Our New Trex Staircase and Porch

The deck that leads off the kitchen and down to where we park the cars has been having problems lately. The wood had started to crack and split and part of one of the stair treads had even come off. The wood was only nailed down (why didn't they use screws?), and some of the nails were loosening and popping up.

It was rapidly becoming a major safety hazard. We thought about replacing the old wood decking with new wood decking, but given how this wood has fallen apart (it's probably original to the house, so about 14 years old), how high-maintenance it is (constant power washing for mildew, plus regular re-staining), and the fact that we want it to look nice for when we sell the house (no idea when that will be, but we know this isn't our forever house), we decided against that. Even though it's more expensive, we decided to switch to Trex decking, as well as Trex posts and railings.

Mr M started the project a week or two before his mom arrived, hoping to be here when The Little Mister was born. We thought it'd be a quick and fairly easy job and he'd be done before she arrived.

Yeah, right.

We had to order all the Trex railing components, but only found out two weeks later that the order hadn't been placed because they needed more info but hadn't bothered to call us. We finally got that snafu straightened out after another week of phone tag, trying to get a hold of the right person.

In the meantime, Mr M tore out the old wood decking and railings and discovered that it hadn't been built to code and the stair stringers also needed to be replaced.

looking through the screen door as Mr M demos the stairs and deck

demo in progress

After tearing out everything that needed to be replaced (just the posts were left), Mr M started rebuilding it, placing the beams closer together so they'd be within code and adding a fourth stair stringer for better stability.

LMS and Mr M's mom helping him build the deck frame

He also ended up cutting the posts off flush with the deck. We thought the post sleeves would just slip over them, but the largest post sleeves fit 4" square posts and our posts were 4"x 5.5". Cutting them off enabled Mr M to use metal brackets to attach the posts to the deck.

frame built and stringers in place, getting ready to start attaching the Trex planks

I didn't take a picture of the decking installed without the posts up, but we ended up using it like that for awhile.

In between starting the project and finishing it, Daylight Savings ended, Mr M had drill out of state, Mr M had to work extra hours to make up for those missed while at drill, it rained on the few days Mr M actually had time to work on it, and we had to wait for another order to come in because when they ordered the railing pieces they neglected to get the bottom pieces.

Without the bottom railing pieces, you can't install the balusters or the top railings. It was pretty much a comedy of errors that you just have to go with the flow and do the best with what you've got.

posts installed, waiting for railing pieces

Mr M eventually bought a work light on a stand, which worked better than using the truck headlights, so he could work in the dark. Not the preferable way to go, but at least he was able to get the posts installed. And eventually the missing railings were delivered and he was able to install those as well.

installing the railings 

LMS was concerned about people falling off the other side and put up rubber band "railings" :)

Christmas Eve he was finally able to pronounce the project finished! 

Three months after starting what was supposed to be a quick and easy project. At least now we know what to look for in the future when ordering materials, and we know to plan on it taking longer than we think it will, especially with Mr M's work schedule.

isn't it pretty?

We love how it turned out! It's no longer a death trap, waiting to bring us a lawsuit, and it looks soooo much nicer.

There's definitely a learning curve to a project like this- especially the railings that go down the stairs. Practicing on this little deck and short staircase was good practice for the larger decks and long staircase of the front and back decks. We'll eventually re-do them also, but will have to save up since Trex is not cheap, unfortunately.

Have you replaced a deck? Was it easier or harder than you thought it'd be?

edited to add:
Mr M thinks I should have included a side-by-side comparison of the before and after, and he's right. So, Babe, this one's for you! :)

I can't believe it took us so long to update- it's so much nicer now!