Here’s How to Build Deck Stairs with Deckorators Voyage Composite Decking

The final piece of our backyard renovation was building a small platform deck with stairs leading from our sliding doors down to our patio. This area gets a lot of shade, and we knew that traditional wood deck boards would have a tendency to stay wet for longer, making them slippery and decreasing their life span.

That led us to choose Deckorators Voyage Composite Decking from Home Hardware, which are mineral-based composite deck boards. They are designed with vertical grain for enhanced traction, have virtually no water absorption, and are very low maintenance. Perfect for this application! Not to mention the colour choices are beautiful. We went with the colour Sedona which gives a beautiful warm, brown cedar look.

We had never built stairs before, but we’re up for the challenge, are you?!

Step 2: Plan & Measure your Space

The hardest part of this project was figuring out the right dimensions to cut our stringers. The rise is the height of each step, and the run is the depth of the tread on each step. I recommend looking into your local building code for the minimum and maximum rise and run for deck stairs. In our area, the run must be between 10”-14” and the rise must be between 5”-8”. The height of our deck was 30” and we wanted a step rise of 7.5” which gave us 4 steps (with the deck being the 4th step). We wanted our stairs to come out about 34” - the Deckorators Composite boards are 5.5” wide so using two boards to create an 11” tread worked perfectly. It helped me to draw a diagram of how the treads would be spaced out on top of the stringers before measuring to cut the stringers.

It is important to keep in mind that the bottom step on the stringer must be shorter by the height of your tread. The Deckorators deck boards are 7/8” thick so the bottom rise on our stringer was 6 5/8” instead of 7.5”. We marked the rise and run dimensions on a framing square and clamped a scrap piece of wood at those marks. We then placed this against our 2”x12” to trace out the exact dimensions for our stringers and then cut the stringers with a jig saw. Once our stringers were cut, we attached them using stringer hangers every 9” as per the Deckorators installation guide.

Step 3: Install the Deckorators Boards

Then it was time for the fun part: installing the Voyage Composite Decking boards! There are two ways that you can attach these boards: 1. When using grooved-edge boards, you can use the Deckorators Stowaway hidden fastener system. This will give you a 1/4” gap between boards and a very clean look on the face of the boards, with no visible screw holes. 2. Use the Pro Plug Fastening System to attach the deck or fascia boards. For this option, you use deck screws with a special drill bit that creates a perfect hole to place a colour matched plug - completely camouflaging the screw head. We used a mix of both systems: the Pro Plug Fastening System on the solid picture frame trim boards, and the Stowaway hidden fasteners on the grooved-edge deck and skirt boards. The next step is fastening the picture frame trim. Measuring for this part can be a bit tricky so I’ve included a reference diagram below. First, measure the width of your deck or step (40” in the example below) and add the overhang on each side (1” in the example below). Transfer this measurement (42”) to a solid board - This will be the widest part of your picture frame trim (blue dot to blue dot). Then cut a 45* angle at both of those marks. Install that piece, ensuring an even overhang along the front of the deck, and then measure from the green dot to the blue dot to determine the length of the abutting board. Once your picture frame trim is installed, measure and cut the remaining planks, ensuring to account for a 1/8” gap at each end and between boards.

Step 4: Install the Railing

After our deck was completed we added a Regal Ideas 36” railing (check your local building code to ensure the height of your railing is appropriate for the height of your deck). Regal Ideas has some great tutorial videos on YouTube that we watched prior to installing our railing which made the process super simple. The best part about the Regal Ideas system is that the pickets lock into place and come with spacers to ensure every picket is evenly spaced, no measuring required!