Rank newbie, again.

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive,
$10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or
should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully
ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not
completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself!

nb

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:09:58 GMT, notbob wrote:

Rank newbie, again.

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive,
$10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or
should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully
ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not
completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself!

nb


Yes. PT is the way to go and probably the lowest cost, the drier the
better. Use deck screws. You might want to find out why the old
stringers are rotting and maybe fix that too. Mine are 20 years old,
going strong, but they were protected with decking stain.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:09:58 GMT, notbob wrote:

Rank newbie, again.

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive,
$10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or
should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully
ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not
completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself!

nb


Yes. PT is the way to go and probably the lowest cost, the drier the
better. Use deck screws. You might want to find out why the old
stringers are rotting and maybe fix that too. Mine are 20 years old,
going strong, but they were protected with decking stain.

Heh... mine are 19 yrs. old and I've always *meant* to re-treat them. I've
never gotten to it. They show no signs of decay. A few screws (hot dipped
galvanized) have rusted away and I've had to put new screws in but the wood
is as solid as the day they went down.

Pressure treatment puts the protection deep into the wood... much deeper
than painted on stain will ever get.

Ed

"notbob" wrote
Rank newbie, again.

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive,
$10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or
should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully
ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not
completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself!

Use treated wood by all means, and, if there is ground contact, make sure
you get the type that is labeled for "ground contact".

Just ask.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"notbob" wrote in message
...
Rank newbie, again.

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive,
$10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or
should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully
ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not
completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself!

nb

My house deck and stairs from it was built with regular pine when the house
was built. It lasted six years. I replaced it with pressure treated wood
about 25 years ago and it is still in great shape.

notbob wrote:
Rank newbie, again.

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood. Didn't sound too expensive,
$10 vs $14 for 2x10 (I need a 2x12). Anyway, is this a valid expense or
should I jes get reg wood (pine) and use a sealer (which I'm also woefully
ignorant of). I'm reading DIY sites as fast as I can. Again, not
completely retarded. I got a Skil mag 77 and know how to hurt myself!

nb

The box stores sell pre-cut three or four step treated stringers. It
might be cheaper and easier going that route.

On 2009-03-16, Mike Paulsen wrote:

talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's)....



The box stores sell pre-cut three or four step treated stringers. It
might be cheaper and easier going that route.

Didn't read my post, didja.

nb

notbob wrote:
On 2009-03-16, Mike Paulsen wrote:

talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's)....


The box stores sell pre-cut three or four step treated stringers. It
might be cheaper and easier going that route.

Didn't read my post, didja.

nb

Course I did.

You said you talked to one of your lumber suppliers, which wasn't a box
store. If you meant to say you weren't willing to talk to a box store or
didn't have a box store to talk to, that wasn't clear from your post.

Mike Paulsen wrote:
....
... If you meant to say you weren't willing to talk to a box store or
didn't have a box store to talk to, that wasn't clear from your post.

And, even if meant either of those, the precuts will be available at any
retail lumber outlet as well...

--

On 2009-03-16, dpb wrote:
Mike Paulsen wrote:
...
... If you meant to say you weren't willing to talk to a box store or
didn't have a box store to talk to, that wasn't clear from your post.

Not much point in talking to a box store that's 95 miles away when it's not
practical to shop there. It's a bit of a shock to go to our biggest lumber
supplier and discover they're closed on Sunday, as are the other two yards.
Coming from CA and the "hundred yard blvd", rural CO is a real eye-opener.


And, even if meant either of those, the precuts will be available at any
retail lumber outlet as well...

They only have 3 and I need six. Besides, that completely negates cutting
the wood with all these cool new tools.

nb

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:44:16 -0500, Mike Paulsen
wrote:

The box stores sell pre-cut three or four step treated stringers. It
might be cheaper and easier going that route.

The only problem I've found with those is that they never match what
I've needed for any particular application. They always seem to
require adjusting the rise of at least one of the steps to match the
required height. I don't like steps, even if there's only two of them,
that don't have equal rise and run for each step.

