Exterior Stair Construction
In the last section I
covered painting and staining exterior stairs and if you missed it, feel
free to go back and check it out. Exterior stairways will require a
little more protection than interior ones, simply because they're going
to be exposed to the weather and moisture.
It doesn't matter what kind of wood or metal you use to construct your
stairway, if it isn't going to be protected or protected properly. I've
seen new stairways that weren't painted properly, suffer within a short
period of time, from wood rot and termites.
The best advice I could give anyone who's planning on building an
exterior set of stairs, would be to make sure that it has been properly
painted.
Another problem exterior stairs seem to face has to do with wood or
metal that is in direct contact with concrete or soil. Let's face it,
wood rots and metal rusts and if you have a piece of metal or wood
sitting in moist dirt, you can plan on replacing it, within a few years.
Here is a small list of building materials that wood
stair parts should
not be in direct contact with.
1. Concrete
2. Soil
3. Stucco
4. Dryer Vent
5. Gutter Downspouts
Exterior stairways will require a little more planning than interior
stairs. Most of the information that wasn't covered in this section, of
the free how to build stairs, can be found in our website. Scroll to the
bottom of the page and check out our sitemap, for more information.
Back To - How To Build Stairs
Next - Interior Stair Construction