Step from studio to deck
The workers who rebuilt our deck in 2025 made us, out of scrap material, steps to go from our studio to our deck (left in the picture below) and from our bedroom to our deck (right in the picture below). We needed these steps because the distance of the floor in the studio to the deck is 13.5 inches, and the distance from the floor in our bedroom to the deck is 17 inches.
We decided not to use the step in our bedroom, but we wanted to use the step for the studio. Unfortunately it would tip if one were to step on its edge. I therefore needed a way to prevent it from tipping.
After the steps were made last summer, Phil Igyarto, a classmate of mine from high school, gave me several ideas about how to secure them so they wouldn't tip. When I started to do the work I could not find what Phil had written, so what I did was based on my memory. Thank you, Phil!
To secure the step in the studio I bought a board with nominal dimensions of 1" x 4" x 39" (actual dimensions of 3/4" x 3-1/2" x 39") and needed to reduce its width to 2-3/4". I don't own a rip saw so I used a crosscut saw to remove 3/4" from the board. It took much longer than it would have with a rip saw, but I managed to make a straight cut.
I soon realized that my plan to secure the step was not feasible, so I devised another plan, which conveniently would use the 3/4" strip I had removed from the board. Here's the final result.
Initially I secured the 3/4" strip to the wall with several of the anchors shown below...
...but I quickly realized that they were inadequate. I then replaced three of those anchors with toggle bolts.
In the picture below you can see, from left to right, one of the original anchors, one of the toggle bolts, and one of the four corner braces I used to secure the step to the strip on the wall.
At this point the step would no longer tip if someone stepped on its front edge, but I realized that if someone were to lift the front edge, the attachment to the wall could be damaged. I therefore installed two corner braces on each side of the step.
The step is now safe to use, and nobody will have to step up 13.5 inches to get to our deck.
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Nice job John! You indeed incorporated the two things we talked about 1) a ledger board secured to the wall to prevent the step from tipping up and 2) fasteners to secure the step from moving out from under that ledger board. Glad I was able to contribute to one of your projects, I always like to see your resourceful repairs - Phil
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