New Porch Steps

In reality I am in need of a whole new porch, but that isn’t going to happen this fall.  But before the vicious hits I did need new stairs.

Because the old ones were bad.

Really bad.

And here are the raspberry bushes, they fell over, and were kind of in the way the whole weekend.

I got Nik and Dad to remove the old stairs while Rachel and I got paint, retrieved the table saw and made dinner.  But Nik did have to be the grill master, so he did a lot of work in a short period of time.

During removal a corner split from the stringer, it was determined (based on loading) that some glue and screws would probably fix it good enough. I painted the stringers green.

Luckily Dad had a vision of how they went back on, since I didn't see them come off I was a bit befuddled.  

Originally I had hoped to leave the stringers on and paint in place but the one needed to be raised so that they were more level, and Uncle Larry had recommended that they have a slight tip forward, no more than 1/8 inch.  

They had actually been slopping the other way, so they came off, got painted and went back on.

Dad and I attached the top tread and then worked from the bottom. 

Even though I did a lot of measuring the treads are slightly misaligned.  But from the street you can’t tell.  

The steps are made of treated lumber, the manufacturer recommends not painting for at least 6 months, so I am hoping to paint them next spring. And have a new railing by then.