I’ve had this big stack of 2X6’s on the side of the house for quite a long time. My brother in law was working at a Natural Gas Compressor station and they had these monster pallets made of 2X6. They would unload the new equipment off the pallets and cut the pallets up and throw them away. That’s a lot of good lumber just getting tossed in the trash. What a waste!!
So my brother in law and a few coworkers set some of these massive pallets aside to be taken apart. I ended up scoring quite a stockpile of these 2x6’s and stacked them next to the house and covered them with a tarp.
Between 8 feet and 16 feet long
They have been under this tarp for… a couple years I think???
Looks like it’s still good lumber to me!!
I finally decided to ding into this pile of lumber and build a little something. A couple of steps that attach to the deck and make it easier to get in and out of the pool from the deck. It’s a decent reach when you are sitting on the edge of the pool to get some good footing on the deck. Anyone who has ever owned an above ground pool knows how crappy those ladders are that come with the pool. Super narrow and they feel like they are gonna break at any moment.
Granted these new steps don’t go down into the pool but everyone is able to push themselves up and get out just fine.
First thing I had to do was separate the 2x6’s. They were nailed together in stacks of 3, with about 10 nails holding one 2x6 to the next. I was expecting it to big a pain in the ass, but they came apart pretty easily
After picking up all the nails I pulled out, I cut a few 4 foot pieces. This is how wide I wanted these steps. I also wanted them to be pretty deep from front to back. The first step is going to be 3-2x6’s deep and the second will be 4. That was there is a nice platform to get out of the pool and stand on.
Under the edge of the deck, I screwed together two pieces in an “L” shape and screwed it into place. This is how the steps will eventually be anchored to the deck.
I cut 3-2x6’s that will go to the ground and set on some old broken pavers I had laying around. This will keep the steps sturdy and keep them from wanting to tip over. Then I tied those 3 pieces into the “L” shaped piece under the deck with scrap piece of 2x6
I was able to tie together the top set of steps with the bottom by using the 3 2x6’s closest to the pool. Then on the front part of the top step, I used a few more scarp pieces to screw the top and bottom steps together.
Not to shabby for a bunch of wood that would have ended up in the landfill. ALl that is left is to run the sander on them to smooth things up a bit and these steps are done and Tony approved.
I may have to add another step to one side with a piece that stick over the pool. A little doggy diving board… We better get these dogs swimming this summer. I also need to come up with an easy way for them to get out of the pool. I have a few ideas…
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