MAKE DIY Outdoor Stairs for Hills (2024 UPDATE)
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- čas přidán 8. 06. 2024
- I have built a lot of different stairs on my property. I've built stone stairs and wooden stairs. I perfected the process when I decided to make a 100 riser stairway that runs up a steep hill the length of one side of my property.
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00:00 Why I made an UPDATED Video
00:52 Making the steps and stakes
01:55 Prepare the location
02:34 laying out the stair box
03:12 How to connect stair segments
03:45 Stair box assembly
04:46 Apply weed barrier to underside of stairs
05:00 Installing stakes and leveling stairs
06:49 Solutions for overly hard and soft soil
07:21 Tips for long runs of stairs
07:44 Filling the stairs with rocks and gravel
08:29 PACE YOURSELF!
09:30 Tip on angles and obstacles
#diy #diyprojects #outdooractivities
If you have a slope on your property you know how hard it is to get around on it. That's why the first thing I do is build stairs on my hillsides. This makes landscaping so much easier by using outdoor stairs to build steps to build more a pleasing landscape. Hopefully this will make your outside stair building easier.
in this video i'm going to demonstrate the easiest way to make stairs for hillside gardens and terraces - Jak na to + styl
Thank you for your modesty. I'm sure there are more than ten of us who watched till the end.
there are dozens of us! Dozens!
I am from Poland I have also completely flat backyard and what is more important I don't have any immediate plans to build stairs on the slope, but I watched this material from beginning to end with interest 😅👌 well-recorded material and a passionate man , Happy day
Yep
like 97K@@MooKau_
And subscribed and liked
As a surveyor, we use rebar to break the ground, use vicegrips to twist and remove the rebar, and then set the stake.
Great tip
According to the comments, the algorithm made some errors when recommending this to people without land...without hills...without mobility, etc. But I am delighted that the algorithm got it right in my case. I live on the very tip top of a hill. Every bit of land I have is nearly inaccessible due to the steep incline. I've placed stepping stones here and there, but they are so very dangerous when my family comes to visit. This actually looks remarkably safe and easy enough for me to do myself. Thanks for the wonderful idea. I'm staying to the end.
One of the things that I try to keep in mind is the intended lifespan of any project. If you're choosing to do a project that you want to last a long time, there's a disproportionate amount of effort you need to put into the small things that take the most time but have the biggest impact. But only to a point! You can easily add so many details a project never gets done. So pick one or two improvements and STOP.
Treated cut ends, shallow dadoes for the risers to sit in, grout or polysand as a top coat, additional stakes behind the risers, a built in drain, you name it.
Thank you! 59 year old married woman who loves doing her own landscaping so any DIY tips are welcome. The part about taking your time and not having to have it done over night was priceless and much needed information to my ears lol Again Thank you!!
Glad it was helpful!
A couple of suggestions from a fellow stair builder. You need to treat every cut end of the pressure treated wood with copper-green wood preservative. PT wood is only preserved on the outside so every cut is vulnerable to rot. Also concrete form stakes are cheap and easier to use than rebar or wood stakes. They come with holes pre-drilled and in various lengths. And finally use Simpson straps and nails to re-enforce the joints especially on the first stair thread. Screws alone tend to pull out over time.
Thanks for the tips!
What stakes would you use specifically @vicalbincooper ? It seems like this product doesn’t exist in my country.
Best price I have seen for form stakes is $35 for 10. I can make 10 wood stakes for about $5, and likely free out of leftover wood.
I'd say this is worth a pinned comment.
To OP, is it worth the effort of painting the PT wood, since it's in contact with moisture so much more than usual?
@@MacroAggressor I would skip the paint and use a "water sealer" instead if you want to go that route. Some lumber yard sell varying grades of treated lumber, some are better for direct ground contact than other. Menards has good selection.
Great cheap fix for backyard hills, could I make a suggestion to maybe improve it? A lot of landscape supply yards carry a polymer sand used mostly for brick paver grout joints. You could leave the run box an inch or so low, then mix pea pebbles with the poly sand and trowel in to the top of the form. The polysand when mixed with water causes a chemical reaction and it hardens but remains permeable to rain and the pebbles under the cap are a great drain.
I, too, was one of the "10" who stayed until the end. I am looking for possible solutions for my sloped backyard. Because of the slope, the area is uneven, and I know that the day will come when I fall. I wondered if I could put in stairs and you certainly answered that question.
