Deck Stairs Rotten

[N80]

I'll try to get a picture. Nearly every spot that is split is starting to rot. Virtually none of the areas without splits is starting to rot. It may be a coincidence, I don't know. And it is quite clear that the stringer that was most affected had something wrong with it since none of the others is nearly as bad. I can see that it is rotten almost its whole length now that I have it down. The bottom end, which was in the dirt, and the top, are in pretty good shape. This is consistent with my split theory, but it still points out that this board was defective. And it was the one on the outside and got the best ventilation. These stairs are well ventilated in general. The gutters keep any heavy water off of them. They do get direct rain though. If I can get another 4 years out of them I'll be fairly happy. I'll do them myself next time and take all the extra precautions that have ben discussed above.

 

[Egon]

I'll try to get a picture. Nearly every spot that is split is starting to rot. Virtually none of the areas without splits is starting to rot. It may be a coincidence, I don't know. And it is quite clear that the stringer that was most affected had something wrong with it since none of the others is nearly as bad. I can see that it is rotten almost its whole length now that I have it down. The bottom end, which was in the dirt, and the top, are in pretty good shape. This is consistent with my split theory, but it still points out that this board was defective. And it was the one on the outside and got the best ventilation. These stairs are well ventilated in general. The gutters keep any heavy water off of them. They do get direct rain though. If I can get another 4 years out of them I'll be fairly happy. I'll do them myself next time and take all the extra precautions that have ben discussed above.

[video]http://www.deckmagazine.com/wood/question---answer.aspx[/video]

A short explanation of rot that coincides with the OP's on site observations.

 

[ultrarunner]

My father-in-law built the extensive decking around his house out of redwood nearly 40 years ago. About 5 years ago it was starting to rot in places and was looking bad. He removed it all but was able to plane down about 75% of it and reuse it. It looks good again now and I'd guess he'll get another 10 years out of it. So 50 years is not too bad.

Red cedar is the thing around here but it has to be old with plenty of red heart wood. I have an old barn on my property. I'd say it is at least 75 years old. It is slowly falling in but the main support posts are red cedar stuck right in the ground and they are still solid. You can see where they trimmed the white outside wood away at the bottoms so nothing but the red heart wood goes into the ground. The local farmers do this for their fence posts too. Unfortunately it is getting hard to find cedars old enough to have enough heartwood for this type of duty.

The old barn on my brother's property dates from the 1860's and is redwood... some of the boards on the siding are over 20" wide... amazing how long the old stuff lasts...

 

[TomSeller]

I have cut pressure treated wood and observed the penetration only going in 1/3" or so. So it could very well be the one board was not properly treated. I'd always treat the cut separately in that application, it can't hurt.

 

[N80]

Update: Got the stringer replaced but it was a little nightmare. I planned on using the original as a template but it was bowed downward almost 2"! So, I measured and measured and tried to get everything just right and then cut out the stringer............but it wasn't just right. I think I cut it right but I think the stairs had settled or the other stringers were bowed or something. I had to shim 3 or 4 of the treads which I have never had to do before on stairs. But what was even worse was that given the configuration of the support posts etc I could not just place this 14' (heavy) stringer up into place. I had to remove most of the treads to get it in place. The screws were those square socket deck screws which I hate (I only use the star pattern screws....so much better!). Anyway, got it all in and everything is square and sturdy but it took almost 4 hours. Since I had to remove most of the treads anyway and had so much trouble fitting the replacement stringer I could have replaced all four stringers, cut to match and just gotten everything like new in the same amount of time. As is almost always true, it is nearly as hard to correct someone's mistakes as it is to just do the whole job over from scratch! My wife helped and I was grateful and I'm ashamed to say she heard words come out of my mouth that she should not have had to hear (not directed at her of course, just at the fates and demons that wreak havoc on seemingly simple projects of naive and impatient men.)

 

[EddieWalker]

The important part is you got it done and now you can move on to other projects!!!

 

[Egon]

Lots of folk like them Robertson Screw Heads.

It helps to not use worn bits.

 

[N80]

Bits were new. They aren't new now! ;-)

 

[TomSeller]

Lots of folk like them Robertson Screw Heads.

It helps to not use worn bits.

I liked them but don't see much of them around.

 

[N80]

The issue with them is that you have to have the drill, the bit and the screw in perfect alignment or the bit will spin. When it does, it rounds off the square socket. Now, this is true of virtually any screw that you have to drive in but I do not find these to be superior even to phillips head. The star pattern screws almost never spin and are much more tolerant of not quite perfect alignment (which is not a luxury in most projects. They also do not strip as easily.