Considering adding a staircase to your deck? Decks are often a place of relaxation. They are also often the extension of the house to the garden or backyard. Therefore, they often have deck stairs leading to the garden below. But many homeowners are afraid of installing deck staircases because they think that it requires too much work or is very expensive.

There are ready-made staircase kits that are available in hardware stores but they can be a bit pricey. If you don’t want to spend a small fortune on staircase kits, you can order staircase parts and build the staircase yourself. The process may look intimidating at first but once you learn everything that you have to do, you will see that it is really just a simple job if you have all the stuff you need.

Installing a Deck Staircase

• The first thing that you need to do before you start ordering materials is to measure the height of the staircase and determine the rise and run. You can do this by measuring the distance of the deck floor to the ground and divide the result by 7.5 to get the approximate number of steps.  7.5 is the ideal rise but you can go up or down slightly from here.  The maximum riser height required by most building codes is not more than 8”.   So, dividing by 7.5 gives a  good starting point.  The result will be the number of steps needed for the staircase (e.g. 92”/7.5=13 steps).
• To determine the rise of the stairs, you then divide the height of the stairs to the number of steps that you are going to make (e.g. 92”/13steps=7.07 inches).
• Then, to determine the length of the staircase, just multiply the number of steps to the depth of the steps. If the depth of your step would be 10” and the number of your steps is 13, the length of your staircase would be 130”.
• The width of the staircase is up to you although there are some codes that require a minimum width of 36”.  As long as you meet the minimum width code for your area you can build a narrow or wide staircase, depending on your preference or the space available for the staircase.
• Mark the place where your concrete footer will be placed. Pour cement on an excavated area for the concrete footer and let it dry completely.
• Cut all the necessary materials and have them ready for installation once the cement has dried.
• Attach all the parts of the staircases starting from the stringers, treads to the railings and balusters. Use the necessary tools needed and do not forget to check everything if they fit correctly after installation of each part of the staircase.
• Make sure that everything fits perfectly and do not make a creaking sound when you step or lean on them.  Creaking is typically caused by wood rubbing against wood or metal.  To ensure that your stairs do not creak make sure that every surface where wood touches wood or iron is thoroughly glued.  You can use underlayment compound or epoxy caulk to fill in any holes or cracks between steps.
• Clean everything up and measure the finished staircase. You should also check if the steps are level and do not creak and you are done.

Another idea for adding a staircase to your deck is an exterior steel spiral staircase.  WoodStairs.com offers exterior spiral staircases that are prefabricated, including the balustrade, and shipped to your exact dimensions.  Our spiral staircases are not the typical “kit” staircases that come in a box of parts for you to install but are made to your exact specifications with welded treads, balusters and handrails.  They are a single welded unit without individual components that can loosen, in short, they are built to last.  Installation is simply the process of removing a section of existing railing then attaching the landing to the upper deck and the center column to the ground.  These are complete staircase with balusters and handrail and they come powder coated to withstand the elements, they are easy to install and require very little space.