Attaching stairs to brick

[franimalg]

Hi,

First time posting... I'm replacing some rotten, leaning deck-type stairs. They go from a small concrete landing at the top with brick on the sides. I'm guessing it's block/concrete with brick on the outside, the top is concrete, but I really have no idea. There's a 2x4 bolted into the brick and the old stringers are toe-nailed into this. I haven't taken the stairs apart yet.

How do I attach the new ledger? How do I bolt into brick? Will I be able to use the old bolts? How many bolts do I need (see stair dimensions below) to attach the ledger?

The old stringers are notched around the 2x4 ledger and toe-nailed into it. Is this the best way, or should I have the 2x4(or 2x?) ledger fit exactly between the stringers and nail/screw the stringer into it from the side?

Also, the bottom of the old stringers are just resting on dirt and have settled a bit. Do I need to pour concrete at the bottom? Or can I just put concrete pavers down to spread the load? Can the stringers just rest on the concrete or do I need to attach them somehow?

I can figure out the stringers and all that stuff. Rise is 7". Run is 10 1/4". 6 steps. I'm planning on using 2x12s as treads. Width of the stair treads are ~42 inches. I'm planning on using 2 stringers 34-36 inches apart.

Thanks,

Frannie

[lefty]

franimalg,

Welcome to DoItYourself.com.

By "bricks" I'm assuming that you are talking about red clay bricks. That's not anything you want to anchor a ledger plate into. The bolts MIGHT actually go through the bricks and into the concrete. That would be acceptable. You could use long enough redheads and drill through the bricks into the concrete to set them.

Another option would be to make the stairs free-standing -- not relying on the brick/concrete wall to support the top of the stringers at all. A couple of footings close to the wall, posts up to a short beam to rest the top of the stringers on, a concrete pad at the bottom of the stringers with a couple of ABA44's or similar to attach the stringers to that pad.

Rather than a 2X12 for the treads, I would suggest using two 2X6's. And add a third (center) stringer. 34" to 36" is to far for a 2X to span.