I'm building a deck in my backyard and I'm trying to find the best wood to
use for building the stairs. Does anyone have any suggestions or
experience in this area.

Thanks,

Walt B.

____________________________________
Posted via Homerepairlive.com
http://www.homerepairlive.com

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006, webnba wrote:

I'm building a deck in my backyard and I'm trying to find the best wood to
use for building the stairs. Does anyone have any suggestions or
experience in this area.

Ipe. For a sample web page see: http://ipe-wood.com/faq.html

There are many more pages on it. See:
http://www.google.com/search?q=ipe+wood

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

"webnba" wrote in message
news:7ae870323c7d6a9e5be9ad5ccadfd121@homerepairli ve.com...
I'm building a deck in my backyard and I'm trying to find the best wood to
use for building the stairs. Does anyone have any suggestions or
experience in this area.

Thanks,

What do you mean by "best"?

Best cost, appearance, longevity, stainable, paintable, natural, ?????

Pressure treated will give you 20+ years of use with no special care. Ipe
will give you 50+. I like the look of Spanish cedar. Plain old framing
lumber will give you 50 years if painted and maintained on a regular basis.

use plastic wood or some other synthetic will last much longer is is
maintenance free

webnba wrote:

I'm building a deck in my backyard and I'm trying to find the best
wood to use for building the stairs. Does anyone have any suggestions
or experience in this area.

Thanks,

Walt B.

____________________________________
Posted via Homerepairlive.com
http://www.homerepairlive.com

Thanks for the advice guys! I think I'm going to build my stairs with
Spanish cedar.

The stairs are going to be 6ft. wide and the landing is 4ft. high. Do I
have to cut 3 stringers or will it be strong enough with only 2
stringers?

Thanks,

Walt B.

____________________________________
Posted via Homerepairlive.com
http://www.homerepairlive.com

"webnba" wrote in message
news:245bcafa803db47bcaa51b9f583532f2@homerepairli ve.com...
Thanks for the advice guys! I think I'm going to build my stairs with
Spanish cedar.

The stairs are going to be 6ft. wide and the landing is 4ft. high. Do I
have to cut 3 stringers or will it be strong enough with only 2
stringers?

If the outer stringers are at or near the outside edges, yeah, you need a
center one. Some people like to inset the stringers and cantilever the outer
thirds of the treads, but I think that tends to make the stairs feel bouncy,
even if the treads are extra thick. It also makes the railings hard to
attach, and (IMHO) makes the treads come loose sooner, since it puts
additional stress on the fasteners due to lever action.

aem sends....

You are going to need 4 stringers for a 6 foot wide stairs. 3 is not
enough, even if you cantilever the outer treads 10". The maximum span
for 2X6 treads is 24".