Wood is one of the most practical materials for building the staircase in the private house or at the cottage. It is cheap and pretty strong, while its fragility is offset by the ease of handling. Even a beginner can build straight-stair wooden saddled stairs. This will save on additional labor force, and the result of your work will warm your soul and become a backdrop of your cozy family photos.
How to calculate the dimension of the staircase
To make a drawing for the assembly of structure and estimate how many materials you will need, you should perform the following measurements and calculations:
- The width is determined by the dimensions of the terrace or porch and your comfort. For a married couple, you can aim for a distance of about 70 cm; for a large family, you can increase it to 130 cm or more. To increase the rigidity of structure with such width, you should provide for the third-stringer in the center.
- To measure the height of future stairs, you should attach the longboard to the landing of the porch or terrace, check the horizontality using the level, and make a few measurements from the board to the ground. If there is a steep slope, you can compensate it with your own hands when preparing the platform.
- Taking into account the optimal height of riser (15-20 cm) and the width of the chosen board, you should determine the number of steps. Their width must be 25-35 cm. Knowing that the comfortable inclination angle must be 45° or less, you can calculate the length of stair flight and stringer, refreshing memory of a school course in geometry.
Simple design options
While you don’t require special tricks to build a simple staircase to the terrace, the decoration of the ground or first floor must combine functionality and beauty. You can achieve this by installing the railings. They are particularly necessary if there are children or older people in the family. You can obtain the new design ideas from the photos with the finished solutions from the album of our website. A simple hand-made visor or straight/gable canopy is a relevant option of decoration for the ground floor. It will protect you from bad weather and extend the service life of the wood. The canopy over the terrace, entrance of the house, and decoration of the windows of the first floor with equal architectural elements can become a part of the stylish composition, whose photo you can boast.
What you should do to prepare for the installation
A few simple steps will help you to make a wooden staircase much more reliable.
To extend the service life or the hand-made construction, you should protect it from the от destructive effects of the environment using the anti-mold remedies, varnishing or painting at the finishing stage and isolation from the wet soil.
For the installation of the staircase to the first floor, you will need:
- boards and beams – main materials for the stricture;
- saw for their treatment;
- screwdriver with tapping screws for installation,
- construction level;
- components for the cement solution or large stones;
- materials for wood treatment: abrasive paper, anti-fungal remedies, varnish, or paint.
As the foundation of the first floor is usually inadequate for the whole length of the staircase, you need to build a separate basis for it with your own hands. In places where the wood will get in contact with the soil, make three-later insulation: a layer of sand, rubble, and cement mortar. You can put the stones under the support beams. It will not only protect the wood from rot but also allow the structure not to sag below the level of the first floor under its own weight.
Prepare the details: blanks for the steps and rectangular risers and pieces of the bar for the balusters and railings (if necessary). You can neatly perform the open strings by making a markup with the use of templates from cardboard, plywood, or hardboard. Process all the wood blanks and place the necessary instruments and materials in an accessible position.
Stages of installation of the wooden staircase
As for building the whole structure, we can give the following recommendations:
- Start the installation from the stringers. At that, they should be fastened to the upper part of the porch landing, using a piece of the bar that can be further strengthened with metal squares. One side of the bar adjoins the platform flooring, and the other- to the stringer. For greater reliability, you can combine this stage with the preparation of the basis of the staircase. After that, you should connect the lower part of stringers to the first riser, you should check the evenness of construction, attaching the other details, and fixed in cement mortar.
- You shouldn’t use nails for the installation of steps and risers, as it may lead to the fast loosening of construction. Use tapping screws, or better the fastening method called “tongue and groove”. However, it is more difficult to implement. You can see the options of combining details in the photo. The simplest option is to install the first step over a lower riser, while the second riser should rely on it.
- For a simple staircase to the terrace, you can leave it at that. When decorating the porch and after finishing the installation of the steps, you can proceed to the canopy and railings. For reliability, you can fix the support posts in the place where they are adjacent to the stringers.
- Handrail fasteners are a weak spot of construction. Therefore, you should reinforce the connections on the tapping screws, additionally gluing all joints. Don’t ignore this stage if you have small children. They like to swing on the railing, and (even though it can become a fun plot for the photo), you should take care of your safety in advance. And to install the handrails evenly, you can make an auxiliary line out of cord and check the horizontality using the level.
How to perform the finishing treatment?
After finishing the installation of the staircase, you should carefully polish all the details and proceed to the treatment. Varnish will give the wood warm and lively appearance and (as seen in the photo) make it closer to the natural style with the use of plants in the design of the outdoors territory. If you use bright and creative elements in the decoration of the first floor, choose the paint of the right color.
Dear readers! Have you ever made the staircase with your own hands? Or you’re just going to build a stair and are engaged in the information search? Then leave the comment and share your experience, opinion, or links to the photo of successful solutions of how to create a beautiful entrance group with straight or semi-circular porch steps with your own hands.
