Building The Steps To My Workshop – Part 1

Anyway, just as a quick review, so far I’ve turned this boring gray building…

After measuring the width of the space that I left open in the skirting to get the width of the steps (75″), and then measuring from the ground to the bottom of the metal threshold on the workshop door to determine the overall height of the steps (15″), I sat down at my desk to come up with my specific plan, exact measurements, and supply list. I know that is won’t make any sense to y’all, but here’s a glimpse of how I plan projects like this, and how I figure my supply list.

My plan was to build these steps directly on the ground. That means that I needed to use pressure treated wood specifically marked for ground contact use. Be aware that not all pressure treated wood is created equal. Also be aware that the employees at Lowe’s are probably going to be clueless about this. The ones at the Waco store sure were. I kept asking where I could find pressure treated 2×6’s for ground contact, and all of them (three different employees) pointed me to the regular pressure treated lumber that is specifically marked on the end with “not intended for ground contact.” This lumber is pressure treated, and yet, it shouldn’t be used any closer than six inches from the ground.

If you’re going to put lumber directly on the ground, you want to look for pressure treated lumber specifically marked for ground contact use.

They actually didn’t have any ground contact 2×6’s, so I had to opt for 2×12’s instead. That was fine because I was going to have to rip the 2×6’s to the right width anyway, and I can just as easily rip 2×12’s. And since I was using 2×12’s, I only needed half the amount, so I think I ended up saving a few dollars in the end. I also bought PVC boards to clad the pressure treated steps, cedar deck boards, 3.5-inch exterior screws specifically labeled for use in pressure treated lumber, a new circular saw blade, 5-inch HeadLOK screws to screw the steps to the building, deck screws, and mending plates.

The plan was to build three frames, one for each of the three steps, and stack them. The bottom frame would have outside dimensions of 75″ wide (the width of the space in the skirting) by 54″ deep. But because the long front and back boards were attached inside the 54-inch-long side boards, I cut them three inches shorter. That way, once they were all screwed together, the width of the board (72″) plus the thickness of the 54″ boards on each side (1.5″ each) would total the 75-inch width I needed to fit inside the opening in the skirting. And then I cut the internal supports to 51″.

That 54-inch measurement will allow for a 30-inch-deep top step/stoop, and 12 inches for the middle and bottom step, for a total of three steps, each 5 inches high, to reach the 15 inches total height that I had from the ground to the metal threshold of the door.

To rip the 2×12’s to the right height, I used my circular saw with a rip fence attached. This is the exact circular saw I have (affiliate link), and it did an excellent job and made very easy work of ripping this 2×12 lumber. And please enjoy this still shot from my video. I chose it specifically because it made me laugh so hard that I caught Tiger mid-jump. 😀

I also want to point out that since I wanted each step to be 5 inches, I ripped the boards for the bottom frame to 4″. Since this bottom frame would be sitting directly on the ground, that 4″ height plus the 1″ deck board would give me a height of 5 inches for the first step. But on the next two frames, I ripped the boards to 5″ because 1″ of that frame would be lost behind the 1″ deck boards on the previous step. Here’s a side-view illustration to show you what I mean.

With my boards ripped to the correct height and length with the circular saw, I put them together using the 3.5″ exterior screws labeled for use with pressure treated wood.

And then I added three internal supports for each frame. I wanted these spaced no more than 16″ apart, which is the spacing used for floor joists on a house. Mine ended up being spaced 15″ apart.

And I screwed those to the frame using two screws on each side.

Here’s what that first frame looked like in place sitting inside the opening of the skirting.

I built the second frame in the exact same way, but this one was 42″ deep to allow for a 12″ depth for the first step.

And then the third one was the same process, but 30″ deep to allow a 12″ depth on the middle step and a 30″ depth on the top step/stoop.

