Chances are a lot of time and energy went into designing how your deck is going to look. The odds are just as good that very little thought (if any, really) went into where your deck stairs are going to land – and what they are going to land on.
A lot of new deck builders assume that deck stairs can just land on some pavers or stone. And while that’s true, it’s a much better idea for your deck stairs to land on something a little more solid and a little more resilient like concrete.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the ins and outs of using pavers as a landing for your deck stairs.
Can Deck Stairs Land on Pavers?
Can deck stairs land on pavers that have been basically pressed into the ground underneath them?
Sure.
This happens all the time. Maybe millions of decks around the country (and millions more around the world) have deck stairs that land on a couple of pavers placed on the ground.
Is this ideal, though?
Definitely not.
Pavers certainly offer a lot more support and a lot more strength than simply setting your deck stairs on the ground, that’s for sure. Nothing is worse than just laying your deck steps on your grass and calling it good.
That kind of approach guarantees that your deck steps are going to shift over time, usually after the first few times people go up and down them – and certainly quite a bit over the first year.
Pavers are much better
Sure, it’s a little bit harder to drive heavy pavers deep into the soil of your yard. Even with a fully loaded set of deck steps terminating on top of them.
But all it takes is a little bit of rain, some really cold and then really warm temperature swings, and all of a sudden you have pavers that are sinking into the earth and deck steps that are going with them.
The other reason that pavers aren’t an ideal solution for deck step landings is that it can be really tough to get multiple pavers perfectly flat and perfectly level. And that’s exactly what you want your stair landing to be!
The code itself requires that you have a slight slope to your landing – but it has to be a very slight slope or you end up not just out of code, but also creating a situation that could be potentially dangerous moving forward.
In a pinch, pavers will probably get the job done for a couple of months.
In reality, though, it’s better that you go with a more permanent solution specifically designed for your deck steps. A solution that’s going to lock those steps in place and give you years and years of reliability at the same.
Deck Stair Landing Requirements
As we mentioned a moment ago, there are some code rules and regulations dictating how deck stair landings need to be implemented.
And while these codes very a little bit from location to location, almost all of them recommend that your landing is just as flat as humanly possible. We are talking about a .25 inch slope per foot and nothing more than that!
Any extra slope per foot of landing space is going to guarantee that your stairs are a little offkilter. You start getting up to a half inch of slope per foot (or even more) and you’ll physically be able to see how out of whack your steps look. You’ll also feel how out of whack they are when you go up and down them.
It’s also important that you remember you can’t have more than 12 feet between individual floor levels and each individual landing.
For most folks this isn’t going to be a problem. A lot of people have deck steps that are maybe 3 feet to 6 feet long (if that).
Larger decks – especially multilevel decks, though – may require significantly longer stair runs. Make sure that you have individual landings that break up those longer than 12 foot sections, though. Not just to stay compliant with the code but also to stay safe.
On top of that, if you have really long stair runs (we are talking about 10 feet long or longer) you don’t want them to terminate on a paver landing.
All that extra weight and all that extra stress coming down on pavers is a surefire recipe for disaster.
Are Pavers Really a Solid Landing Material?
Yes, pavers have their place – even as a landing material for relatively short stair runs on decks.
When you get right down to it, though, you can get a lot more utility (and a lot more safety) out of a full on cement pad, cement footings, or other materials that just don’t have the same kind of displacement properties that pavers do.
Some folks even like to use ground rated would posts, “screw in” footings, and other materials that allow for a different aesthetic on the landing without compromising safety and security.
And at the end of the day that’s really what the whole point of the landing is all about:
Keeping you and your loved one safe every time they go up and down the steps!
Closing Thoughts
You might be able to get away with using pavers as a landing material for your deck steps, especially if you have a short run for your stairs (maybe two or three steps at the most).
But if you want to be sure that your stairs are locked into place, that they aren’t going to shift or buckle over time, and that they aren’t going to sink into the lawn and eventually need replacing, you’ll want to use a different material.
Pavers have their place and are a very versatile landscaping material.
It’s just that they aren’t the ideal material to be used in something as important as the solid and stable foundation that you build your deck stairs on top of.
Other materials fit that bill a little better!
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