I need advice on the build of these stairs
We had these steps built 13 years ago. The top level is in pretty bad shape, and two of the boards have rotted out. I decided to pull them off to replace them and now I know why they rotted so fast. The top level is built on a frame that is placed directly on the step below it which is solid all the way across instead of being built on stringers. Not sure that makes sense but please see the first pic and you will see what I’m talking about. The way that this was built, has allowed all of the debris that falls through the top level to just accumulate on the second level and hold moisture in. See the second pic which is before I cleaned out each section. It’s pretty damp in there so I was wondering if I should cut holes in that next section below to allow debris and water to fall all the way through to the ground instead of sitting on the surface below. I was thinking cutting squares out of each section or something like that. The boards underneath are actually in pretty decent shape considering, although I can scrape some of the wood fibers up with the putty knife. But they are solid when I dig around. We’re replacing the whole deck in a couple years so I don’t want to get too involved and I don’t want to rebuild the whole thing. Should I even bother or should I just replace the boards and call it a day? I ended up taking up all 4 boards so I could clean well under there. For now I have the boards just tacked down with two screws holding each board in place submitted by /u/sigridh [link] [comments]
We had these steps built 13 years ago. The top level is in pretty bad shape, and two of the boards have rotted out. I decided to pull them off to replace them and now I know why they rotted so fast.
The top level is built on a frame that is placed directly on the step below it which is solid all the way across instead of being built on stringers. Not sure that makes sense but please see the first pic and you will see what I’m talking about.
The way that this was built, has allowed all of the debris that falls through the top level to just accumulate on the second level and hold moisture in. See the second pic which is before I cleaned out each section.
It’s pretty damp in there so I was wondering if I should cut holes in that next section below to allow debris and water to fall all the way through to the ground instead of sitting on the surface below. I was thinking cutting squares out of each section or something like that. The boards underneath are actually in pretty decent shape considering, although I can scrape some of the wood fibers up with the putty knife. But they are solid when I dig around.
We’re replacing the whole deck in a couple years so I don’t want to get too involved and I don’t want to rebuild the whole thing.
Should I even bother or should I just replace the boards and call it a day? I ended up taking up all 4 boards so I could clean well under there. For now I have the boards just tacked down with two screws holding each board in place
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