Disclaimer: By no means am I a carpenter. I’m a DIYer. In this tutorial I will show you how I built my own steps using store bought wood and pallet wood. You can use pallet wood or store bought wood.
Please feel free to go out on a limb and do your own thing. This is what worked for me.
To start out, I searched the internet for plans for free standing steps. The only step plans I could find involved plywood. I wanted something sturdier since the steps would be wet most of the time. Plywood would not hold up to pool water over a period of time. It just wouldn’t work.
Plus, most of the step tutorials were to be attached to a deck. Again, I didn’t want a deck, just steps.
I then visited Home Depot to check out their step stringers. Home Depot only carries up to 6 step stringers. If you need a stringer that has more then six steps, you’ll have to cut them yourself.
How do you determine how many steps you need?
This is the video I used that explains how to figure that out.
The height: 53 inches 53 divided by 7.5= 7.06
7.06 is close enough to 7.
The run or the step width is 10in and the rise to each step will be 7. 7 isn’t counting the actual pallet board that will be placed ontop of each step.
Next, cut the stringer.
Here’s the video that explains how to do just that.
After cutting my first stringer, I placed the stringer ontop of the other two boards and traced around the stringer.
Then, I cut the two boards to make three stringers.
On to the fun part.
First, I cut the first 2×4 to 51 inches. This allows enough room for the second 2×4 to be placed below the first 2×4. I then screwed both 2×4’s in place. I continued to add the 2x4s to the other two stringers.
After all three stringers had a bottom and a backside, I connected the stringers using a pallet board on the top, middle and bottom step using the previous drilled holes from the pallet.
I then attached a block to the back corner for added support of the 2x4s.
For added support to the middle of the stringers, I cut and screwed a pallet runner (the middle 2×4 sized board of a pallet).
After leveling the steps, I added a couple pallet boards to the bottom to connect the 2x4s along the bottom.
Finally, I added the remaining pallet boards to the remaining steps.
After the new steps were in place, I attached the plastic inside steps using screws.
That’s it, folks.
It may not be perfect. It may not be how you would do it, but it works for me.
Again, I’m not a pro, just a DIYer!
Next up…railings.
Coming soon.
This post was shared with a few amazing parties.
