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I need to build a set of exterior stairs at our cabin and would like to stay away from using pressure treated wood for either the stringers or the treads. The stairs will sit directly on a sloping hill and run for about 24 feet. What would be the best type of wood to use for such a project? I may be willing to use a sealant on the wood from time to time if that’s the only way to steer clear of PT.
Thanks
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try selecting some nice doug fir 2x or 3x14 for your stringers. I use butchers wax to coat all end grain cuts after sealing and use a strip of 15#felt or weathershield to boot to protect those wood to wood connections. Keep the airflow happening. check the archives for other alternatives. walk good david
*david.. the stringers following the slope of the hill are either going to be in ground contact or they will be fastened to posts that are in ground contact.......i don't know of any structural wood that will be suitable that will not rot out under those conditions.....i would use PT for the stringers and trex for the treadsthere are some exotic woods that are decay resistant but i don't see them being a big improvement over the PT...what is your objection to the PT ?Mike
*Stringers and posts do not necessarily need to contact the ground. One could (and should) have a proper footing of concrete or stone elevated above grade for both posts and the bottom end of the stringers. Airflow and using a good choice of wood will add to the longevity of the design. Redwood cedar and oak are three common rot resistant choices. Doug fir is a moderately rot-resistant choice of wood. It works quite well for locations without contact with the ground and is structurally a good choice for framing. Gravel bedding the supports will aid in drainage and will help keep the footing depth to a minimum, ie, you donot need to go below frost.walk good davidbesides being such an unnatural colour, I have run across problems with PT wood: severe twisting and warping especially in the sun and decay. Wether the decay was before or after treatment I could not tell.
*how about railroad tie nosing with a small portion of aggregate concrete back to previous tie? Helped put these in in a winding fashion down a medium-steep bank to a dock. Looked swell and "O" maintenance. You won't save any time, but then, time is money, and these will cost you a lot less, so, if this is true, I guess you will save lots of time. Dress it up with nice wood hand rail, out of the most exotic stuff you can order. sometimes wood rots, and then, it sucks.
*don't forget railroad tie stringers with extra creosote applied to all unexposed faces. Spike stringers to nosing with galvy spikes. Get fancy with something nice let into the leading corner of the nosing. Copper angle would be cool, with big fat stainless screws. Set all this right ON THE GRADE, and fuhgetaboutit for around fifteen or twenty years.
*You don't say where this cabin is so I can't be geographically specific. But, in general your choices are very few. Either use proper pressure treated for the continuous contact/close contact or use a metal alloy or plan on lots of maintenance.Of course since this is a cabin, that I presume you are going to use for recreation you probably don't want to spend all your time fixing. So, I think you need to rethink what you are going to use. As for me I'd either weld up some stairs or build out of CCA. Then I'd forget about them for the next 30 years while I enjoyed the place.
*If the issue is the toxicity of the CCA treated wood, what about ACQ (I think those are the correct letters) similar treatment and performance, no arsenic.Steve
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Ok, so lay some RR track down and weld stairs across them. 75 years
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I need to build a set of exterior stairs at our cabin and would like to stay away from using pressure treated wood for either the stringers or the treads. The stairs will sit directly on a sloping hill and run for about 24 feet. What would be the best type of wood to use for such a project? I may be willing to use a sealant on the wood from time to time if that's the only way to steer clear of PT.
Thanks