How to Build Wooden Steps on a Porch
Wooden steps on a porch are usually less expensive than concrete or composite steps and stand up well to the weather if they're made of treated lumber. To minimize measuring and sawing, purchase pre-cut "stringers," or boards cut in a saw-tooth pattern to support the treads. Use galvanized nails and angle brackets for exterior use. Check with your local building codes before planning the steps for specific requirements on railings, the height and width of the steps or the foundations. Let treated lumber weather and dry for several months before painting or paint and seal untreated lumber immediately. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- Angle brackets
- 10-penny nails
- Carpenter's square
- Level
- Stringers
- 2-by-4-inch boards
- Saw
- Masonry drill
- 3-inch masonry screws
- 2-by-12-inch boards
Instructions
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Build a solid foundation for the bottom of the steps. Locate it a multiple of 7 inches from the surface of the porch and a multiple of 11 1/2 inches from the front edge of the porch. If you're building the steps down to an existing sidewalk or patio, use paving stones with mortar or pour a concrete slab to create a landing the right height for the steps. If you're building down to bare ground, dig footers to the subsoil and fill them with concrete or lay concrete blocks. You'll need one support at each end of the steps and another for approximately every 2 feet of width. For example, for 3-feet-wide steps, plan a support at each end and one centered in the middle.
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Nail angle brackets designed for supporting stringers to the front vertical board of the porch, so the top of the stringers will be 1 1/2 inches below the surface of the porch. Use 10-penny galvanized nails and place a bracket in each stringer location.
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Set a stringer against one of the angle brackets and check that it's perpendicular to the front of the porch with a carpenter's square. Use a level to check that the stringer's horizontal surfaces are level and trim off the bottom of the stringer or add a shim or spacer to raise or lower it slightly if necessary. Nail the bracket to the stringer.
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Attach the other stringers the same way, checking with a tape measure to make sure the bottoms are the same distance apart as the tops.
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Cut 2-by-4-inch boards to fit between the bottoms of the stringers. Drill two pilot holes through each board into the concrete foundation, using a masonry bit, and fasten the first board in place with 3-inch masonry screws. Nail the stringers into the edges of it with 10-penny galvanized nails.
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Attach the next 2-by-4-inch board to the foundation the same way and nail the next stringer into the edge of it. Repeat until you've nailed each stringer to a board.
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Measure the total width of the steps from the outside of the first stringer to the outside of the last stringer with a measuring tape. Add any overhang that you want on the sides. Saw one 2-by-12-inch board that length for each step.
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Lay the first 2-by-12-inch board on the lower step and nail it in place with two 10-penny nails in each stringer. Nail each step in place the same way.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to add railings, bolt 4-by-4-inch boards upright to the stringers as posts and nail railings between them. For more solid railings, run the posts down into the ground and fill the holes with cement to hold them in position.
For a long flight of steps up to a high porch, add additional footers and posts to support the middle of the stringers.
To seal in the area under the steps, cut boards for risers and nail them to the vertical parts of the stringers. Cut lattice to size and nail it to fill in the area between the stringers, the ground and the front of the porch.
Substitute two 6-inch-wide boards for the treads instead of one 12-inch-wide board, if necessary.
Check your local building codes before planning porch steps. They may regulate railings, foundations and other factors.
References
- Photo Credit wooden steps image by Aaron Kohr from Fotolia.com
