Amateur carpenters who have laid out the cuts in a stair stringer (the zig-zag structural support for the steps) know the queasy feeling that bubbles up at the prospect of this job. There’s the simple ...

DEAR TIM: I read your recent column about building stairs for a deck. I can handle that, but I’m worried about how to make all the complex cuts required for the deck stair railing. Can you give me a ...

Q. I asked a contractor to build a set of porch steps using name-brand materials. He made a mess of it and when you step off the last step you trip on a sloped piece of concrete he added. I know you ...

Lloyd Alter is Design Editor for Treehugger and teaches Sustainable Design at Ryerson University in Toronto. Alternating tread stairs are terrific for saving space; you only put one foot on a tread at ...