I’m building a covered deck. The deck is tiled and is therefore sloped away from the house at 1/4″ per foot. I have stairs that will come off the end of the deck to a small 6′ x 6′ deck (decklet?) that is 14″ in height.
My issue is that the slope of the deck makes the left side of the stairs 3/4″ higher than the right side of the stairs at the top. I’m looking for opinions of how to deal with it.
Things that I’ve thought of doing:
- Cut the 4 stringers differently to deal with the difference; the treads would be level at the bottom and gradually change the slope over time. Seems like a lot of work and more chances to mess up the stringers.
- Build the bottom decklet with the same slope as the upper deck. Easy to do, but I’m thinking it would feel weird.
- Build the stairs level, and set the height of the stringers so that center of the tread has the expected rise/run. On the left side of the tread it would be 3/8″ less, on the right it would be 3/8″ more.
- Split the difference; build the stairs with a pitch of 1/8″ per foot.
I’m tending towards #3 as the best choice; it’s the simplest one and I think that level treads are safer.
Thoughts?
Replies
Build the stair level, set the treads level, make up the difference at the top.
deck stairs
IMHO. Make the stairs level and plumb. The stringers would vary slightly. Split the height difference at the top and bottom risers.
You answered your own question
#3 is the way to go. Know one will know and or care, it's not a piano. More than likey you will have enough play in cutting the stringers anyway that the point will be moot.