MAKE DIY Outdoor Stairs for Hills (2024 UPDATE)

Thank you for your modesty. I'm sure there are more than ten of us who watched till the end.

As a surveyor, we use rebar to break the ground, use vicegrips to twist and remove the rebar, and then set the stake.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

I wasn't even looking for a video on building stairs, but watched until the end. Great video!

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 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 .

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.

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

This is amazing... And I think too that more than 10 of us watched til the end. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Thank you for these "step by step" instructions.

My husband is sad I found this! Summer project now planned! Thanks😂😂

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.

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.

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 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!

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!

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.