Thanks so much.
Former trail builder here. For a really nice finished step I would try working with 1/4" minus crushed. Add a bit of concrete color powder to match the landscape and just a little bit of water. Then tamp the gravel down to a shape where water will flow from the back to the front of the step. The fines from the crushing almost act like concrete to solidify the base. This will keep your gravel in place rather than all over your wood tread. It's more work but man does it look nicer and feel better on the foot.
Awesome tips!
"¼" minus crushed" COuld you say more? What does this mean?
@@Profoundlygrateful if you cant figure out what that means then you shouldn't be building anything.
@@Profoundlygrateful quarrys sell stone in varying sizes to suit varying needs. 1/4 inch minus means no stones greater than 1/4 inch and some smaller.
@@boscoalbertbaracus1362 If you can't give a helpful answer you probably shouldn't be responding to the question. Everyone has to start somewhere...you might want to start learning kindness.
I wasn't even looking for a video on building stairs, but watched until the end. Great video!
Same here :D
I don't own any land... But I'll remember this one
Glad you liked it!
same
Glad the algorithm brought me here. Awesome idea and execution!
This is why I love youtube. I have no idea how this vid found me, I could never do this skill...but here I am WATCHING it.
Thank you for these "step by step" instructions.
Perfect 👍😁
you must be a dad, that is definitely a dad joke
Oh boo! 😂❤
Ha.
My husband is sad I found this! Summer project now planned! Thanks😂😂
Use pressure treated lumber if you want it to last.
@@brandonhoffman4712. Retreat in the sawed ends if you want it to last, too
So glad the algorithm threw this up at me. It must've been reading my mind again. Was just wondering how to put steps in my small front garden that I'm currently digging all the rubble out of so I can put top soil down and plant a wildflower garden. This video was perfect. Thank you. And yes, I stayed to the end. Tuning in from Ireland btw.
This is amazing... And I think too that more than 10 of us watched til the end. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I wish I'd seen this video about 25 years ago when I was younger and stronger and had my original knees :)
I have the absolute perfect spot for one of these .
I little bit at a time...
If you got nephews or grandkids, it might be time to enforce some help 😂
Digging and building out on my hill actually helped my joints and stamina. Like OP says, a little bit at a time. ☺️
i saw this video! i watched to the end! it's not the buckets of gravel that intimidate me, it's all the digging. if only i were a few years younger.
...just take it a little bit at a time.
I just bought a house and the previous owner had made “biking paths” all around the steep back yard leading up to a super cool bike / atv path, maybe… 100 yards behind my house. I am 100% going to utilize this video and make a really nice walkway to access that for my runs 😍
Thank you!!
No idea how I got here, but it was really interesting! Glad to be one of the ten haha
These gonna be the stairs we build for our hillside garden. I've seen so many possible builds and techniques, but this is so much more accessible.
Use concrete or manufactured blocks
I prefer stairs with a hand rail. Up off the ground.
See all the leaf clutter around? If your stairs are raised, you won't have as much maintenance.
i am one of the 10 people that made it to the end. thank you. if i move to Tennessee next year, i will be watching more! thank you
Awesome! Thank you…people like you keep me motivated!
Have you picked an area ? I want to go travel. I've been to Alcoa TN and Kingsport for work, years ago. Things change too.
We just moved to TN and we're building the stairs, too.
You just simplified the planning for a stairway in my backyard.
FINALLY! I've literally waited years for a how-to on hill stairs that I can handle with my limitations. After searching and searching for how to make a simple set of stairs on a hill that's not far beyond my skill set and disability, I gave up around 2020. Now I think It's actually possible. Thank you so much for this!
And now for your next video HAND RAILS on those beautiful stairs. For times when your senior friends and family visit !!
Good idea!
Our neighborhood lake community needs to watch this video so we can get down the hill safely to the lake.
I have been putting off a stair project from our fence down to the gangplank to our dock for 3 years. I was of the mindset that I needed concrete, posts and a whole structure like a deck. This is so much easier, cheaper and doable. Thank you for posting this.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, I'll be building a much shorter version of this very soon!
I built a staircase for my parents years ago, so they could get down to the pump as they got older. I used railroad ties to line the hill side and secured them in place with rebar. I then cut landscaping temper to fit in between and secured those with rebar also. Then I filled each step with gravel. It is still standing in good shape after 15 years.
