Composite Decking Front Steps – Complete Tutorial
I recently completed new front steps for our 100-year-old farmhouse using composite decking with no stringers! The design includes an angle so they looked modern and took up a little less space. I didn’t know how much of a headache creating an angle was going to be. This is because of the realities of using construction-yard lumber, but I am sure happy with how it turned out!
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Cutting the Lumber and Building the Framework
To get the angle I first had to do some visualization. All the math in the world can’t help you when using construction yard lumber due to imperfections. I laid down the wood and came up with my rough angle using a protractor – 20 degrees. Most of the lumber was then cut using this angle on my miter saw. Unfortunately my miter saw is small, so I ended up using a hack saw to finish a lot of the cuts.
The entire framework was put together using 3″ deck screws and my Ridgid drill set (which I LOVE). Working with 2×6 treated lumber is NO JOKE. They were super water-logged and I broke three drill-bits before I learned my lesson and used a titanium bit. This made the screwing work a lot easier.
Once I built the base trapezoid framework, I created joists 12″ apart to reinforce the base. Cutting the lengths and angles involved a lot of trial and error – my advice: don’t overcut. 🙂
12″ was the recommended joist distance for the composite decking material I used.
Creating the Steps
Creating the steps was really tough due to the angles I used – each step needing to be a box-like structure with the 20 degree angles built into each step. Each step was 6.25″ tall, but the decking itself is 1″, so I had to cut my wood to 5.25″ tall.
Assembling the Stairs and Attaching the Decking!
After building the stairs and having the base built, it was finally time to assemble them! I brought the steps out first and attached them using pocket holes with a kreg jig. Once the stairs were assembled, I got to attach the composite decking! It’s best to pre-drill before attaching your decking because it’s plastic – it doesn’t behave the same was wood if you attach it directly. The video does a better job of explaining it than I can here.
And there you have it! The video does an excellent job filling in some of the gaps in my description – please check it out and subscribe to my YouTube channel to see all my projects!
Did you love this post? If you did and you want to check out more of my outdoor projects, my blog post How to Build a Retaining Wall in One Day is a great place to start!
