"treated" wood

[notbob]

Rank newbie, again. ;)

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step). This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive, $10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself! ;) nb

[Phisherman]

Yes. PT is the way to go and probably the lowest cost, the drier the better. Use deck screws. You might want to find out why the old stringers are rotting and maybe fix that too. Mine are 20 years old, going strong, but they were protected with decking stain.

[Swingman]

"notbob" wrote

Use treated wood by all means, and, if there is ground contact, make sure you get the type that is labeled for "ground contact".

Just ask.

[Ed Edelenbos]

Heh... mine are 19 yrs. old and I've always *meant* to re-treat them. I've never gotten to it. They show no signs of decay. A few screws (hot dipped galvanized) have rusted away and I've had to put new screws in but the wood is as solid as the day they went down.

Pressure treatment puts the protection deep into the wood... much deeper than painted on stain will ever get.

Ed

[Ed Pawlowski]

My house deck and stairs from it was built with regular pine when the house was built. It lasted six years. I replaced it with pressure treated wood about 25 years ago and it is still in great shape.

[Mike Paulsen]

The box stores sell pre-cut three or four step treated stringers. It might be cheaper and easier going that route.

[Mike]

Treated wood will work fine and last a while. While "ground contact" treated material is supposed to last, it will still rot after some time when contacting the ground. You might consider setting the stringers on some concrete or a partially burried 1/2 cinderblock or anything to help them stay more dry. Also, if you use scews, make sure you use the coated screws made for the treated material. The lumber yard will have them.

Mike O.

[notbob]

Didn't read my post, didja.

nb

[Mike Paulsen]

Course I did.

You said you talked to one of your lumber suppliers, which wasn't a box store. If you meant to say you weren't willing to talk to a box store or didn't have a box store to talk to, that wasn't clear from your post.

[dpb]

Mike Paulsen wrote: ...

And, even if meant either of those, the precuts will be available at any retail lumber outlet as well...

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[notbob]

Not much point in talking to a box store that's 95 miles away when it's not practical to shop there. It's a bit of a shock to go to our biggest lumber supplier and discover they're closed on Sunday, as are the other two yards. Coming from CA and the "hundred yard blvd", rural CO is a real eye-opener.

They only have 3 and I need six. Besides, that completely negates cutting the wood with all these cool new tools. ;)

nb

[dpb]

notbob wrote: ...

... Where might that be out of curiousity? We're not far from one part of about the most rural CO there is... :)

Buy one for the pattern for the others as a newbie would be a thought.

I concur w/ the other posters that suggested the support above the ground for longevity.

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[notbob]

Nathrop CO, right next to Cowbell Corners and Johnsonwidespot. (actully, Salida and BuenaVista). ;)

Might be a good idea if vert rise/drop and span and run are the same. I found a neat website:

I concur w/ the other posters that suggested the support above the

Will do that. Have half dozen spare red flat stones, about 8"x10"x1-1/2", that form loose stone patio at bottom of steps. I don't know why the original builder didn't use them on base of stringers.

nb

[dpb]

...

Shucks, them ain't "rural" at all... :)

We're adjacent (bar one) to Baca County...

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[notbob]

Wow! That is "out there". A whole county of Nathrops.

nb

[dpb]

notbob wrote: ...

I'd suggest using 5/4 decking for the treads instead of the suggested tubasix though. It looks less "klunky". If choose 2X anyway, then use a minimum 1/2"R roundover bit to round the outer step edges instead of leaving them square.

Don't forget the overhang when laying out the initial stringer -- didn't look carefully but didn't see it mentioned; may have missed it.

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[-MIKE-]

Wow, there are so many errors in the first slide, there's no way I can watch all 12.

[notbob]

I'd be more than happy to listen to any corrective info. Otherwise, the original site is more helpful than you.

nb

[Upscale]

Well, unless you're prepared to point out where the errors are, the only error of any importance is your post wasting people's time.

[-MIKE-]

Just off the top of my head.

1. The animated illustration shows dimension lines for the vertical rise, which go between the TOP of one tread to the BOTTOM of the tread above it, instead of top to top.
2. It shows dimension lines for the vertical drop going from the ground to the BOTTOM of the top tread, instead of the top (again).
3. The first step (from ground to tread) has a rise almost twice as high as the rest. (I would guess, at least 10:6)

If there are so blatant of errors in such critical and elementary aspects of stair construction on the very first frame of an expert tutorial, how could one trust (or recommend) anything else on the site?

Was that helpful? :-)