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Free-Standing Stairs, Attached to Concrete Pad, Not House

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Free-Standing Stairs, Attached to Concrete Pad, Not House wrldruler 10-02-2008
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Posted by wrldruler on October 2, 2008, 12:19 pm


Converting garage into family room. Contractor cut a hole in the back
and installed a sliding glass door. Door sits on top of existing
foundation. I now need to build stairs to make the 15" drop from patio
door to grade.

Inspector has come over. Says because my drop is only 15", I do not
need a landing or railings. It will be the door, 7.75" drop to one
tread, 7.75" drop to a concrete pad. This is meant to be temporary,
until I can build a full deck next spring/summer. Inspector has
approved.

I was planning on installing a ledger board to the house, and building
stairs like I did with my existing deck. Just joice hangers off the
ledger. But inspector says he is worried my concrete pad will heave
and damage the building.

Inspector recommends building stairs that do NOT attach to the house.
Instead, they would be attached only to the concrete pad.

So I need advice on how to build a set of free standing stairs, that
are attached to a concrete pad, but do not get attached to the house.
I am thinking 2 4x4 posts, buried in concrete, ledger across those two
posts, attach stairs from there.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

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Posted by DerbyDad03 on October 2, 2008, 1:32 pm


> Converting garage into family room. Contractor cut a hole in the back
> and installed a sliding glass door. Door sits on top of existing
> foundation. I now need to build stairs to make the 15" drop from patio
> door to grade.
>
> Inspector has come over. Says because my drop is only 15", I do not
> need a landing or railings. It will be the door, 7.75" drop to one
> tread, 7.75" drop to a concrete pad. This is meant to be temporary,
> until I can build a full deck next spring/summer. Inspector has
> approved.
>
> I was planning on installing a ledger board to the house, and building
> stairs like I did with my existing deck. Just joice hangers off the
> ledger. But inspector says he is worried my concrete pad will heave
> and damage the building.
>
> Inspector recommends building stairs that do NOT attach to the house.
> Instead, they would be attached only to the concrete pad.
>
> So I need advice on how to build a set of free standing stairs, that
> are attached to a concrete pad, but do not get attached to the house.
> I am thinking 2 4x4 posts, buried in concrete, ledger across those two
> posts, attach stairs from there.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks

"2 4x4 posts, buried in concrete" for a temporary set of stairs?

Why not build a free standing unit, with 4 x 4's resting on the pad
and a PT stretcher between them, also resting on the pad. Drill
through the stretcher and use TapCons or bolts with lead anchors in
the pad to keep the unit in place.

Add a bolted down stretcher across the front of the bottom step
(behind the riser if there is one) for even more stability.

Posted by DerbyDad03 on October 2, 2008, 3:00 pm


>
>
>
>
>
> > Converting garage into family room. Contractor cut a hole in the back
> > and installed a sliding glass door. Door sits on top of existing
> > foundation. I now need to build stairs to make the 15" drop from patio
> > door to grade.
>
> > Inspector has come over. Says because my drop is only 15", I do not
> > need a landing or railings. It will be the door, 7.75" drop to one
> > tread, 7.75" drop to a concrete pad. This is meant to be temporary,
> > until I can build a full deck next spring/summer. Inspector has
> > approved.
>
> > I was planning on installing a ledger board to the house, and building
> > stairs like I did with my existing deck. Just joice hangers off the
> > ledger. But inspector says he is worried my concrete pad will heave
> > and damage the building.
>
> > Inspector recommends building stairs that do NOT attach to the house.
> > Instead, they would be attached only to the concrete pad.
>
> > So I need advice on how to build a set of free standing stairs, that
> > are attached to a concrete pad, but do not get attached to the house.
> > I am thinking 2 4x4 posts, buried in concrete, ledger across those two
> > posts, attach stairs from there.
>
> > Any thoughts?
>
> > Thanks
>
> "2 4x4 posts, buried in concrete" for a temporary set of stairs?
>
> Why not build a free standing unit, with 4 x 4's resting on the pad
> and a PT stretcher between them, also resting on the pad. Drill
> through the stretcher and use TapCons or bolts with lead anchors in
> the pad to keep the unit in place.
>
> Add a bolted down stretcher across the front of the bottom step
> (behind the riser if there is one) for even more stability.- Hide quoted =
text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I didn't even catch the fact that it's really just a single step.

Heck, build a box and fill it will bricks or dirt or whatever to keep
from moving.

If the inspector insists, bolt it to the pad.

Posted by dpb on October 2, 2008, 1:40 pm


wrldruler wrote:
..
> Inspector has come over. Says because my drop is only 15", I do not
> need a landing or railings. It will be the door, 7.75" drop to one
> tread, 7.75" drop to a concrete pad. This is meant to be temporary,
> until I can build a full deck next spring/summer. Inspector has
> approved.
...
> So I need advice on how to build a set of free standing stairs, that
> are attached to a concrete pad, but do not get attached to the house.
> I am thinking 2 4x4 posts, buried in concrete, ledger across those two
> posts, attach stairs from there.
...
That's pretty heavy for "temporary".

You really don't have a "set of stairs"; just a single step/tread.

I'd just set a tuba-whatever(1) on a few bricks or similar to keep of
the ground and add a stretcher front and rear. A couple angle brackets
into the existing slab could be added if they're actually not heavy
enough on their own to stay in place.

(1) Field-dimension to get proper height including tread...

--

Posted by Chris on October 2, 2008, 5:07 pm


wrldruler wrote:
>
> Inspector recommends building stairs that do NOT attach to the house.
> Instead, they would be attached only to the concrete pad.
>
> So I need advice on how to build a set of free standing stairs,

I saw at my local hardware store some pre-built concrete steps in
different sizes, from a single step up to 3 I believe.

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