How to Build Wooden Landscape Steps

In this how-to video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook builds timber-frame steps

In this video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook explains how to build wooden landscapes steps.

Building wooden landscape steps

Drive 1×2 stake into ground, then use straightedge and level to find height of top step; mark height on stake.
Use level to find height of grade at bottom; mark height on stake.
Measure between the two pencil marks to determine total height of all steps.
Dig two trenches at bottom for installing 6×6 sleepers flush with grade.
Use a circular saw and handsaw to cut 3-foot-long sleepers from a 6×6 timber.
Treat cut ends of sleepers with wood preservative.
Drill two 9/16-inch-diameter holes through the sleepers; position the holes 6 in. from each end.
Set sleepers in trenches, making sure they’re level with the surrounding grade.
Use sledgehammer to drive 48-inch-long rebar through the holes in the sleepers and into the ground.
Set two 6×6 treads on top of the sleepers, forming the first step.
Place sleepers on top of first sleepers to support the second step.
Fasten the timbers to the sleepers with 10-inch-long landscaping screws.
Backfill around sleepers with pea gravel.
Continue adding 6×6 sleepers and 6×6 treads for each of the remaining steps.

Safety Note: When choosing pressure-treated timbers for landscape steps, look for lumber treated with ACQ (alkaline copper quaternary) rather than the older CCA treatment. As Roger, This Old House landscape contractor, notes, ACQ “has no arsenic in it, but yet gives us all that lifespan of the other timbers, so that when they go into the ground, they won’t rot.”

Calculating the Number of Steps: Each 6×6 timber measures 5½ inches, which serves as the rise for each step. To determine how many steps you need, divide the total height difference by 5.5. For example, a 22½-inch height difference divided by 5.5 gives you approximately four steps—four risers at 5½ inches each will bring you up to 22 inches, close enough to the total grade change for a comfortable climb.

Pro Tip: Roger, This Old House landscape contractor, explains why two timbers are used for each tread: “You need that distance to have a nice, comfortable, safe tread going up.” Using two 6×6 timbers side by side creates a tread depth deep enough for secure footing on each step.