Need help - External Stairs

[RedPanda]

Hello Good people,

I am about to start renovations to an IP I just bought in Brisbane. The property has external stairs leading to upper flat. The building inspections mentioned that the timber stairs have fungal rot and need to be replaced along with the landing platform. I have no idea what it might cost. I contacted one stair company and they quoted in excess of $6000

I am really looking for a much cheaper solution about $1000-$1500 max. The condition of property is below average currently and I intend to make it above average post renovations but nothing fancy as my budget doesn't allow for it.

Has anyone got a similar job done? If yes at what cost.

Do you think I can get it repaired?

What do you all suggest?

Cheers,
Roopam

 

[MichaelW]

Hi Roopam,

You should easily get that job done for $1,000-$1,500. If I were in your situation I'd do it myself as I'm a bit of a home handyman and love building pergolas, stairs, laying floors etc. That quote is way over the top.

You're basically up for some wood and some time. The wood is probably around $1,000 and the time maybe a day or two tops. I'd be looking for local ads for home handymen who will quote it for you. Expect a markup on materials, but keep this to 20% odd and not the 100% they'll use to quote.

Again, this is why I'd do it myself. Materials at cost, and labour for free! By the looks of it, that staircase is a really easy one too.

As a final question, is it just the runners and platform that have rot? If so, it would be really easy to source the wood, chop it to length and replace the runners individually keeping the existing structure. And the platform is probably just pine decking, so rip up and replace. Not sure if your joists are gone too though.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[RedPanda]

Hi Michael,

I get what you are saying. I also consider myself to be a fairly reasonable DIYer. The issue is that it's a interstate property for me and I only have 7-8 days on the property to complete all the renovations. Most of which I'll be doing myself. And I haven't done this before and don't want to really mess things up. So, a bit wary of trying it. If this property were in Sydney, I would have definately given it a shot.

Cheers,
Roopam

 

[landlubber]

Roopam, just an idea ... if it hasn't been done already you might want to try "tightening" them all up with threaded rod. I find that works a treat. If the rods are already there, tighten them up.
External stairs in Qld. are always an issue as they are always in the weather. Keep the paint up to them.
LL

 

[James Allen]

If the have fungal rot you really need to replace, if you don't and some one hurts them selves thats negligence, you knew they were dangerous and did nothing.

You can buy pre made sets of stairs from a number a places in Brisbane, they will also make sure the size of the rise and tread met BCA which is also important. I would go this route if I were you, just get them delivered to site and wack them up. Putting up the platform won't be to hard.

You should also look at this topic, as it explains the legal problems with doing your own reno in QLD as the laws are diff than NSW. While it is rare I do know of one person caught for not following these rules, the QBSA said it was a random chack but it's more like a stick beak neighbor told on them. I do all my own renos and never had a problem, but at least this way your aware of the rules.

 

[Aimjoy]

Has anyone got a similar job done? If yes at what cost

Roopam,

I did similar but with a small platform half way up (in case someone slipped and fell it was a halfway point to land). Also carrying up heavy furniture & fridges it gave the removalists a resting point.

Anyway to have it done in treated pine it cost me $1,750.00 and that was 2 years ago. They were about 1m wide also.

I just painted it myself recently - an awful job to cut-in (diff color paints on treads, rails and risers). Next time I'd pre-paint before the deck-buildy-handyman-guy cut it up & assembled.

Cheers,
Aimjoy

 

[depreciator]

Quickest, easiest, and possibly cheapest solution?
Bunnings will supply galvanised steel stringers cut to length. They have brackets to take the treads.
You put the stringers up and bolt the (hardwood ideally) treads onto the brackets.
Might not suit the 'Queenslander style', but it's an IP and you won't have maintenance problems with them.
Scott

 

[RedPanda]

If the have fungal rot you really need to replace, if you don't and some one hurts them selves thats negligence, you knew they were dangerous and did nothing.

I agree because they are in a bad condition and with the building inspector telling me that I should replace, I don't want to take any chances.

You can buy pre made sets of stairs from a number a places in Brisbane, they will also make sure the size of the rise and tread met BCA which is also important.

Where can I get "pre-made stairs" in Brisbane? Do I still need council approval if I am just replacing an existing staircase of same dimensions?

Roopam,

I did similar but with a small platform half way up.Aimjoy

Did you got a staircase company to provide stairs or you got them built?

Quickest, easiest, and possibly cheapest solution?
Bunnings will supply galvanised steel stringers cut to length. They have brackets to take the treads.
You put the stringers up and bolt the (hardwood ideally) treads onto the brackets.
Might not suit the 'Queenslander style', but it's an IP and you won't have maintenance problems with them.

