How to build low level deck over concrete slab and concrete stairway?

[tonytr]

 Hi all,

I am planning to build a low-level deck over concrete slab at the entrance of the house. I have found some guides to do it on the concrete slab, i.e., https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/t5/Featured-Projects/Low-level-deck-over-concrete/ta-p/77402

However, there are concrete stairs at the entrance as well. Could anyone guide me how to do it?
Thanks

 

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @tonytr,

Were you planning on continuing the decking down over the stairs as well, or just the flat slab area?

If you’d like to clad the stairs, you’d need to attach timber joists to both the risers and treads, then fix the decking boards over those. The tricky part is that stairs have minimum and maximum rise requirements that must be followed, and adding the thickness of the joist plus decking can easily put you outside those limits. For example, even if you used a 35mm joist on its side with 19mm decking, that would raise each step by 54mm, which could put the bottom stair height over the maximum allowance.

To do it properly, you would essentially need to frame out the staircase with joists in a way that keeps all the rises consistent and compliant. Once that’s in place, you can install your decking boards across both the flat slab area and the stairs.

Another option worth considering, which would affect the rise so much, would be to tile the stairs. I think that could look quite nice and compliment the timber deck above.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell