Just realized that my inherited staircase (included with the summer cottage) is in worse condition than I thought. The steps are only held up by the blocks under the steps, which have also started to give way. See pictures.
How do I fix this before someone gets seriously hurt? Preferably neatly and simply! Fasten the blocks with screws and then long screws into the steps. Is that enough?
How do I fix this before someone gets seriously hurt? Preferably neatly and simply! Fasten the blocks with screws and then long screws into the steps. Is that enough?
It is the glue that provides the strength with its large surface area - screws are only there to keep everything fixed until the glue has dried/cured when assembling wooden items.
Imagine the shear forces that can occur with solely screwed solutions if someone with some weight walks down the stairs... unless you like hefty dimensions of French wood screws, and there must also be something to screw into.
In other words, remove the blocks and clean so that both surfaces are bare wood - glue and fit in place and then screw.
If there are existing layers of paint behind the blocks, it's easy to understand why it lacks strength if you have glued on the painted surfaces before.
Imagine the shear forces that can occur with solely screwed solutions if someone with some weight walks down the stairs... unless you like hefty dimensions of French wood screws, and there must also be something to screw into.
In other words, remove the blocks and clean so that both surfaces are bare wood - glue and fit in place and then screw.
If there are existing layers of paint behind the blocks, it's easy to understand why it lacks strength if you have glued on the painted surfaces before.
It's a bit of a misunderstanding. In bolted joints, the bolts shouldn't bear the weight, but rather the bolt provides clamping force between the surfaces so that friction can bear the weight.X xxargs said:
You'll have to convince my decking boards of that when it's minus 18 degrees cold and it sounds like a gunshot when the deck screws break clean after the joints due to the thermal tensile stresses that form...
but sure, in theory, that's probably correct. ;-)
Personally, I would try to find another solution, like blocks completely fitted between the steps without any 'air' in between.
As the blocks are positioned today, there are flaring forces that want to angle the block out from the plank it sits in under large loads - and flaring is a typical load that creates a lot of tensile forces on a small area, and worse the more of the weight that moves out to the outside of the block from the plank's perspective, increasing the leverage as the step bends under the weight...
but sure, in theory, that's probably correct. ;-)
Personally, I would try to find another solution, like blocks completely fitted between the steps without any 'air' in between.
As the blocks are positioned today, there are flaring forces that want to angle the block out from the plank it sits in under large loads - and flaring is a typical load that creates a lot of tensile forces on a small area, and worse the more of the weight that moves out to the outside of the block from the plank's perspective, increasing the leverage as the step bends under the weight...
Är det en galen idé att borra två 30 mm hål i varje kloss, in i vangstycket (minst) lika långt som klossen är tjock och sen trycka i 30 mm rundstav? (Och sen måla över.) Då är det varken lim, skruv eller friktion som tar lasten och kan bli snyggt också om det görs symmetriskt.