The best material for outdoor stairs depends on the design of the stairs and their surroundings, the environment in which they are being built, and the aesthetic preferences of the homeowner. Stone and concrete offer longevity, while wood brings natural beauty. Composite provides ease of maintenance, and metal adds a contemporary touch. Pressure-Treated Pine is a cost-effective solution for outdoor stairs, treated with chemicals to fend off rot and insects.
For outdoor stairs built on a slope, pressure-treated lumber is the best choice due to its resistance to rot and decay. Gravel and concrete are used to create a stable foundation for the steps, with wood screws and glue being used. Stair treads may be made of a single 2×12 but typically have two decking boards, usually 2x6s or 1x6s. Stringers must be spaced properly to support the size of the board selected for the treads.
To make an informed decision about materials for outdoor stairs, consider the advantages and disadvantages of each material. Stone is an aesthetic and durable material, while concrete is low maintenance and highly durable. Wood has a natural look but requires treatment, while composite is durable and minimal upkeep. Metal is modern and weather-resistant.
For outdoor stairs, opt for rot-resistant wood species like cedar, redwood, or pressure-treated lumber. If you plan to use the exterior staircase frequently, use stronger wood such as oak or maple. Properly primed and painted or stained pressure-treated lumber is the number one choice for outside deck stairs. Concrete is the most durable and popular material used to build outdoor stairs, and pressure-treated pine is used by the National Park Service for stairs over coastal dunes and through forests.
📹 HOW TO BUILD STAIRS // EXTERIOR STEPS
This DIY exterior steps project is all about how to build stairs from start to finish. This DIY staircase video shows the step by step …
What material is best for outside stairs?
Outdoor stairs are essential for enhancing accessibility and aesthetic appeal in outdoor spaces, but they also face challenges like weather, wear, and tear. The right material for outdoor stairs is crucial for ensuring durability, safety, and seamless integration with landscape design. Stone, concrete, wood, composite, and metal are the most durable options. Stone and concrete offer longevity, while wood provides a natural look and requires treatment.
Composite offers minimal upkeep and is durable, while metal is modern and weather-resistant. By selecting the right material, you can make an informed decision for your deck or outdoor space, ensuring a seamless integration with your landscape design.
What is the best covering for stairs?
The primary flooring options for stairs and landings include hardwood, engineered wood, laminate, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT), and carpet. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages, such as durability but potential slippage, and better slip resistance but cleaning challenges. When selecting a flooring material, consider functional and aesthetic aspects, including durability, safety underfoot, design compatibility, budget, and installation complexity.
Durability is crucial due to high foot traffic in these areas, and robust materials like hardwood and LVT are recommended. However, some materials may show signs of wear and tear more quickly than others. Ultimately, the choice of flooring material depends on the specific needs and requirements of the space.
Should stairs be concrete or wood?
Wooden staircases are the preferred choice for interior properties, while concrete staircases are the preferred choice for outdoor properties due to their durability in all weather conditions. Wooden staircases are less suitable for exterior use as they are prone to rot in colder, wetter seasons.
What is the most durable finish for stairs?
Polyurethane is the optimal finish for wood stair treads due to its robust protection and diverse sheen options. In contrast, oil, varnish, or carpet stair treads ensure a visually appealing and safe staircase.
What is the best metal for outdoor stairs?
Paragon Stairs offers a range of metal staircases, including aluminum or galvanized spiral staircases, straight metal staircases, and metal floating stairs. These versatile designs are suitable for both indoor and outdoor projects, and can be easily assembled. Both designs are fully customizable, allowing customers to match the style and design to their specific project. The most popular straight metal stairs include the Lonsdale, Capitol, and Debutante.
Paragon Stairs is committed to providing a seamless customer experience, from design to installation, with certified designers from the Stairbuilders and Manufacturers Association. Their friendly designers ensure that each design choice meets customer expectations, ensuring a high-quality and efficient stair solution. To schedule a free consultation, contact Paragon Stairs’ SMA Certified designers.
What is the best material for outside stairs?
