Repairing A Step

Almost everyone up North has a wood deck...Almost all these decks have steps. Wood steps are the step of choice most times, even for small entryways because they are easy to build and the cheapest way to go.

This is a case where the steps were built with 2 treads as a way to get into the house.

Sometimes it is enough to just nail thru the stringer into the tread. As you can see, the top tread is holding up well, but, if you look closely, you can see that the bottom tread is slanting downward.

My guess is that because the bottom tread is so close to the ground, people were skipping the top tread and sort of jumping down onto the bottom one when they were exiting and that put extra strain on that tread?

If your building for yourself, you can concider all the possibilities of how much strain will be put on a tread, and build it however you want, but if your gonna build for someone else, you might want to make things a little more sturdy.

Here's a few ways to improve;

• Use stringers that are cut out so the treads rest ON the stringer.
• Install cleats (1x2 or 1x3) nailed or screwed and glued the each stringer, directly under each tread to relieve some pressure from the fasteners that are applied thru the stringer. 
• Install risers under each tread.

Here's what I did to repair the situation.

 Since it is outdoors and right on the ground, a PT 2x4 fit perfectly under the tread and it sets right on the ground.

Without that 2x4, the stringers were sinking into the ground and would of eventually pulled away from the wall too.

There was actually concrete under here too, so I really got lucky that the 2x4 fit perfectly without having to rip it to size.

What would you have done? Enter your comments below!