Project - Stairs

 My project this week has been a free-standing staircase.

The single stair to get into the camper just isn't enough. I mean, yes, it works. But it's a huge step up or down, the stair itself is really small, and it feels flimsy. The way the stair attaches to the camper, it actually seems to be pulling through the floor a little bit now. All in all, it just wasn't sustainable. If I'm going to be spending a few months going in and out of that door multiple times per day, I want a decent set of stairs to climb.

So I started looking into my options for camper stairs. Several people have come up with solutions that are admittedly quite ingenious. One guy made single stair units that nest into each other for storage, and then stack on top of each other for use. I wanted to go that route, but his steps weren't exactly easy to follow and I didn't really need extreme portability for my purposes. We don't plan on moving the camper at all for a few months, and the built-in stair would be sufficient for a short camping trip of a few days.

The other problem I ran into is that most people who made their own custom stairs were in campers much larger and taller than mine. I can see why the demand is higher when you need more steps, but I don't need anything that large. From a cursory glance, I would be fine with just two or three stairs in a static configuration.

When I finally found the type of staircase that I wanted, most people made them upwards of 4' and that's way too large for my camper. The gap between the door and the ground measured about 2' total. Obviously, this might shift a bit depending on the terrain, but I figured I could go a hair smaller and be fine with some wiggle room.

The final source of concern was the stringer. This is the part of a staircase that runs along the side, with triangular pieces cut out. The boards of the actual stair rest on top of the stringer. I know the general premise of cutting a stringer, but I wasn't confident in my ability to cut them myself with any level of accuracy.

Fortunately, Lowe's sells pre-cut stringers of varying length. This includes a three stair stringer that claimed to be appropriate "For decks or landings with a height between 16 inches and 22 inches." Since I didn't care if there were a small step down from the camper door, that sounded perfect for my needs. With some stringers, I could throw together a few boards for a frame.

Nothing I could find online gave me exact steps to make what I wanted, but I figured I could wing it and get something close enough. Worst case scenario, I could make a prototype and rework it later into something better. My exact Lowe's order is listed below:

5/4X6X12 STD Decking Item #: 312286|Model #: OGS540612-AG QTY 1

2-in x 4-in x 8-ft #2 Prime Pressure Treated Lumber Item #: 196087|Model #: OG2P20408-AG QTY 1

8 x 2-in Wood To Wood Deck Screws (625-Count) Item #: 1148803|Model #: 48414 QTY 1

3/8-in x 4-ft x 8-ft Pine Plywood Sheathing Item #: 12246|Model #: 721366 QTY 1

3-Step Pressure Treated Wood Stair Stringers Item #: 643707|Model #: 3STEPT12140C QTY 2

4x4x8 Treated #2 Grade Item #: 552328|Model #: Y2L40408-GC QTY 1

With these materials, I figured I could make the stair case as well as a bit of shelving I also planned. For the record, I returned the 8x2 screws for 10x3 of a lower count. After some deliberation, I decided that 2" of depth wouldn't be enough to attach a 2x4 with a 4x4 and opted for the upgrade. I also picked up some grip tape at the store, just for a little added safety.

I came up with the parts list and dimensions with some quick math. Stringers fit decks up to 24" and my door is 24" off the ground. Plus, the door is roughly 24" wide (funny how that works out, isn't it?) so I would do stairs 24" across.

Three tiers of stairs, with two boards each, two feet across, that's 12' of deck boarding. Fortunately, a single 12' deck board handles that nicely. HEADS UP, don't assume the board is exactly what the label says. I started measuring to cut, and I discovered that the board was 12'1" in reality. So I had to shave off an inch before everything would fit my plan. MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE.

After I had 6 deck boards 2' each, I lined the stringers up next to each other and layered one board on each tier. With some eyeball orientation (I'm sure a contractor somewhere is having a heart attack), I screwed one board right up into each angle. For a little space, I stuck a screw on either side of the board and placed another board above that. So the gap between each deck board is about a screw's breadth. Then, I screwed those in for a full stair step.

With each step finished, I had a full set. I just needed a frame to prop it up. This is where I had to engineer something sturdy, with absolutely no idea how I should properly measure it. I propped up the stairs upside down against a counter. When it looked level, I measured the gap between the top (bottom) of the stringer and the bottom (top) of the highest stair. The full structure was 20" tall, with 19" excluding the top board.

Since I wanted 4x4 boards to hold the stair up, I cut 2 lengths of 19" to fit between the top stair and the ground. I then screwed those into the corners of the top board. Everything appeared to be mostly level, so I assumed I measured right. At worst, the entire camper is a little tilted anyway. What does a slight lean to the stairs matter?

For some side to side stability, I screwed a 2x4 underneath the front of the bottom stair, and along the bottom of the 4x4 posts. Since the stairs themselves are 24" wide, I cut these bases to 24" wide. They left a bit on either side of the post, but I figured that would give a little more tolerance to weight on the edges.

My final step was to add a 2x4 along the bottom of the stairs, attaching the front and back base board. Originally, I wanted two of them, one along either side near the stringer, but I didn't have enough wood left for two of them. Instead, I opted for a single 30" board along the center. At the end of the day, I don't expect much front to back shimmy, so a single board should be sufficient.

With everything said and done, I put the stairs in place. They were a little heavy, but not so bad that they aren't portable. Plus, I'd rather them hold up a little better and be a little more cumbersome to move, instead of falling apart quickly. The plan is to have them last at least as long as we have the camper static, and potentially long enough to take them when we travel. If they don't last that long, I'll reconsider and see where I might be able to improve them.

The biggest change that I wish I had made is width. They're as wide as the door, but I think an extra 6" to 1' in width would make them a little less precarious. I'm sure they'll be fine, but that's just something I know now if I have to make another set.