[How do I?] Q's about preserving wood against relentless rain and sun- my shop staircase

[DavidR8]

Carpenter bees didn't come around this year, but last year they came looking for stuff to dig. My house is sided with cedar shakes, I've seen bees fly in a crack, make some awful scraping noise, and spit out a pellet of wood- they are fast at it too. Luckily, it's just black coconut ants and moss for the most part. The stairs are on the western wall, so it's not too extreme.


I've had to consider that doing nothing is an option too. If that won't lead to later regrets, I'm okay with it. I can sand down the hand rails and call it good. Should I run around with the screw gun and try to hold down anything that's twisting, or is that going to be a fight later on?


It was really moist when built, but after a year it was plenty dry. I was more unnerved by the cupping and pulling at joints than the finish. I wish to preserve its function as long as I can before breaking down and rebuilding it right. I just got the dang thing paid off last September, so... yep.

Doing nothing is a fine option. I would sand down the hand rails, paying particular attention anywhere where the grain rises to the surface and could possibly create a splinter. I'd start with 220gr and go no finer than 320gr.

You may have some luck fastening down the twisted boards if you can clamp them down to the joists and screw them down while clamped. Otherwise the screw will just bury itself in the wood before it can really bring the board down.

 

[Bone Head]

No definite experience in this particular case, but would bedliner (brush on stuff) be practical for the uprights and handrails? You would not want to use it on steps as it gets slippery when wet. I may be waaayyy off base; someone else might get a good laugh at my expense. (I'm good with that).

 

[mickri]

I hope you didn't pay 150K for the stairs.

 

[Martin W]

Nice shop! Looks great,
You haven’t done anything different than 90% of other people with pressure treated wood. I am with DavidR8. A semi transparent stain every couple years. The beauty is you have lots of air flow so nothing will rot. Keep pea gravel around the posts in the ground and any standing water away and they will never rot.
I don’t see any eavestrough? that will help getting water away.
replace any stair treads that are cupping.
I use galvanized spiral nails for everything outside, except deck boards I will use deck screws to make it easier to change boards and keep them pulled down tight.
Screws will break very easily after a few years. Nail’s won’t break but don’t have as much pulling power to hold things tightly together .Just my 3 cents, mileage will vary,
Cheers
Martin

 

[Boswell]

Screws will break very easily after a few years.

I have a bunch of boardwalks that let us walk from the house to the dethatched garage, carport, trash storage etc. All out of pressure treated wood. I stain it with deck stain every 4-5 years and recently have started to replace some of the walk boards. The deck screws that I used almost 20 years ago are coming out with little or no problem. every now and then I will have one with a stripped head, probably from when it was installed. My big worry is that I will no longer have the correct bit from these old screws before I remove and replace the last of them. Now days it is all Torx and that is a standard but the older deck screws used a funky cross between a square drive and a Phillips head and did neither well. Anyway my point to this long reply is that I have not had any (well maybe one or two) screws break so your millage may vary.

 

[Gnpenning]

The stair treads would have been better if they used 2 or 3 boards with a gap for rain water to drain off. The solid board will allow water to sit and maybe pool.

I don't know if they used flashing between the building and landing, etc. You want moisture to move away from the walls. There are other things that may or may not work in your area.

Anytime you stain/paint wood you need to cover all 6 sides to help balance moisture. When I was in high school I built a trailer and put a wood deck and sides on it. Somewhere I heard to mix some BLO with the paint. That was a very looonnnggg time ago and I still have the same wood on it. It has always been left outside with snow all winter covering the deck, plus we get a fair amount of rain. A couple of the deck boards may need replacement in a few years.

As mentioned Thompsons would not make my list nor many of the big names.

Some composite decking use a biscuit type holder (sorry drawing a blank on the correct name, someone help) you can use these with wood if you have a biscuit joiner and a bunch of time. This eliminates any screws or nails on top.

 

[Martin W]

I have a bunch of boardwalks that let us walk from the house to the dethatched garage, carport, trash storage etc. All out of pressure treated wood. I stain it with deck stain every 4-5 years and recently have started to replace some of the walk boards. The deck screws that I used almost 20 years ago are coming out with little or no problem. every now and then I will have one with a stripped head, probably from when it was installed. My big worry is that I will no longer have the correct bit from these old screws before I remove and replace the last of them. Now days it is all Torx and that is a standard but the older deck screws used a funky cross between a square drive and a Phillips head and did neither well. Anyway my point to this long reply is that I have not had any (well maybe one or two) screws break so your millage may vary.

Yes you are correct, they will turn out easily. That is why I use them for deck boards to replace.
I am talking about using screws on joists and rim boards and headers and general framing.. Screws have a very narrow spot at the head and any corrosion can cause them to break and fail. This is why joists are nailed . Nails have way more tensile strength.

This is only my opinion and the way I was taught. There are tons of things built with screws that will probably never fail.
Cheers
Martin

 

[Boswell]

I recently built a loft where I used various types of screws but NOT decking screws for the structural elements. Simpson Strong-Tie screws and some GRK Multi Purpose Screws and others for when I needed sheer strength. This was indoors and protected from the weather. biggest mistake I ever made was once I used galvanized 14p nails in a nail gun to fasten walk boards. I figured that the galvanized nails would last in the weather. (this was before screws were popular. Over time the screws would back out and become a trip hazard. every few months I would pull out the ones that were proud and replace with screws. eventually I just replaced all of them. A very time consuming lesson on using the right fasteners for the job.

 

[tq60]

Can you find out the manufacturer of the materials?

Contact them.

They can confirm if constructed correctly and suggest what to use to extend the life, compatibility with existing chemistry.

Around here, wood can not touch dirt, period.

Verify this with the manufacturer.

If it is good, or not, get it in writing.

If it Cann not touch hen warranty by builder.

Bottom line is you paid the builder to make this, proper ENGINEERING is expected.

Stairs are safety issue, there should be clear engineering drawings.

Good luck.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[pontiac428]

Yes, I can find the manufacturer, the end tags are still present in places. Finding their opinion sounds like a very good idea to me!

I looked into the semi clear stains a little last night that are sold as dry powder. I can't determine the chemistry through the datasheets, but it seems like easy stuff to apply. I'd really like to know what kind of polymer this stuff forms when it sets so I know how to handle it if it doesn't turn out well in the future.

Here are a couple more pics. It's so funny how the pics look good compared to what I see when I'm standing there looking at it. The pic with the bottom step shows it's been moist and is growing some moss/algae. Here, the risers face north. It's freaking me out a bit, I want this to last.