From 
Image 1 of 11
1. Picture a stair slope in your mind to estimate about a 40-degree slope and guess at a landing point. Then measure the total rise to the landing spot with a straight 2x4 and a 4-ft. level.
Image 2 of 11
2. Clamp the stair gauges to the carpenter’s square. Use the narrow part of the square for clamping the riser gauge and the wider part for the 10-1/4 in. tread. Lay out the stairs by drawing on the outside of the square, sliding the square along until it meets the last mark.
Image 3 of 11
2. (cont.)
Image 4 of 11
3. Mark the top of the stringer to remove 3/4 in. of material to allow for the missing top riser. Mark the bottom of the stringer to remove the tread thickness.
Image 5 of 11
4. Cut only the top and bottom of the stringer with a circular saw. Test-fit the stringer by placing it against the deck, and check the tread level with a small level.
Image 6 of 11
5. Cut the notches with a circular saw. Stop the cuts when you reach the corner of the notch and finish the cuts with a handsaw to prevent weakening the stringers. Use the stringer as a pattern to mark and cut the two other notched stringers.
Image 7 of 11
6. Outline the pattern onto one of the skirt boards. Redraw the top and bot- tom lines with the carpenter’s square and gauges at the original settings. Cut the top off so it will be even with the bottom of overhanging deck boards (see Photo 7) and cut off the end of the bottom so it’s about 5 in. high. Fasten stringers to the skirts with 3-in. deck screws spaced about every 8 in., alternating from the front and from the back. Nail 2x4 supports to both sides of the middle stringer flush with the bottom for extra support (Photo 7).
Image 8 of 11
7. Use a level to draw two plumb lines to mark the left and right positions for the skirts and horizontal lines to mark the top tread location. Tack the skirts to the rim with 3-in. deck screws. Then screw through the back of the deck rim into the skirts with three more deck screws (Photo 8). Center the middle stringer and screw it into the rim with two deck screws.
Image 9 of 11
8. Screw a 2x6 the width of the stringers to the backside of the stringers with two deck screws into each board. Screw two upright treated 2x6s to the backside of the rim and into the horizontal 2x6 with four deck screws into the rim and four more into the 2x6.
Image 10 of 11
9. Nail on the bottom riser with three 8d galvanized nails into each stringer and square the stairs by “cross-taping” the assembly and shifting it back and forth until the measurements are the same. (The bottom riser will probably need to be ripped to height.)
Image 11 of 11
10. Nail on the second riser board and then screw on the two 2x6 bottom treads, leaving a 1/4-in. gap between the boards. Nail on the next riser, then the next tread and so on to work your way to the top of the stairs.
Copyright ©2005 Home Service Publications, Inc.
Comments :