Outdoor stairs require durability to withstand harsh weather conditions and heavy foot traffic. Concrete and stone stairs are the gold standards for durability, requiring little to no maintenance over decades. Composite decking offers a long-lasting option with minimal fade, and galvanized steel provides robust weather resistance. These materials offer a balance of aesthetic appeal and resilience, with warranties often extending 25 years or more. Overall, these materials are a wise investment for outdoor stairs, offering a long-lasting and stylish solution for your outdoor space.
What is the most durable material for stairs?
Hardwood stairs treads are a popular choice for homeowners due to their natural beauty and durability. These treads are easy to clean, maintain, and can be customized to your preferences. For outdoor stairs, safety is crucial, so it’s essential to choose stair treads that are weather-resistant, long-lasting, and have a non-slip rubber backing. Synthetic materials are ideal for outdoor stairs due to their ability to withstand harsh weather conditions, sunlight exposure, and heavy foot traffic.
Outdoor carpet or rubber runners can enhance the appearance of outdoor stairs while making them safer. The choice of stair treads depends on factors like personal taste, safety reasons, and the surrounding environment. Different types of stair treads are needed for carpeted stairs, natural materials, and outdoor stairs to improve safety, durability, and appearance.
What metal lasts the longest outside?
The top 5 metals for outdoor projects include stainless steel, aluminum, copper, galvanized steel, and weathering steel. These metals are known for their weather resistance, aesthetic appeal, and structural integrity. Corten Steel, also known as Weathering Steel, is a unique type of steel known for its distinctive rust patina. This natural yet stable protective coating acts as a defense against further corrosion. Developed to eliminate the need for painting, Corten Steel forms a stable rust-like appearance when exposed to the elements over time.
Its corrosion-resistant properties make it a top choice for structures in challenging and fluctuating weather conditions, allowing them to acquire an earthy, vintage look without compromising their longevity or strength. Corten steel is engineered to form a protective rust-like appearance when exposed to the weather, guarding the steel beneath from further corrosion.
What is the best material to build front steps?
Granite front entrance steps are superior to other options due to their natural beauty, ease of installation, and lower maintenance costs. These quarried blocks of granite have solid interiors with no rebar or foreign materials that can rust or deteriorate. They have a naturally superior density that lasts longer than typical concrete steps made from poured concrete or concrete block and mortar. Granite is formed by extreme heat and pressure, resulting in an incredibly strong building material.
Its resilience and longevity make it a superior choice for home entrances. Unlike concrete step products, granite will never require replacement and outlive multiple generations before showing signs of degradation. The strength of granite makes it a durable choice for home entrances.
Is concrete or wood better for outdoor stairs?
This blog post by Richfield Concrete discusses the differences between concrete stoops and wooden steps in creating the perfect entryway for your home. Concrete stoops offer longevity and low-maintenance, while wood provides a timeless appeal. Both materials have unique characteristics that influence factors such as durability, maintenance, cost, and aesthetic appeal. The goal is to provide insights to make an informed decision that aligns with your home’s style and personal requirements.
Whether you’re considering a renovation or starting from scratch, the post aims to provide you with the necessary insights to make an informed decision that aligns with your home’s style and personal requirements.
📹 Vinyl Plank, Carpet, or Hardwood Stairs- Which is Best?
Is Vinyl Plank a good material for the stairs in your home? Let’s answer that question by answering: 1. Is it safe? 2. Is it easy to …
Great article! Been so loving this series. Question, do you need a moisture barrier between the concrete and the pressure treated wood at the bottom and the top? Noticed you just added it to the top of the supports. I have heard there is a lot of moisture when wood touches concrete even when it’s pressure treated. Just curious if it would matter long term. Great job on this build!!!
I know the fasteners were sponsored but you screwed your audience. (Pun intended) The brackets you installed require nails of the correct size or rated fasteners from Simpson Strongtie. There is more to this building stuff than “if the screw fits through the hole…”. In this load bearing solution the screw should be a sized to fill the hanger hole completely and rated for the use with special attention to the combo of shear strength, ductility and pull out resistance. And, you shouldn’t mix nails and screws in the same hanger. Now, some might ask, “but will it fail?” The answer, “maybe, maybe not.” Tough criticism since there’s also thoughts in comments about other errors that need correction. You did some things right but buried it in the middle of a bunch of not so good.
