Deck Staircase Makeover, covering up some ugly with lattice!

Oct 03 2021
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Our deck staircase was NOT the prettiest thing ever. To be fair to myself though its not like I had built very many steps or staircases in my life when I put these in so they might look a little rough but they’re very sturdy! I had already flipped the step boards over, cleaned them thoroughly and put in new outdoor screws when I took the before pics. That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase.

(Teaming up in our DIY Blog Hop this month with Before and After projects, check out all of the projects following my post. If you’re interested in joining us click here for more info!)

In fact I’ll be taking this solution all the way across the bottom of the deck too as the random rocks, dirt and pea gravel under there is a bit of an eyesore.

To keep things consistent I decided to do lattice for the risers – fortunately we still had some leftover for when I covered the entire underside of the deck.

(You can see Lodi’s work here with the leftover concrete from one of our three slab pours this spring. He put in a pad to give our staircase some support – it turned out great!)

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

This is going to look a lot better but, its lattice so, ya know, everyone can still see through it lol and that’s been bugging me since forever around the whole deck!

Now with our new pea gravel lower deck it felt like time to take care of that situation for good.

This farm left me with a few rolls of weed fabric that came from someone / somewhere at some point. I’ve been using it off and on ever since I moved in. I decided it would be the perfect solution.

I rolled out the weed fabric the length of the deck, crawled under there and attached it behind the posts with staples.

What a difference!

I had some trouble figuring out how I wanted to do it behind the gate. We’ve certainly used this space for storage before and I didn’t want to lose that but I wanted all of this to look the same so I didn’t want to attach the fabric to the back of the gate lattice.

So I simply did not staple it down one post and just cut it extra long. Pressing it down and sticking a rock on it / behind it worked great! We can easily pull it up and crawl under there or use it as a storage space if we like.

From there I moved on to the staircase.

After taking measurements I cut the lattice risers out carefully using our skill saw.

Big tip here: Lattice is just stupid expensive for something that is so ridiculously fragile! Be very careful when you cut it!

I had already brought the step boards out about an inch so there would be a lip to cover the top of the new lattice risers.

Remember how I just mentioned how fragile this stuff is? Yeah, like I can’t even use screws without predrilling very carefully and risking splitting it a part. Even cutting it by hand is a nightmare.

First I stapled weed fabric across the front of each step and then I used long finish nails with a hammer. It worked out fine but it was a bit of a pain in the butt. When you cut lattice so small like this there isn’t much holding it together – one wrong move and you end up with a pile of kindling at your feet.

I think it turned out ok though! It is certainly not perfect but still a major improvement from where we started and the sun will turn all the wood the same color with time.

MUCH BETTER!

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric



Hi guys! Chas and I are teaming up the first Sunday of every month for our DIY blog hop. Feel free to join us by linking up or you can also share it!

This Month’s DIY Blop Hop: Before and Afters! (Click here for our upcoming themes and more info on how to join us every month!)


Niki from Life as a LEO Wife - Reverse Canvas TutorialNiki from Life as a LEO Wife – Reverse Canvas Tutorial



Niky from The House on Silverado - DIY Front Door BasketNiky from The House on Silverado – DIY Front Door Basket



Lynne from Thrifting Wonderland - Updating the Morning Room..... Before and AfterLynne from Thrifting Wonderland – Updating the Morning Room….. Before and After




Amy from Health, Home, and Heart - How to Paint Exterior Slate TileAmy from Health, Home, and Heart – How to Paint Exterior Slate Tile



Allison from Darling and Dapper Life - Thrift Store Teapot MakeoverAllison from Darling and Dapper Life – Thrift Store Teapot Makeover


That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase using lattice and fabric

Comments

  1. October 3, 2021 at 7:22 am

    Wow, that really does make a difference in the way the deck looks. I never would have thought of it, but it’s a great solution!

    Niky @ The House on Silverado

  2. October 3, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    That looks so good!! What a great idea to put weed fabric behind it. Just genius! Also, I had no idea lattice was so fragile, that always makes a project take way longer than you planned on 😳. But it looks so great now that it’s done 😍

    • October 4, 2021 at 10:12 am

      Thank you Allison, great hopping with you!

  3. October 4, 2021 at 10:13 am

    Thanks Niki, great hopping with you! Yep, this was one of those projects that was not a “joy” lol It was worth it though!

  4. October 4, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    This looks great, Tarah! I’m actually planning on doing this very thing under the landing of our deck stairs. So, this was awesome to see. I love the way it looks, and it gives me more confidence to do it at my own house!

    • October 5, 2021 at 9:29 am

      Thanks Amy, it was tedious but very doable – we’re so much happier with how it looks!

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