When I tried to stack them the first time, I realized that I had gotten ahead of myself. Before the three boxes could be stacked and secured to each other and to the building, I needed to cut away and remove all of the trim boards that were below the metal threshold. I used a scrap piece of lumber as a straight edge, lined up under the threshold, to draw a line where I needed to cut the side door casing boards, and then used my Dremel Multimax (affiliate link) to cut and remove the boards.

With those trim pieces gone, that allowed the boxes to stack properly right against the building.

And you can see here how it sat flush against the siding with the trim pieces removed.

Then I had another problem, but it was one that I had been expecting. The ground wasn’t perfectly level (shocking! 😀 ), and I needed to use my shovel to do some leveling so that the deck board would sit just under the metal threshold. You can see below that without leveling out the ground, the deck board didn’t fit properly under the threshold.

And the whole structure was slightly unlevel — higher on the left side and lower on the right side.

Here’s a better view of what I was starting with.

Before I moved things around and started digging in the dirt, I decided to go ahead and attach the frames to each other. I used these mending plates to do that.

These plates are incredibly sharp, and they are generally used for holding lumber together to form trusses and things like that. They’re generally attached using a hydraulic press, but you can also attach them using a hammer. It won’t be as pretty and perfect as those attached with a hydraulic press, but it’ll do the job. I used my 3-pound hammer to attach these, and it made the job quick and easy. I used a total of 14 mending plates to hold the frames together.

With the whole structure put together, I was then able to dig out the dirt until I had the left side low enough to fit a deck board between it and the threshold.

And I also had the whole thing pretty close to level.

When I put the deck board on to test for fit, the right side was about 1/4″ too low, so I used 8″ composite shims (instead of wood shims, which would rot against the ground) to shim up the right side until it was level. These parts of the shims that are sticking out can be cut away, or they can just be hidden with mulch.

Once the right side was shimmed, it was as close to perfectly level as I was going to get it.

Once the structure was in place and level, I used these 5-inch LedgerLOK screws to secure the steps to the building.

Here’s a close up look at the LedgerLOK screw. These things are massive and strong. There’s no way my steps will be moving with these holding them in place.

I used four total, one in each section of the frame, to secure the steps to the building.

And then I was finally ready to attach the deck boards. I cut the deck boards to the width of the frame plus 5 inches for a 2.5″ overhang on each side. Once the pretty PVC boards are attached, that will give me a finished overhang of 1.5″ on each side. I started with the front board (i.e., the board furthest away from the building) and I attached it with a 1.75″ overhang on the front of the step. Again, once the PVC boards are attached, that will give me a final overhang on the front of 3/4″. And then I worked my way back towards the building.

Here’s a look at the progress with the first four boards attached. (Sorry for my finger! I don’t know what happened there. 😀 )

The final board had to be ripped to a narrower width to fit. I used my circular saw with the rip fence to cut that board, and then slid it in under the metal threshold.

And here’s the top step done!

I repeated that on the other two steps, again starting with the boards closest to the front of the steps (i.e., furthest away from the building) and worked my way back. Those steps also required the final boards to be ripped to a narrower width.

And here’s the basic structure finished!

I have no plans to add handrails to these steps. They’re very short steps and only total 15″ in height, so at least for now, I see no need in having a hand rail. If someone with mobility issues wants to enter my workshop, they can do so very easily using the side ramp.

That’s where I had planned to stop for the day, but I decided to go ahead and get one coat of stain on the steps before calling it quits for the evening. That way, the stain would have plenty of time to dry before I added the pretty PVC boards. I really didn’t want to get stain on those PVC boards. I was pretty much working in the dark to get that coat of stain on, so I had to do some photo editing magic to brighten up this picture enough to show the steps once I finished the staining process. The colors definitely aren’t accurate. I used Cabot Australian Timber Oil, and I can’t remember the color. This isn’t the final color I want, so the steps will need a second coat of a different color.

So all that’s left after this is to clad the frames with the PVC boards to make them look like our front steps. Stay tuned for the final workshop steps!