Can I build outdoor stairs myself with no experience?
Building outdoor stairs yourself is daunting when you are worried about hidden structural gotchas, like improperly set posts or code mistakes, after spending money on a tight budget. These fears make people hesitate to tackle rotten steps on their own, fearing they will finish the job only to find a critical error.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Watching multiple tutorial videos to gain different perspectives
- 2Consulting with a handy friend for advice
- 3Acquiring necessary tools like a miter saw and drills
- 4Getting professional quotes to gauge costs and feasibility
- 5Buying pre-made RV stairs or metal stairs
- 6Tearing out the old steps and building new ones from wood or concrete
- 7Using the hollow structure as a mold and filling it with concrete
- 8Using a single temporary paver as a landing
- 9Digging down and setting a proper landing pad with river rock
- 10Extending the deck or installing pavers to fill the gap
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Really blowing me away that steps were hollow inside”source ↗
“Is something like this feasible for me to do with little to no experience?”source ↗
“My budget is a bit tight from some other home projects I’ve already had to get into.”source ↗
“My outdoor stairs are getting pretty rotten and the was looking at trying to do something like this.”source ↗
“I’m worried there’ll be some hidden gotcha that I’m not ready for but I guess that’s life lol”source ↗
“I would hate to get all the way done and then find out I didn’t set a post properly or something crazy”source ↗
“I built this deck last summer, and placed this paver as a temporary landing. Wondering if anyone has suggestions for what to do here at the base of the stairs?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How to fix a loose concrete step
- 2How to get a dog to stop jumping and use a ramp instead
- 2How to stop DIY pavers from shifting and sinking over time
- 2How to level a sloped backyard for a shed entrance
- 3How to put a ladder on stairs to reach light fixtures
- 3How to finish luxury vinyl plank stair edges without bending them?