I love building exterior staircases off of decks.  I’ve done this work on my own home, and for other clients prior to this project, including adding a deck staircase for a client at their cabin near Ely.

This client first contacted me about building this staircase off of their back deck in late summer of 2021.  After my initial consultation last year they decided to hire a concrete contractor to add a patio to their backyard this past summer.  I coordinated the project with their concrete contractor to build the staircase after the patio was installed in late August of 2022, and I built the staircase and re-stained the deck in late September.

Their existing back deck only involved a small set of stairs off of the side of the deck to a side walkway.  Their decision to add a patio to their backyard and add a new, wide staircase off of the broadside of the deck to the new patio was a game-changer.  A wide staircase off the broadside of a deck not only creates a new entry point from the deck to the backyard, but also creates a “3rd” space – the wide staircase itself creates a space for potted plants, etc., and a space for visitors to sit even if they aren’t up on the deck or down on the patio.  A “transition space” to hang out, so to speak.

The project required that I cut custom stringers for the new staircase, which is shown in photos.  I completed the project over the course of 5 days, including power washing and re-staining the existing deck and railings and staining the new staircase, at a cost to my client of under $3k including materials.

How can I help to make your backyard deck more functional?