In August, Daddy and I were gifted a little extra money that was specifically intended for work on the house, so we decided to use some of that to fix up the back steps. We were going to just replace the treads, which were old, and Daddy was convinced were starting to rot and were going to break under us 'one of these days.' He's had issues with those steps from the beginning, and the feeling only grew as our first year in the house has gone by. Plus each step was only made up of a couple of 2x4's, leaving some fairly large gaps everywhere you looked. So we went out and purchased some nice, solid, new pieces of wood that would cover a full step, and some special stain that has little gravely bits in it for a non-slip texture.
We happened to run this (first) errand the day a MAJOR storm hit the area, and were in the store itself when it hit. I made the mistake of taking a route home that included an underpass. I should have known better, and there was a route I could have taken to avoid it, but I wasn't thinking about that...I was just thinking, 'hey, we've been in this store long enough, time to get home.' What normally would have been a 15 minute drive turned into an hour-long ordeal. I tried one way and found it backed up for half mile, with no guarantee that the route I wanted to turn onto would be any better. So I pulled a U-ie and tried another route, only to get caught in another clog...but at least by then I knew exactly what was happening, where the fault of the clog was, and that it was unlikely that there would be a second after it. We passed some houses on that route whose front yards were flooded from the street to their front steps. Fun... Then we reached the underpass, the source of the clog, to find that there was only ONE operating lane of traffic for what is normally a 4-lane (2 each way) road. There was at least one stalled car, and more than one person wading around in knee-deep water by said stalled car. But the police were there, directing traffic as best they could, and guiding all of us to that one little lane that, while flooded, was still passable. We finally made it home...to find that our backyard was so flooded, we couldn't even get out of our garage without stepping into at least an inch of standing water--not mud, WATER, with mud underneath it. Thankfully, we had a few pieces of spare wood left over from the cuts made at the store, which we placed down as 'stepping stones'...and we've left them in place since, just in case.
For the record, that step that's almost covered there in the back corner is about 6 inches tall.
So that kinda threw our construction timing off a bit...we had to wait until things had dried up before tackling the steps, but as soon as he could, Daddy had the top 2 boards of the first tread off and our brand new tread in place. He was rarin' to go. That first step looked so very nice, and he was quite pleased and moved on quickly to the next one...and that was when we realized that our simple little job was (surprise, surprise) not going to be so simple. We found crumbling wood on the zig-zagged part of the step, known as the stringer, and couldn't attach our new treads safely as a result...all the corners were breaking off! So we had to go back to the store to get replacement stringers, but found upon returning home that the new pre-cut ones were a slightly different size from the old, and stringers aren't just something you cut randomly to try to fit...they HAVE to be precise, and we don't have the tools for that. Back to the store for a third time to get new wood for the longer railings, then new balusters and posts (which really were needed anyway as the old stuff was definitely not to code), and we also found in the midst of this that the joist hangers that should have fastened stringers to porch didn't exist at all and...well, I will just say, I have now learned prettymuch all the terminology and procedures associated with constructing a set of stairs, but I don't intend to ever have to use such knowledge again. A contractor will be building our deck when the time comes, 'nuff said. We managed to get our (not so little) project done over the course of about a week, which isn't terrible, but when a set of steps is your primary method of getting to and from your home, it can quickly become an irritation (if not worse) if it's not completely in good time. For a number of days we found ourselves having to go down through the basement and back up again every time we had to come or go...But it DID get done.
So, a quick run-through of our various 'steps' in this process, pun totally and shamelessly intended. :)
Before:
This was actually taken when we first bought the house...we forgot to get a new 'before' picture before Daddy had torn out the steps. Note the weeds growing through those stairs, and how wide the gaps are between balusters (the little vertical strips of wood between the top and bottom of the railings).
In process:
Daddy dug down to get an even ground level for all 3 stringers--and it was NOT easy to get them level!!! We added a third stringer in the center...there had only been one on either side of the stairs before, which, like the wide baluster gaps, is also not to code.
Putting in the risers...Not as easy at it looked, because somehow after all our careful leveling, one of the stringers was still way off and had to be readjusted so everything could fit together...see the wood we put underneath them?? That's how much off they were...
Risers and treads in place! The stairs are now (technically) usable, though not what I'd call safe! We kept a tight grip on the Munch's hand any time we used them when they were at this stage. (And she was firmly instructed to remain at the top of the stairs in this picture...She'd been inside before.)
Nearly all the new wood is in place and screwed tight. If it looks crooked, it's because yes, the posts were crooked at first...I ended up using some shimming to straighten them out, because unfortunately we couldn't drive the stakes they were mounted in flush with the steps...just getting them in at all was its own special challenge.
The final bits of railing in place, and I've painted the steps! Hurrah for a little weather-proofing!!
After:
The finished product (picture actually taken a month after...I forgot). And yes, they still look a little crooked...it's because the ground is sloped. We'll get to that another time.....
The job ended up costing us a bit more than what we'd had to start with, but we had reserves 'for backyard work' that we tapped into. Certainly it cost FAR less than it would have if we'd hired someone, so I won't complain. We have nice, sturdy steps now! What is perhaps a little depressing about this particular job though is that we know, and knew from the start, that these stairs are only temporary. When we are finally able to build that deck that the sliding glass door needs, these stairs, along with their attached porch, will all be coming down, to be reconstructed to meld with whatever deck design we decide on. But at least we'll keep the paint color, and until that deck is built, we KNOW that our oft-used stairs will not be failing underneath us. :) I'm pretty ok with that.
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