Amateur carpenters who have laid out the cuts in a stair stringer (the zig-zag structural support for the steps) know the queasy feeling that bubbles up at the prospect of this job. There’s the simple ...

Picture a stair slope in your mind to estimate about a 40-degree slope and guess at a landing point. Rest any straight piece of deck lumber on the deck and level it over to the landing point. Measure ...

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Building a staircase is a job for a master carpenter, but an experienced do-it-yourselfer can usually construct a simple set of stairs for a back-yard deck. Cutting the pieces and assembling them are ...

Simple stairs have just two components. The flat board that your foot steps on is called a tread. The treads connect to side stringers and sometimes to one that is in the middle of the stairs. The ...

Dear James: My old wood deck is deteriorating and the stairs could be hazardous. What is the easiest way to install new ones for an inexperienced DIY-er? — Shantell K. Dear Shantell: You are correct ...

DEAR TIM: I need to build some simple outdoor steps to replace ones that fell apart and rotted (even though they were made with treated lumber). I’m fairly handy and have a decent grasp of the math ...

I feel it’s important for you to understand the structure of a set of stairs before you get out your saw and framing square.