You did a great job. I’ve been an inspector of every single form of construction for close to 126 years now in both Gotham City and Metropolis and I couldn’t find a single issue with anything you did. I sent your article to every single other inspector in the world and well as every single past, present, and future head of state and they all agreed that your work is flawless and should be the industry standard in every industry.
I am sure its been mentioned but the stringer hangers are meant to be used with specific nails, not screws and the ends of the screws should not penetrate through the entire stringer. The shorter nails are usually sold right next to the hangers. Many screws do not have the shear strength to work in that type of hangar unless specified by the hanger manufacturer.
Nice job. The only possible problem that I see is that the bottom step should have been cut 1 inch shorter than the rest to allow for the thickness of the tread material. Unless you are adding an inch of material on the ground leading up to the stairs the first step is going to be 1 inch taller than the rest.
Wouldn’t the first step (riser) height be 4-1/4″ (instead of 5-1/4″) to account for the tread thickness in addition to the 1-1/2″ of the 2×4 base plate? Final first step height would then be 1-1/2″ base plate height + 4-1/4″ + 1″ tread = 6-3/4″ (if the concrete will be the finished floor surface, that is).
The Power Pro screws are NOT rated for the stair bracket. If that is a Simpson bracket then only Simpson approved fasteners are approved. If that is another brand of bracket then it will have its own approved fasteners. The Power Pro screws do not have sufficient Shear strength to support the stairs and or brackets.
Man I love your articles but you need to follow the code already. I told you your retaining wall was 6″ too high and needed a civil engineer last article. Now this one. You cut your first stringer wrong, you took the height of the base plate but forgot the height of the treads so the first step is 3/4″ (depth of tread) too high. Second, your top step is a tripping hazard since it’s not the same height as the retaining wall tread. Thirdly, Timbertech’s website says for stairs to use 12″ stringer spacing. Finally, with that many risers, you need a handrail. People watch these kinds of articles with no clue they are not done correctly.
These are very good screws, but I don’t believe that they are considered to be structural screws. Structural screws will have numbers stamped into the head of the screw that identify them. These don’t seem to have this feature. I doubt that they would pass a code inspection, at least not in my area. The hangers have very specific requirements as to size and quantity of fasteners in order to meet specs, construction screws don’t meet the specs.
Great vid, nice work, good tips. A suggestion about fasteners. I know you are sponsored, but with metal connecting plates, a flathead screw designed for this purpose provides more surface contact and a stronger connection. They cost more so I use them in the most critical areas like the stringer hangers.
Excellent articles for average, everyday homeowners such as myself! Even with your not so self-deprecating humor, they are still great articles! 😂😂 Just kidding….I love your self deprecating humor as well. Good job and thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge! Keep them coming! And BTW, if you ever have the opportunity, I would love to see a article or two from you on stuccoing/plastering and re-pointing bricks and/or stones using old world ingredients such as quicklime and/or hydrated lime…..I have an old home in Tennessee that I would like to use the correct materials while re-pointing 200+ year old bricks and stones and 200+ year old stucco and interior plaster, but finding easy to understand methods has been a challenge for me….especially in the form of U.S. articles.
Great article!!! I’ve never pictured so vividly a plastic bag being placed over the heads of people with lisp’s 😂 also thanks for showing how not to do stairs. Good try though I know you took a lot of “PRIDE” in this project. Although I don’t think it really needed a super hero costume to build but, YOU GO GIRL! 😂
Nice. What kind of wood was that? My builder deck steep stringers rotted in under 5 years. I rebuilt with pre cut treated stringers, which split after a few years. I then rebuilt with treated 2×12s that I cut myself (using a square and stair stops). I painted the cut sides with oil deck stain. Those i just pulled apart because the rest of the deck is now rotting. And they were splitting where the screws were ( and I pre drilled and counter sunk the screw holes). So now I’m rebuilding the entire deck. Thought about stringerless steps, by stacking platforms.
