MAKE DIY Outdoor Stairs for Hills (2024 UPDATE)
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- Опубликовано: 17 июн 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 
Хобби
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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
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!
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
I have no need of these types of stairs now but I always like collecting little bits of information like this. Good job.
Glad you enjoyed!
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. ☺️
This is amazing... And I think too that more than 10 of us watched til the end. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yay, I'm one of the chosen 10 that made it to the end of the video! Love the stairs. I have some acreage and homestead projects on my 5-year-plan and am definitely going to be adding these to my list of things I would love to make! Most of the land around here is hilly or gently rolling, so I am sure landside stairs will definitely come in handy!
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.
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.
And now for your next video HAND RAILS on those beautiful stairs. For times when your senior friends and family visit !!
Good idea!
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.
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 😂
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.
I agree, 100%
Our neighborhood lake community needs to watch this video so we can get down the hill safely to the lake.
Thank you for the simple solution for stairs idea! So much easier than digging posts and piers! Thank you
This man knows how to build a staircase.
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.
You just simplified the planning for a stairway in my backyard.
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.
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.
Glad it was helpful!
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
You did a great job! I love when someone takes a simple approach that doesn't harm the natural landscape.
Thanks!
You have no idea how helpful this is for a site that I’m preparing. Thank you!
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!
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.
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
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! 🙏
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 thought polysand cured to be water tight? Will water really run through the polysand after it has been wetted and cured?
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.
We watched the video together, and decided we have two locations on our place to build this type of stairs. Thank you.
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!
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.
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.
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.
someone who actually updated an older video improve it is worth a sub. Done. Good work!
I have a steep incline in my backyard and was thinking about retaining walls but I was running into the issue of how to still access the space. Then this video popped up! Great solution with a thorough explanation. Thank you!
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!
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!
This was great, direct, to the point and no unnecessary talking. I’ll be back
This is such a neat project! I wish I had seen this years ago when I owned a property with a sloping backyard. I also love the fact that gravel is used to fill each step; I bet that is MUCH easier on your joints over the long term than other materials.
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!
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.
Thank you so much! I live in a flat terrain area, but if I ever move I’ll be sure to build these! I used to live in Japan and they have so many outdoor steps, so I was interested!
I love how the finished step turned out! Very nice!!
I really appreciate the way you explain the process in your videos. Thanks.
So nice of you
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.
Man do I have a LOT of work ahead of me. Thanks for this guide
Thanks for sharing your lessons on this hillside build for steps. And for the encouragement to take the time to get it done instead of rushing through this project.
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!
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!
The one time I am happy Google is listening to everything. 😅 This video popped up and I am so happy it did. We spent days making trails in our woods near WV and we’re dreading making stairs. Thanks to this we have a plan! 👏
You are inspiring me to get started on a staircase from my backyard to the creek, which is down a hill too steep to walk without some kind of stairs.
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!
** 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!
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 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!!
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!
The details are important.
Thanks for the in depth explanation. -KJ
Glad it was helpful!
I have been holding out on building stairs around my mountain property for a while now. Thanks for this, its inspired me to actually get on with it!
How could I not watch til the end! It was informative, descriptive, and well thought out. Plus it was just 10 minutes! Great video and excited to try this out with our yard.
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
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.
This video was right on time. I've got a hill I need to run steps down and I've been pondering on how to do it.
This so timely to come up in my feed! I have just started drafting plans for steps of this type in a project behind my house for this summer.
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 don’t even need to build stairs in a hill but still made it to the end lol, fantastic video my friend
I have a hill in my back yard that turns into a bit of a ski slope in the winter. This is exciting, a solution that I can actually do myself! Thank you! 😁
I appreciate your time and efforts into this video!
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!
RUclips gets me. I like your video.
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 watch that first video. So glad to be brought back to this one
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.
Very useful, informative video. Clever idea for horizontal leveling by putting stakes on the ground and the fastening the frame. This is why RUclips is successful.
Glad it was helpful!
This is a really simple but seemingly effective method - what a great idea!
Great explanation and demonstration on how to build the steps. I’m definitely undertaking this project in my backyard to traverse a steep slope that has kept my family from going up the hill.
I almost made it to the end, that last bucket killed me 😂
The cordless impact guns work great for big wood screws. No problem.
Thank you SO much!
I need to build a set of stairs up an embankment this summer at camp to make travel to and from the boat dock safer. I'm on a budget and this is clearly the cheapest and best option.
Really liked this approach. I use 6x6 ties with rebar to anchor them together. This feels like a really great alternative.
Its construction projects like this that need to be kept alive in our minds.
Our history is built on the backs of ingenious constructions
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.
Thank you for showing this project. I'm sure a lot of people will have to build something like this, myself included.
Thank you!! I’ve been looking for years for a video that shows the details how to build stairs up a hill to my pond !
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!
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.
Brilliant. I've never seen this style stair before and I love it!
Oh wow I wasn’t even looking for this, but RUclips fed it to me and I’m Sooooo happy it did!
I utterly need to know how to do this and your instructions are so simple to understand and follow.
👍🏻👍🏻☺️
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.
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 have an 11’ tall berm behind my house, and I’ve always thought some stairs would be nice, this makes it seem like something I could do pretty easily.
This is a fascinating tutorial video where absolutely everything you truly NEED to know about the design can be found in the thumbnail.
Glad it was helpful!