On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 16:42:55 GMT, "noxpurt" wrote:

its not a stringer, but solid 18' length of 2 x 12 as a riser with nailing
blocks attached to it for the stairs to sit on.
Well, the 2x12 sounds like it is a Stringer. Instead of cutting out
triagular shaped pieces for the tread to sit on you are attaching a
block for the tread to attach to. Is that correct?
Deck screws are not made to deal with lateral or shear stress and they snap
pretty easily so Im concerned about using then to attach the nailing or now
screwing blocks as they will carry the weight of anyone standing on the
step.
Correct! Under increasing load screws will snap while nails will bend.
Typically screws were developed for drywall and then they became the
fastener of choice due to ease of use. However, most structures move
around and nails will bend with that movement while screws will snap
at a certain point.

Nails would be much better in shear, but would, over time work loose with
the constant movement of foot use.

Lags would be best but even a 1/4 3" lag get pretty expensive when looking
at all the stairs I have.
I use a lot of lags in the framing phase and yeah they are costly
compared with nails, etc. I buy them in 1,000's (actually by weight)
which becomes more reasonable.

It would take a bit of extra time but you could use a router to cut
slots on the stringer for the tread to fit into. Then, using screws
would be well suited as the would not be any shear.



"noxpurt" wrote in message
...
I have outside stairs on the side of a hill. All pressure treated. Im
using 1/5 x 2 x 12 blocks to support 2 x 12 steps.
WHat is the best way to attached the support blocks to the riser? I used
3 deck screws on each block for one set of steps but Im not sure if those
are the right hardware to use as deck screws may not be meant to take that
shear stress. I could used 16p 3 inch nails, but I would think those
would work out eventually. Lags are very expensive and I was trying to
avoid those.

Any thoughts?