Salvage those old, creaky deck steps rather than pay big money for new ones

After two bids for new steps came in at $1700 and $1200 from deck contractors and being handy enough to do a reclaimation project myself, I repaired and moved 10 year old quality cedar steps to a new location on our all ceder deck.

The first thing that got me thinking about doing this was seeing that the old location measured the same vertical height as the new location. All I had to do was unscrew the treads (steps) and stringers and reassemble them at the new location. All the deck contractor has to do is install new vinyl handrails that will match the rest of the deck.

At first I wanted to replace the cedar treads (steps), but found out precut pressure treated treads would cost $14 apiece (needed six). Cutting up pressure treated board would have been half that cost, but they would still have to be maintained periodically. The original cedar has never had a drop of anything protecting it for around 10 years!

The old steps did have some rot however on the cut ends, but that was resolved by sawing off the ends an inch or so. My cost was only $8 for a pound of 10 year coated deck screws. What a country!