Easy entrance steps/stairs?

Hi!  I'm wondering if anybody has advice for installing outdoor steps/stairs for the entrance to our daughter's house.  She bought a small house very inexpensively but it doesn't have steps to the front door anymore.  It's about 2 feet up and we just launch ourselves up but I'd like to help her put some proper steps there.  Money is tight and we don't have much experience with building.  We've done small things together like installed laminate flooring and she and her ex redid the roof of the garage (he's a roofer and they're still good friends), so we can do some stuff but we're definitely newbies.  :)  

I've thought about wood, stone, concrete....  All of it seems pretty overwhelming, TBH.  We love the look of stone but I don't know of a source around here for flat stones and it's pricey to buy them from places like Menards.  

Any advice, oh wise ones?  Thanks so much!

The person who built our house made a landing out of solid concrete blocks.  These blocks are similar to paving stones.

This landing is about 6" tall x 3' square.  This landing uses 6 of those blocks. To make it 12" use a second layer of blocks.

Another suggestion would be to make a wooden platform, like a wooden box to the height desired and a step up to the platform. This could be within inches of the doorway to make getting groceries, etc into the house easier. Sort of like a small porch.  This would use very simple skills, plywood  and 2 x 4s.

Much depends upon your skill levels and $.  Concrete blocks can be stacked in place for less than $20.   They can be set in loose ...just be sure there is minimal wiggle when used.  Setting them in with motar mix on a concrete pad is much better.  I know of one person who glued them together with liquid nails.  

Another option is to go to a lumber yard with the measurements and let them set you up.  You will pay more with this option.... probably around $100.00, AND they will hand you treated lumber.

There are also pre made concrete steps.  I have no idea what those things cost now.

I was thinking RV steps, but I just googled those--wow, $150 was the cheapest I could find.

Home Depot sells stair stringers. My search results shows them at $18 to $60 each, but you'd need two. Plus the lumber for the treads. Plus good nails/screws. Plus brackets to attach it to the house. That makes the price kinda hefty, according to my wallet.

John's and Anne's idea of using concrete blocks might be more economical.

While having lunch I thought of this one.  I feel it could probably be made wider, longer and higher to fit your needs. I recommend looking at all the different ones that folks have made.

And if you take pictures while making this you might qualify for a PEP Badge Bit:

https://permies.com/wiki/124795/pep-dimensional-woodworking/PEP-BB-dimensional-sand-stool

Hi Stacie,

That is a big maybe for the trailer/mobile home steps.  Check the junk shops and places the sell used trailers/mobile homes.

OK, lets talk budget.
Realistically what is available to do the job?
Otherwise;
- collect stone and rocks
- collect soil or gravel
- find concrete blocks and glue them together

Perhaps it would be useful to reconsider the contribution that you would like to make to your daughter’s home. Instead of designing the front step, or first impression of your daughter’s house, perhaps a less front-and-center gift would be more helpful. As a point of departure, I have always thought of my home as a reflection of who I am. If a house is a body, the front entry is part of the first impression or “face” so to speak. If your daughter purchased the house, perhaps the face that she would like to show the world is a choice that would help her realize her unique nature rather than the “proper” face that parents would like their kids to have.

Is there really such a thing as a “proper” step? Your daughter may like to create a long winding ramp to her front step, or a vanishing point to the tiny home, or a meandering up-and-down slope, or something with a western flair, or a Victorian throw-back, or something Gothic with gargoyles imbedded into the risers. She may want symmetry or she may want whimsy. Maybe leaving the two-foot gap between ground and house will create the necessary tension that helps her discover new aspects of her identity at this time.

A gift certificate to a garden store might be the kind of encouragement she needs to find her own “threshold.”

If you've got round rock or gravel you could do gabions. That's pretty simple.

On our house we had a staggered stack of 8x8s for stairs for a while. We were borrowing the 8x8s and when we returned them we built something with pallets and scrap lumber. Sounds like you want something nicer, though 😉

My thoughts:

What materials has she already got or that she can source?

And if nothing on hand or accessible, then in the immediacy the concrete or cedar blocks can easily be stacked to make steps and platform.
But this has been mentioned already I see.

At least this can be solid, if you have had a solid and flat foundation to stack them upon.
And it does not have to be permanent. But useful until your daughter knows what she prefers to replace it with.
When they are replaced these blocks can be recycled into raised beds or all manner of uses including adding some planks for outdoor seating  or a potting bench.
Or if that is not her desire, she can store them easily outside for another need or a neighbour or friend who might need them, as gifts or exchange or donation.

I hope you can ENJOY your daughter, and your time together the best way possible, whatever that is for all of you.

I stumbled across this thread and wonder what you came up with in the end? I think you can easily do something substantial with wooden pallets for very little money. This idea for example i found online.

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I quite like the idea of combining it with an arbour to make a porch feature as well, maybe to shelter from rain as you get the keys out, or just to have plants scramble up.

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The great thing about pallets is that they come ready made (if you know what I mean) so with a hammer, nails and maybe a saw you can make any number of structures.

I have some from my deck they are tree if they will work you can have them

These might actually be too tall, but a couple of steel stringers, some fasteners and planks can be had for < $75.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pylex-3-Steps-Steel-Stair-Stringer-black-7-1-2-in-x-10-1-4-in-Includes-1-Stair-Stringer-13903/308771890

We have some solid concrete blocks making our steps.

Benn Castle wrote:I have some from my deck they are tree if they will work you can have them

Kind offer Ben, This is quite an old thread, so hopefully the OP is sorted, but maybe someone else might like them. You could put them on the flea market forum perhaps? Welcome to permies!

As someone whose knees started deteriorating painfully by my 40s, can I encourage you to consider a ramp as well?

A ramp will help keep that house accessible for extra decades of life, and will be beneficial at other times too.

It's always good to think ahead, and get ramps & grab bars etc. installed before you urgently need them!

You'll need a level platform at the top of the ramp outside the door, and can have steps up to that platform too.

Best of luck.