Stairs
Stairs are custom cut and built to length with a wide variety of styles and options no matter the height or design of residential stairs. Built to current codes, most sets of stairs will include Trex Low Voltage riser lights spaced every other riser with an average of 8 lights for a 1 story deck. Stairs with more than 3 steps will have a graspable handrail installed to match the chosen railings. Wood stairs are reinforced with a solid outside stringer to reduce the number of posts you’ll have to mow around and Trex stairs are trimmed in PVC or comparable fascia boards for a crisp and clean look.
How We Frame a Stair
Stairs are where cheap deck work shows up first. We frame with double 2×12 stringers on each side rather than single, 2×8 kick plates at the bottom, and Simpson LSCZ stair connectors at every tread. Footings, posts, and a center beam are sized and priced separately based on the height and the run. It costs more than the minimum and it is the reason our stairs do not flex or drum when you walk down them.
Three Levels of Finish
- Standard wood stairs. A basic set that matches the deck surface. The economical choice, and completely appropriate on a pressure-treated deck.
- Composite tread stairs. Composite or PVC treads on wood framing, so the surface you actually step on matches the deck above and never needs sealing.
- Custom wrapped stairs. Fully wrapped with fascia and decorative finishes so no framing lumber is visible anywhere. This is the version that makes a stair run look built rather than attached.
Skirts, Fascia, and Riser Trim
The trim package is worth understanding because it is where the visual difference lives. A pressure-treated deck is trimmed at the fascia only, with a 1×4 band around the perimeter, and the stairs get a 2×12 pressure-treated skirt board with no riser trim. A single 16-foot skirt board covers a stair rake up to 16 feet in one piece; longer rakes need a 20-foot board so there is no seam down the side of your stairs. Step up to PVC or composite fascia and it covers the full joist depth and includes stair riser trim, which closes off the gap between treads and is the detail people notice without knowing why.
Handrail
Code wants something you can actually grip, and a 2×4 top rail is not it. We install an 8-foot graspable aluminum handrail with two 90-degree wall returns, figuring roughly one bundle per 7 feet of stair length. It mounts cleanly to any of the systems on our railing page.
Lighting the Stairs
Riser lighting is the single best value on a stair run. LED riser lights set every other step give you a clear read of where the treads are without turning the stairs into a runway, and the wiring is simple while the stringers are still open.
Long Runs, Landings, and Split Stairs
When a deck sits a full story above the yard, a single straight run gets long, steep-feeling, and dominates the elevation. Breaking it with a landing, turning it ninety degrees, or splitting it into two flights off a center landing solves that. We build this regularly: a center landing feeding two opposing flights so traffic never crosses the seating area.
Deck Stairs in Fredericksburg, VA
We build and rebuild deck stairs throughout Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Orange, Louisa, and Caroline County. If your existing stairs are bouncing, pulling away, or rotting at the bottom, that is usually a framing or footing problem rather than a surface one, and it is worth having us look before it gets worse. Call 540-907-2307 or request an estimate.
