Blocking corners of wrap around (half octogon) box step


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Old 03-21-09, 09:21 PM
J
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Blocking corners of wrap around (half octogon) box step

I built my deck last summer, but never got around to doing the last step down to the ground. I build the deck with the corner notched off (so it is like three sides of an octogon). It is just one step down to the ground, so I am doing a box step. I will miter cut the decking at 22.5 degrees so that the angles are flush around the corner.

My particular question is regarding the blocking that I am putting in the box frame. I will want to screw down the decking at the joint so that no edges pop up. How will I put the blocking under this joint? Should I miter cut the end of the 2x6 so that it fits snuggly into the angle, or can I just cut it off straight (which would leave a little gap)? Here is an image of the two options I see.



Thanks,
~john
 
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Old 03-22-09, 05:23 PM
L
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Hi John --

Don't use a single 2X6 -- use two 2x6's side by side at each angle, each cut with the 45 degree ends. (It took me a couple of minutes to orient your drawings, but that is looking down from the top.)
 
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Old 03-22-09, 09:52 PM
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Ah! Brilliant! Falls in the category of "why didn't I think of that."

So something like the below then (and yes, it is from the top looking down):

 
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Old 03-23-09, 06:28 AM
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You've got it! Plenty of framing there to attach everything to and make it strong.
 
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Old 03-23-09, 09:52 PM
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2x6 frame not high enough for box step

Ok, I actually sat down and planned this out, and it looks like I have a new challenge. I had been planning on using the example at DECKPLANS.com | How to Build a Box Step to build this. That has me making the frame out of 2x6's. The deck that I built is using 1"x4" and 1"x6" Tigerwood decking. The stuff is really strong, so the boards can be thin. If I want the step to be 7.5," then the 2x6's won't cut it for me.

I uploaded my working plan. You can see that I end up with a 1 3/4" gap. I guess I could just put 2x4's over it, but that is more like 1.5" and feels hacky.



Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
~john
 
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Old 03-23-09, 10:16 PM
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I should note that I could always raise the pavers up a bit, but I was thinking of having them extend out under the step so that you step down onto them.
 
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Old 03-24-09, 01:44 PM
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John,

It can be made to work in one of two ways.

You have 15-1/2" of total rise from the ground to the top of the deck. Therefore you need the top of the tread to be 7-3/4" above grade and 7-3/4" below the top of the deck. Your box need to be 7" tall since you are using decking that is 3/4" thick.

Rip 2X8's to 7" to build the box, or build the box with 2X6's and lay a 2X flat either under it or on top of it.

Doing this will also give you two equal rises. The 1/2" variation that your drawing shows is too much, especially since it will be so easy to make them equal.
 
 

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