A new landing

My clients on this job were an retired couple who's old landing was not only rotten but an eyesore! It was downright dangerous, almost falling apart, and had to be replaced completely as soon as possible. I had to remove the old structure first but took the time to measure up its dimensions to give me a plan to replace it as close as possible to the original style.

Next I dug two post holes 800mm deep and concreted in two 100 x 200mmm treated posts and left them for a couple of days to allow the concrete to set well. Since the building was to take place on the posts themselves I wanted them to be firmly set to avoid and separation from the concrete footings and cause 'wobbly legs'...

 Step cuts in the posts are made to give the supporting joist a firm fixture, and the joist is bolted to it.

 Next a faceplate is bolted through  the house floor joist (using packers,  a 20 mm space must be made between the house and the joist to prevent water retention and rot occurring) and bearers are fixed between the two to form the floor support. Then that is all clad with a cover plate to make it look tidy!

In the picture below,  I have nogged up below the floor for a storage area to be added

Now the floor is cut from a single sheet od 20mm treated plywood and fixed to the bearers, and the cladding is placed onto the structure, I have begun to frame up for the walls and roof of the covered cubicle. The storage floor is just visible.

 I have the basic placement for the windows and roof in place, and begin to add the cladding and windowsills to the structure

 Finally the roof sheeting in on.

 I decided to have a go at making the stairs myself to keep the budget within the client's retirement finances! I did some research on the web and found a useful angle calculator on my smart phone app to help calculate the dimensions for the stairs. Once the tread positions were marked I set the skill saw depth and made several cuts within the tread placement area and then using a chisel cleaned out the  rebate ( use a router if you have one, its much faster)

 After cutting all the tread rebates the treads are fitted and nailed in place.

 The handrail is attached and a gate made of leftovers to cover the storage area
Job done! It took me 3 1/2  days working on my own to complete,  and I used rough sawn treated timber which I dressed myself to build it with, which took more time, but vastly reduced the cost.