I've always found it very simple and easy to design and lay out the
steps on a 2x using the formula "2 x Rise + Run = 26 to 28 inches".
Makes for a set of comfortable steps which can be made to fit most any
location and have equal rise and run for each step.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS
USA

"Tom Veatch" wrote

I've always found it very simple and easy to design and lay out the
steps on a 2x using the formula "2 x Rise + Run = 26 to 28 inches".
Makes for a set of comfortable steps which can be made to fit most any
location and have equal rise and run for each step.

Yep, that is what the old framers square is for. I wonder if very many
folks these days know how to mark and cut some steps the old fashioned way?
It wasn't long ago that this was a common skill.

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Tom Veatch" wrote

I've always found it very simple and easy to design and lay out the
steps on a 2x using the formula "2 x Rise + Run = 26 to 28 inches".
Makes for a set of comfortable steps which can be made to fit most any
location and have equal rise and run for each step.

Yep, that is what the old framers square is for. I wonder if very many
folks these days know how to mark and cut some steps the old fashioned
way? It wasn't long ago that this was a common skill.

Somewhere is a book of yore on the many uses of the framing square. Mine has
been lost for about 20 years. I'm sure there are reprints available on the
web, but I've been too limited of access lately to look it up.


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

In article ,
says...

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Tom Veatch" wrote

I've always found it very simple and easy to design and lay out the
steps on a 2x using the formula "2 x Rise + Run = 26 to 28 inches".
Makes for a set of comfortable steps which can be made to fit most any
location and have equal rise and run for each step.

Yep, that is what the old framers square is for. I wonder if very many
folks these days know how to mark and cut some steps the old fashioned
way? It wasn't long ago that this was a common skill.

Somewhere is a book of yore on the many uses of the framing square. Mine has
been lost for about 20 years. I'm sure there are reprints available on the
web, but I've been too limited of access lately to look it up.


Was it in the first book in the Audels Carpenters and Builders Guide?
(4 book set)

Chapter 23 How to Use the Steel Square


My set is a third edition dated 1945 and my wife found it at Attic Books
in London Ontario.

http://www.atticbooks.ca/index.html


Lee Valley has reprinted it.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,46096,46100
&ap=1

Lee Valley has also extracted the chapter in question and turned it into
a booklet.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,46096,46100

Lee Michaels wrote:
"Tom Veatch" wrote
I've always found it very simple and easy to design and lay out the
steps on a 2x using the formula "2 x Rise + Run = 26 to 28 inches".
Makes for a set of comfortable steps which can be made to fit most any
location and have equal rise and run for each step.

Yep, that is what the old framers square is for. I wonder if very many
folks these days know how to mark and cut some steps the old fashioned way?
It wasn't long ago that this was a common skill.


Is the a new fangled way?
I've always used a square with the little clips that I have, amazingly,
not lost.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 2009-03-19, Lee Michaels wrote:

Yep, that is what the old framers square is for. I wonder if very many
folks these days know how to mark and cut some steps the old fashioned way?
It wasn't long ago that this was a common skill.

I jes bought a new framing square. My late brother, a master carpenter,
didn't have one in his estate, that I could find. I got those little
framing square stops one attaches to keep a repeatable measurement. I will
be cutting the stringers with smaller than usual rise cuz mom, at 81, is
becoming limited in leg strength. I'm no carpenter, but as a machinist am
more than familiar with measuring.

Honestly, I'm enjoying the heck outta learning woodworking. I also like
this newsgroup. Seems to have a nice ambience with lottsa folks willing to
help a newb like me.

nb

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:09:58 GMT, notbob wrote:

I need to replace the stringers in a 3 step (not including top deck step).
This is mainly due to the fact they are rotting and falling apart. I've
talked to one of my lumber suppliers (no box stores like Home Depot or
Lowe's) and they recommended "treated" wood.


Treated wood will work fine and last a while. While "ground contact"
treated material is supposed to last, it will still rot after some
time when contacting the ground. You might consider setting the
stringers on some concrete or a partially burried 1/2 cinderblock or
anything to help them stay more dry.
Also, if you use scews, make sure you use the coated screws made for
the treated material. The lumber yard will have them.

Mike O.