I believe it!
What's landscaping temper?
Landcaping timber... he got autocorrupted!@@imabeapirate
@@imabeapirate landscaping timber
@@imabeapirateIf you still didn’t know what landscape timbers were, you’ve probably seen them as those long wood bits that are flat on top and bottom and rounded or curved on the sides. Almost like someone took a 4x4 and squashed it. They’re pretty cheap and not treated usually.
Make sure your get GROUND CONTACT RATED 2x6"!!!! In the past Lowes used to carry them but Home Depot did not. Might have changed. Also use a dimple plastic mat between wood and gravel so that there is less moisture on the wood and it will last longer.
This man knows how to build a staircase.
My lawn guy built a set of stairs like this for me down a bluff maybe 12-15 years ago. He put a little curve in it so it wasn’t too steep. Set some rebar into the limestone underneath. And lag bolted everything together. 20 steps total. Incredible job.
I have no idea why I am watching a video about building stairs for hills when I don't even own land, but I loved it!
You may someday!
Hear hear!!
me to
@@adus123 You're comment literally has a "Translate To English" option on it 😂
You did a great job! I love when someone takes a simple approach that doesn't harm the natural landscape.
Thanks!
BEST stair vid I have ever seen! This I can do Thank you so much. With stairs added to our property the useable size will give me about 2 AC!!! It has just been too hard to walk on unlevel hill side. Lived here for 30 yrs and have given up on ever getting steps in. Nothing else worked THIS makes it easy old lady easy THANK YOU!
Wow, thanks!
Saw an old school method for preserving the wood outside that had a ton of likes and looked really nice. The video was about mixing old diesel fuel with used oil. either brush it on, spray it on or the favorite method was to literally soak the boards in it overnight (in a bucket) so it gets drawn deep into the end grain as well.
Great suggestion!
Yes, my father-in-law would do this to his outdoor wooden stairs, I bet those stairs are still in great shape after all those years.
Thanks youtube algorithm. You know I don't live within 100 miles of a hill, but still knew I wanted to watch this video. 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Plains people, from Mountain people.
Yeah that made me laugh. I am constantly amazed by the algorithm that is supposed to know me so well.
This is exactly what I need to do in about 5 places on my property to make getting around in the winter much much safer. Thanks!
Exactly this. I have this one steep clay hill that I go up and down all the time that is just awful outside of summer.
This was a really great video, thank you!
Nice video! Thanks for the idea. We have hills, and need to do something like this!
** There is nothing wrong with 'expecting' that a Million, or more, people will watch your videos. Your content is good.. and very helpful.. and you are very personable.. thoughts create our reality after all doesn't it. =D .. I can use this in my yard on so many areas. Thank you for sharing.. I'm the kind of person who needs to 'see' the picture in my mind before I can grasp it.. This video paved the way, friend.. I am so grateful to come across your video.. and I subscribed as I love wood and building things. Never learned from anyone, I just wing it.. hahahaha.. Your channel will help with that I'm sure.. =D God bless and have a wonderful day!
Thanks for taking the time to update your earlier video.
You did a fantastic job on your stairs AND you’re a very good presenter.
Thank you so much!
So glad I ran across this. I have a steep drop from the back of a cabin in the woods that I’ve been wanting to put steps down to a creek. This is great and I can do it without a lot of assistance.
you make it look easy.
CZcams gets me. I like your video.
I don't have a garden or land where I could build this kind of staircase. And this is the first video I've seen from this channel, but I watched it all the way through: our tone, tranquility and benevolence really impressed me! Bravo to you for this video, I'm going to watch a second one from this channel right away!
Thanks for this! I don’t have any hills that I recognize nearby on our property but it sure looks good there! ❤ Now I know how.
Great idea for properties with hillsides, Im going to pass it on to my cousin, thank you for posting.
We watched the video together, and decided we have two locations on our place to build this type of stairs. Thank you.
we had a similar approach to a similar project, but we wanted our stairway to be more of a curve through a sloped garden bed of perennials. We built individual boxes for each "tread". We built them deeper so they could overlap, the front of each tread box using a few inches of the tread box below for stability and to maintain the right riser level. The rest, and i remember thinking this in your other video too, was the same - weed barrier, stakes, rocks and gravel. I appreciate you showing how you cut the stakes. You might not have thought that the most significant part of the video, but it was the "A-HA!" moment for me :D
Great idea...and I'm glad it was helpful!
