I am going to replace my dining room window with a set of French doors.
Haven't order the doors yet, but I know they will take 2-3 weeks to make
(72" x 82.5"). In the meantime, I was thinking of starting on a set of
stairs down to the yard. I have a few questions:

-should I wait until the doors are installed to set the stairs, or would
it be advisable to do the stairs first, or does it matter? I was
thinking of waiting, so I can get the first step height just right, but
I was also thinking I should be able to get this anyway, and it would be
nice to use the time waiting for the doors productively.

-How should I attach the stairs to the outside of the house. I haven't
started looking into this yet. I just thought some input from this group
might be useful.

-I am planning a stone patio at the bottom. I would think: put the
stairs to the yard in first, and then the patio around the stairs. Is
this the correct order?

Thanks for any input

you should have at least a 3' landing outside the doors before the steps,
the distance from the threshold to the top of the landing should be
minimal,,, about an inch or 1 1/2" .. not the same level because that would
allow rain or snow to drain back towards the house. setting the steps before
hand will give you a nice access platform to work on the doors. all in all,
you can do it in any order you'd like.
--
Be cool,
Longshot

"chester" wrote in message

-should I wait until the doors are installed to set the stairs, or would
it be advisable to do the stairs first, or does it matter? I was thinking
of waiting, so I can get the first step height just right, but I was also
thinking I should be able to get this anyway, and it would be nice to use
the time waiting for the doors productively.

Before the steps you need a landing. It is probably covered by building
code, but it should be wide enough to comfortably stand while holding a
package. I'd want at least 3 feet, maybe more. Like a small deck, it
should pitch slightly away from the house for water runoff. The threshold
should be a couple of inches above the landing. The landing will also make
it much easier to install the door, trim work etc. You can put a ladder on
it safely that way.



-How should I attach the stairs to the outside of the house. I haven't
started looking into this yet. I just thought some input from this group
might be useful.

Yes, you put a ledger board on the house and build out from there.


-I am planning a stone patio at the bottom. I would think: put the stairs
to the yard in first, and then the patio around the stairs. Is this the
correct order?

If you know the exact dimension of the patio you can build the steps and
support the stringers until the patio is in place. Otherwise, it would be
best to do it the opposite way to get the proper spacing.