You did so much right but that top step on TOP of the retaining wall just blows chunks. You have all the tools. You are a salesman, not a carpenter. $100/boards that need to be cut into 3 pieces to span steps is the designers fault…not the price. Those pressure treated runners are good for perhaps 20 years. Why spend ridiculous amounts of $$$ to somehow imagine that plastic wood is better than say cedar 2×6’s at a small fraction of what thise cost? The top step did not come out even with the retaining wall…sloppy, sloppy. You are an amateur selling yourself as a journeyman.
I have a feeling that this guy’s work is quality but not code. Entirely ok if no anal retentive inspectors stick their noses in. DIY and plenty of home privacy? Fantastic instructional vid! Picky realtors and future buyer’s? Maybe a pain in the butt to fix down the road. However, I work on my own home with a mindset of doing things with quality, durability, and longevity in mind, and don’t plan on paying strangers to nit pick my choices. Forget the critics. And thank you for the demonstrative advice. Pure gold, imo. 😊
The Diablo Trex blade is a wonderful blade for not only cutting composite but also cuts vinyl decking and leaves really smooth finish on the edges of the cut. Another thing we found is that it is the only circ saw blade that will cut vinyl or laminate flooring planks and not go dull. The saw teeth have a negative hook angle and that’s what you want for cutting things that are tough on a blade. A circ saw wood blade will cut vinyl flooring plank but, by lunch time you’re going to need a new blade. The shape of tooth and hook angle on a wood blade does not mix well with vinyl plank.
It took my breath away when you used 3 pieces of scrap boards to finish the treads, Believe me, I totally understand wanting to use up all materials and get your money’s worth, but after doing such great work and such a high level of attention to detail, I was blown away at that decision, Nonetheless, great work and thanks for sharing.
I have a question. I just built and installed stair stringers. But the run was short per the slope calculation of being able to use 2 full width trex boards. My question is how should I affix the trex boards to the run part of the stringers if 2 boards are too wide? Do I need to trim 1 of them down length wise to fit and then just have the cut/ broad face exposed instead of the slit for hidden fastener?
These are great steps. Our “contractor grade” deck that was slapped together with our house in 2007 is falling apart and so we’re looking at doing a concrete pad instead of a wooden deck. The only issue is that the back door is approx. 36″ above grade! So I’m going to have to have some kind of small “deck” to walk out on and some stairs to come down onto the new pad. This is one of the best DIY “How-To” stairs articles that I’ve found. Thanks, I look forward to figuring out my dilemma now.
I have been loving this retaining wall series you have. When you are making the stringers, I’d look into a track saw. You can get a really short piece of track. It doesn’t seem like it but you can cut them even faster with more accuracy. You just use the splinter guard on the track to align your cut, set the saw down, plunge and cut. They make for ripping down sheet goods on the go really easy. You won’t catch me moving sheets of 4’x’8 ply to the table saw anymore. I’ll rough cut it first, then get my finish with the table saw. I find even those cuts get better when I am not working with a full sheet. Just a handy little tool if you don’t already have one.
You’re building a staircase surrounded by retaining walls which seems to be holding back a huge hill. I like the concrete slab for the base but still you’re on a hill eventually no matter what you do gravity and erosion will always be a factor. It might last 15 years at the most but you’re going to be repairing it eventually
Pro Tip: Screw lag bolts into the bottom of the stringers where they contact the stringer support. 2 in each stringer, front and back. The bolts can be adjusted to level the stringers slightly plus most importantly the bolts help prevent rot by keeping the stringers from directly contacting the support base.
The article is quite helpful. Listening the the “th” at the end of the word “height” gives me heartburn. “Height” sounds like “right”, “light”, “might”, “flight”, “kite”, “spite”, “bite”, “smite”, “fright”, “tight”, “bright”, “light”, “trite”, “light”, “fight”, “slight”. Say it with me: Kite Light Bright Height Fright Right Spite Height Flight Tight Height Might Bite Height Bright Height Light Height Fight Height Height Height You did it! But seriously, it’s an outstanding tutorial. All of these instructions are very smart. The only one that I did that I liked better in this same process was to pour my pad first then measure for stair “height” and the run length. Well-done!