settle.
Joist Framing To Rebuild A Porch Deck:
To make sure water drained off the porch, the flooring had to slope away from the house, so we had to frame the floor joists different from what you'd expect.
Handrail Newel Posts - Extra-Sturdy Installation
To rebuild this old porch and keep it looking original, we bough turned "colonial style" cedar newel posts. To make sure the posts never became loose, we used long bolts to clamp them to the framing.
The original handrail was lower than today's design standard. We shortened the newel posts and cut a new mounting notch.
Fixing Rotted Wood On A Century-Old Porch Support Column
The original decorative porch column was irreplaceable, and the only rot damage was at the very bottom. We applied a liquid epoxy resin to the dry intact wood, then filled the holes with an epoxy putty.
Building New Porch Steps -
Installing Posts And Stair Stringers
We attached decorative turned newel posts to 4' long pieces of 4x4 treated lumber, then joined the posts with a 2x6 to make a giant "H" shape that we set in concrete. Then we installed stair stringers to make a rock-solid structure for the stair treads.
Installing Porch Or Deck Stair Treads And Risers, With Skirting To Conceal The Underside
First we installed skirting boards to hide the space under the stairs. Then we fastened riser boards to the vertical parts of the stair stringers, and installed treated deck boards for stair treads. The result was a good-looking and sturdy set of steps.
On This Page: Deck Basics... Building Stairs... Building Handrails... Old House Porch Rebuilding...
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