Its construction projects like this that need to be kept alive in our minds.
Our history is built on the backs of ingenious constructions
Thank you for creating this, I have a hill I wanted a simple way to add stairs and I think this is it! Great video, well done!
I used your first video and built a set of stairs. It was my COVID quarantine project. 4 years later they are still awesome- haven't budged even though we get snow and frozen ground every year. Thank you for the idea and inspiration when I needed it!
Makes me happy to hear this!
Nice stairs. The work that goes into your stairs, if filled with concrete makes a more permanent set of concrete stairs. I spent a few days working with an experienced carpenter, form maker doing exactly this. We didn't use pressure treated lumber, and within two hours of the concrete pour we were already taking apart our forms. Ideally if you choose to use concrete you can store the lumber to use again, or for someone else to use for their stairs. In any case permanent wood or concrete, what you do should be anchored well enough that with frost heave and earth movement it doesn't shift and become uneven. I think about the only thing we did differently is inside the riser we added a chamfered strip so the edge of the concrete step wasn't a sharp 90° corner. We also added rebar so it would all hold together, and we keyd some of the steps into the slope so the whole thing wouldn't slide down. And maybe a few more stakes (wet concrete is very heavy) Just another option.
would love to see a tutorial video on this
Your stairs and his stairs have zero in common other than they are stairs.
This stair design is essentially the form you’d use for the concrete, no?
If you think the aesthetic of ugly concrete stairs would enhance a beautiful wooded property, go ahead and do it your way. But you'd be dead wrong.
Our house if on the side of a hill (I guess technically a mountain) and do there is a lot of elevation change with stairs for most of it but no stairs to what I call our "lower back yard". This makes getting to that area difficult and dangerous. I have been thinking of putting stairs in, much like your design but I knew I would learn a lot if I tried it. I was so glad to see this so I can learn from you instead. THANKS!
Well, I am so thankful to come across this video. What I particularly liked about it was that it was something I could actually physically do. Thank you.
Wonderful!
I’ve got a steep hill. I’m building box steps based on your video. I’ll do my best to post a couple before and after pics.
I live on similar land. This will save me from lugging up hardwood mulch to cover paths.
saving this for my future woods house
Me, from my New York City apartment: Yep, this looks like useful and entertaining information for me.
well, you could always do what I did in my first video and just make a miniature version!
hi neighbor. say hi sometime.
Upstate is calling 😅😂
If you're on the second floor, this could be useful someday.
don't get stabbed
When I built my house, my electrician used a large impact driver to drive in the copper ground rod 8 feet into hard clay. I could not believe how easy it went in, because I've done it a couple of times before, and I know how difficult it is to do with a hammer.
I've done something like this a few times. The problem is finding a chuck that can hold the rod. The grounding rods required by code where I live are 5/8 or 3/4". My chuck is 1/2" I've got a Bosch hammer drill so it's always turning. Your electrician got around by having an impact driver that can just hammer. A useful feature if you do this a lot.
What I generally do is using my longest masonry bit drill an hole as deep as it will go. Then I fill the hole with water and let it soak. The next day I can usually hammer in the rod as far as it needs to go.
Yeah, you use a rotary hammer drill for that. They are awesome
@tylerk.7947 That's really what I meant.
Awesome and easy to follow! Thank you for the comments at the end referring to time!
Awesome, this combined with the previous video and I don’t need to think too much about how to build a future staircase on my imaginary property
Thank you for this tutorial! My son moved into a mobile home on a slope for college, and a straightforward DIY solution for steps was just what he and I needed.
A family project...glad I could help!
My wife has been asking me for stairs in our hillside. Thanks for your video, I think I need to get busy now.😅
Have fun!
I appreciate your thoughtfulness to remake the video for us all. I live on a 30% slope of black oak trees in No. California and this is perfect for our needs. Thank you! 🙏
Brilliant. I've never seen this style stair before and I love it!
You nailed it with the exercise phase. So many projects have that stage and it's my favorite part. Zone out and listen to a good book or podcast and get at it.
Totally
Very useful, informative video. Clever idea for horizontal leveling by putting stakes on the ground and the fastening the frame. This is why CZcams is successful.
Glad it was helpful!
