I need some advice on the build on these steps
We had these steps built in 2013 and the top level is in very poor shape. Two of the four boards have serious rot in spots and I pulled them off to replace them. I realize now why they are rotting out so fast compared to the bottom level which is still in decent shape. (Needs paint but that’s a project for another day.) When I pulled the boards off today, I realized that the layer below is solid and as a result, everything that falls through the cracks is accumulating and just sitting there so it stays damp all the time. The wood frame of the top layer is in ok shape and so is the layer below. Although I can scrape wood fibers off of it with a putty knife, it’s still decently solid. You can see all the debris in the second pic. The first pic is after I cleaned out each section. The third and fourth pics show the effect of scraping the wood with the putty knife. I’m trying to figure out a way to open up that second level below and let dirt fall through to the ground below more easily but am not sure of if I could just cut like a decent sized square out of the each section? Or cut other openings of some kind? Or not bother for now? We are replacing the whole deck in a year or two so I’m not interested in rebuilding the steps entirely yet. I just want a short term solution for now. I currently have the new boards just tacked in place with two screws per level until I figure out if I’m going to modify the surface below it. submitted by /u/sigridh [link] [comments]
| | We had these steps built in 2013 and the top level is in very poor shape. Two of the four boards have serious rot in spots and I pulled them off to replace them. I realize now why they are rotting out so fast compared to the bottom level which is still in decent shape. (Needs paint but that’s a project for another day.) When I pulled the boards off today, I realized that the layer below is solid and as a result, everything that falls through the cracks is accumulating and just sitting there so it stays damp all the time. The wood frame of the top layer is in ok shape and so is the layer below. Although I can scrape wood fibers off of it with a putty knife, it’s still decently solid. You can see all the debris in the second pic. The first pic is after I cleaned out each section. The third and fourth pics show the effect of scraping the wood with the putty knife. I’m trying to figure out a way to open up that second level below and let dirt fall through to the ground below more easily but am not sure of if I could just cut like a decent sized square out of the each section? Or cut other openings of some kind? Or not bother for now? We are replacing the whole deck in a year or two so I’m not interested in rebuilding the steps entirely yet. I just want a short term solution for now. I currently have the new boards just tacked in place with two screws per level until I figure out if I’m going to modify the surface below it. [link] [comments] |