That's very interesting, never thought of that. Still unclear whether they will be strong enough, or how will support posts be installed, but I'll investigate this option at Bunnings. Thanks for that.


Cheers,
Roopam

 

[depreciator]

That's very interesting, never thought of that. Still unclear whether they will be strong enough, or how will support posts be installed, but I'll investigate this option at Bunnings.

Stronger than timber I'd say and for a single story run you won't need any supports - you just have to anchor them top and bottom. (Might need a concrete pad at the bottom, but that's easy and cheap.) I have a mate in Brisbane who has a set going up to a second story that he doesn't want. Most of the treads are okay, too. I reckon he'd be happy if for you to take the thing if you dismantled it and took it away. I'm not sure how high they are. If you're interested, let me know and I'll see if he can measure them.
Scott

 

[geoff stower]

stairs

Hi
Just a reminder if building a set of stairs there are 2 standards in QLD. building code and building standards. I had big problems with my IP reno.

Got them built to the building standards and the certifier wouldn't pass same. Had to get another one built to the building code. All the steps from the ground up have to be the the same distance apart. the rails have to be a certain distance apart. I think the max treads were 15 before a landing had to be added.They are very strict on these points.

Bunnings are probably the way to go if you are handy in placing the step treads on. I had movable ground ( highly reactive ) and the bottom of the stringers were not to be attached to the concrete slab.
all the best
Geoff

 

[MichaelW]

That's very interesting, never thought of that. Still unclear whether they will be strong enough, or how will support posts be installed, but I'll investigate this option at Bunnings. Thanks for that.

Roopam,

Scott is talking about the side piece of the stairs that the treads attach too. These are normally made out of pine and have the recesses cut out of them to take the runners. He's not talking about the cabling used in the ballustrading portion of the stairs which is also called stringers.

Just in case you were having trouble visualising what he was talking about based on your concern above. The following is an example of what he is recommending:

http://www.scottmetals.com.au/stringer.html

You can see why he said it might not suit your style, but it is certainly a workable solution if you need to replace the stringer. In my original post I said I thought this piece might still be OK in wood, and you could just replace the treads (runners), but if you have fungal rot in your stringers too then you'll need to replace them as well.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[RedPanda]

Hi
Just a reminder if building a set of stairs there are 2 standards in QLD. building code and building standards. I had big problems with my IP reno.

Got them built to the building standards and the certifier wouldn't pass same. Had to get another one built to the building code. All the steps from the ground up have to be the the same distance apart. the rails have to be a certain distance apart. I think the max treads were 15 before a landing had to be added.They are very strict on these points.

Thanks for that valuable information, Geoff.

Bunnings are probably the way to go if you are handy in placing the step treads on.

I went to Bunnings yesterday. They weren't of much help on stairs. So I went to another Bunnings store where I knew a very knowledgeable old fellow who I met attenting DIY workshops. He recommended me to go for Galvanised Iron Stairs and discouraged me to do it myself. He told me to look for metal fabricators in Yellow Pages and find a small company.

Scott is talking about the side piece of the stairs that the treads attach too. These are normally made out of pine and have the recesses cut out of them to take the runners. He's not talking about the cabling used in the ballustrading portion of the stairs which is also called stringers.

Just in case you were having trouble visualising what he was talking about based on your concern above. The following is an example of what he is recommending:

http://www.scottmetals.com.au/stringer.html

You can see why he said it might not suit your style, but it is certainly a workable solution if you need to replace the stringer. In my original post I said I thought this piece might still be OK in wood, and you could just replace the treads (runners), but if you have fungal rot in your stringers too then you'll need to replace them as well.

Thanks Michael. I think that I am now on the same wavelength. The site that you gave example of is very helpful. Do you think I would be able to just bolt or screw the ballustrading portion to the stringers or do I need to get them welded or something if I go for all metal stairs.

Thanks a lot to you all. Don't know what I would have done without your help.

Cheers,
Roopam

 

[MichaelW]

Thanks Michael. I think that I am now on the same wavelength. The site that you gave example of is very helpful. Do you think I would be able to just bolt or screw the ballustrading portion to the stringers or do I need to get them welded or something if I go for all metal stairs.

Hi Roopam,

I can't see any reason why you couldn't bolt to those stringers. The suppliers would have suggestions on how best to approach it, and given the number of steps supplied in a single run, there is a legal requirement for balustrading anyway so it must be possible using that system.

Cheers,
Michael