High quality work, with an emphasis on the word "work." There is no shortcutting the honest labor required here, but the simplicity of concept is ideal. Thank you.
First of all Congrats, love the the steps with gravel. Thanks for your SEPT by SEPT instructions.
Save on gravel and go rustic!
If it's well travelled, you can just use available dirt and let it run wild. Tree sprouts will need to be pulled, but foot traffic should keep the rest clear. Or, a string trimmer twice a year if you're fussy... I've seen lot's of railroad ties monstrosities, but this is a one man project! And frugal. Very tidy.
I don’t even need to build stairs in a hill but still made it to the end lol, fantastic video my friend
This is exactly what I need for my backyard. Thank you so much for showing me how to do this.
Glad it was helpful!
Still here!
The cordless impact guns work great for big wood screws. No problem.
The details are important.
Thanks for the in depth explanation. -KJ
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing. The comments are insightful too. It’s inspiring to see people sharing their knowledge.
I almost made it to the end, that last bucket killed me 😂
My yard is as flat as a pancake but I still loved this video. You were great at demonstrating everything and showing what problems you may run into and how to approach them. Liked and subbed!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is pretty cool. Honestly never thought or seen gravel steps.
Thank you I have a hill going up to our pond. This will work perfect.
I really appreciate the way you explain the process in your videos. Thanks.
So nice of you
May I suggest buying gravel in 2 sizes so that the smaller pieces find their home amongst the larger pieces and make for a more stable gravel bed. Eventually dirt will fill in the rest or you can try some polymer sand/ concrete that will harden with the rain. Thanks for this simple but effective solution to sloping yards.
Great tip!
Three sizes is the magic ratio. You can use sand as the third. Dry stones will lock together like concrete.
Building 4-5 stairs for a sloped garden bed and this is the perfect video! Thank you for all the detail, showing how to make your own stakes, and how to cut. As someone with very little experience doing this stuff, this video is sure to be a lifesaver! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
I love how the finished step turned out! Very nice!!
I have used a similar approach of a couple of Boy Scout Eagle projects. The key difference is the availability of cheap, young labor.
lol...indeed!
I used to think the same way about corded tools. Then I got a set of Milwaukee M18 tools. The torque on that driver will break your wrist if you're not careful.
Nice!
You gotta work in the sponsor somehow! I'm sure he didn't REALLY want to lug that thing up there, but you do what you gotta do to pay the bills. I respect it.
Well done video! You quickly showed in detail exactly how to build the stairs. I found this useful thank you!
Liked and subbed because of the well placed Zoolander reference. You're a gentleman and a scholar. Well done, sir.
Welcome aboard!
Thank you for getting around to making this video to build off the first one you made about this topic. This has helped a lot. Did you end up back filling around the outside of the stairs because I noticed a large gap under the first tread at the bottom of the stairs?
I'm planning on doing a bunch of stonework are the area...making a stone landing and beds on either side.
@@WineberryHill I see. Would you happen to have an email address or another social media account where I'd be able to share a picture of where I'm considering this option? I'd like to get your opinion if possible.
My e-mail should be found in the "links" section of my channel. I also have an instagram acct: @wineberry_hill
@@WineberryHill perfect. thank you!
I watched the whole video, no way I'm ever doing this. I don't know why I just watched this, but I did.
Haha! It's just interesting!❤😂
I watch the video to the end. I enjoyed it. Very informative and inspiring for me to do my projects. Thank you.
Thank you for this follow up. I've been planning the job in my head, but now it's a lot clearer. And good advice on timescale. I needed to hear that.
Cool! I hope one day I'll own my own property and I'll be able to build things like this, really make it my own
I don't know why this popped up, but I'm glad it did. This is a project I've been thinking about for my backyard. The one thing I missed was how to calculate the spacing of the steps, but I went back and found your original video and it was explained there. Thanks!
I've been looking for a reasonable way to put some stairs in my backyard. A large portion of my yard is ravine and this is exactly what I was looking for.
I recently bought a terraced piece of land in Italy, thank you for this amazing idea. It will definetely help me out creating access to all the levels of the property. And yes, I also made it to the end of the video :)
You have no idea how helpful this is for a site that I’m preparing. Thank you!
I'm one of the 10 people, and thank you for the video! I got some stairs in my steep backyard about to be make
I'm very appreciative of folks like you that watch the WHOLE video. You motivate me to continue making more videos like this. Thank you so much!