How to build stairs (to the root cellar)

Although I haven’t gotten any more 2x4s yet, I had just enough left to frame the root cellar walls. I’d set some treated 2x4s aside for this purpose, otherwise I’m sure I would’ve used them elsewhere in the house.

Before framing the cellar walls, I cut the stringers for the stairs into the root cellar. I thought it might be helpful to someone if I shared the process I used for building the stairs. This is the same method I used for the main stairs in the house (photo at the right).

The first thing to do is to figure out the total rise and run for the stairs. For the root cellar, the distance from the concrete floor to the floor above (the first floor of the house in this case) is 90 inches. The root cellar is 96 inches across, but there was extra space above the inner wall of the root cellar, about 12” long and 9 inches to the sill board on the block wall. I wanted to use this for a step, thereby shortening the total length of the stairs. With the total rise and run, I could figure the specific measurement for each step.

The main stairs I built have a 7-1/4” rise and 11” run, which make very comfortable stairs. I knew that I couldn’t build the root cellar stairs to the dimensions. I did not want steps that are too steep – I’ll be using them to haul vegetables/food in and out of the root cellar. I’ve been on some too steep, too narrow, feel-like-you’re-gonna-fall steps before, and I knew I didn’t want that.

I figured if I made the steps have a rise of nine inches, meaning there would be a step up of nine inches for each step, that would come out even (9” x 10 = 90”). In order to figure the run for each step, I computed the total length of the stairs for three different lengths: 9”, 10”, and 11”. With the extra space for a step outside of the root cellar at the top and having a small platform for the bottom step instead of going all the way to the floor, I decided on a 10 inch run for each step. That would be enough space for a foot to comfortably fit.

It was easy to figure the total number of steps I would have to cut into the stringers. The first step would be outside of the root cellar. So the second step would be the first one on the stringers and would be 18 inches below the first floor level, and the stringer would have eight steps (of the ten steps needed, the first one was outside the cellar and the last one was the cellar floor).

The only other consideration was the thickness of the treads and risers. I was using 2x material which is 1.5” thick. That means for the bottom step, I had to subtract 1.5 inches for the rise to be 9 inches when the tread was put on. And, since I was going to use the cellar wall for the riser on the top step against the wall, I would need to cut it 1.5 inches shorter than the others.

With my figures, I began to lay out the steps. I used a framing square (a handy tool) on which I clearly marked with pencil the 9” and 10” lines on both sides along the outside edges. By positioning the square on the 2x12 which was to become the stringer with the 9” and 10” marks on the edge, I used a pencil to mark the first step. After the first step, I moved the square so that the 9” mark was at the point where the 10” mark had been which moved the 10” mark further down the edge of the board. I drew the shape and then continued for the rest of the steps.

Once the lines were all drawn using the square, I measured the height for the bottom step and the length for the top step (you can keep the height and lengths of the steps straight with the measurements you’ve now transferred to the board – 9 inches and 10 inches). With everything marked, I could begin cutting.

I used my circular saw to cut along the lines, watching carefully so that I didn’t cut beyond the corner – a round blade will only cut all the way to the corner on the top side. So, once I cut all of them with the circular saw, I finished the cuts with a hand saw. If there was any unevenness left in the cuts, I cleaned it up with a chisel.

Now, I had my first stringer. I could mark the second one the same way, but I opted to use the first one as the template for the second one. I laid it on top, keeping the edges aligned, and marked the treads onto the other 2x12. Then, I cut it the same way as the first one.

The only other materials necessary for the steps were the treads and risers. I had a 2x10 which I cut into 30” lengths for the risers (30” is the width I’d previously decided on for the stairs when framing the floor above the root cellar). They were about 1/4” too wide, so I ripped off the extra on the table saw. For the treads, I used 30” lengths of 2x12s. I did not rip their 11.25” width, leaving 1.25” to hang over on each step.

Before I put the stairs in, I built two short walls to go on either side of the stairs in the root cellar. I nailed them together in the house and then lowered them down into the root cellar. I convinced them into position (they fit snugly) and secured them with nails into the floor joists at the top and concrete screws into the floor and wall of the root cellar.

With the walls in place, I situated the stringers and nailed them to the wall studs. Then, it was a matter of nailing on the risers and the treads. I had to figure out and build the top step on its own (no riser) and extend the bottom step for a short platform.

The length of the walls provides for 30 inch openings at either side of the steps at the bottom. The right section of the root cellar will be the larger of the two rooms. We haven’t decided exactly how we will store things, but given time we will. If the smaller room on the left can be kept a little warmer, it would be a nice place for storing sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash – the things that like it a little bit warmer and not too damp.

Dry stack concrete block construction

While doing some research about laying blocks in anticipation of building our root cellar, I came across drystacked.com and thenatualhome.com. I also found a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture bulletin entitled Construction with Surface Bonding. This information convinced me to use this method.

Today, I had opportunity to actually experience dry stacking concrete blocks. Having set the first course in mortar on the foundation yesterday, making sure it was level, allowed me to get a lot of blocks put into place. As I stacked each block today, I checked it for level along and across the wall. Often, when it was out of level across the block, just turning the block around brought it back in the bubble.

I started on the corners, stacking the four corners to five blocks. Then, I set blocks between the corners until I had the walls built up to five courses by lunch time. Some of the last blocks on a side took a little persuasion to get to slide in, but they all went.

I’m building my root cellar walls ten courses high. By the time I stopped today, I had two walls at ten courses, one long wall at seven courses, and the other short wall ten courses at one corner and eight at the other corner.

Along the wall near the house, I applied the surface bonding cement (Quikrete Quikwall) on the outside of the blocks. I won’t be able to get behind this wall to do it later. So, after laying the first four courses, I leaned over and troweled it on. After laying three courses, I added more above what I’d put on before lunch. Based upon how this bit went on, I think surfacing the rest of the walls shouldn’t be too difficult.

Dry stacking the blocks was simple enough that even Jessica helped. She came to see what I was doing this afternoon and wanted to help. I showed her how to check level on each block and how to put them on the wall. She worked for a while and set several blocks.

Root cellar: concrete forms in place

Although it was overcast this morning, it didn’t rain today. The sun finally came out from behind the clouds around noon. I worked in the hole all day. This morning the damp clay in and around the work area stuck to my shoes all the time. With the sun out this afternoon, I didn’t have any stick. Either the sunshine dried things just enough or this clay is allergic to sunshine.

I didn’t use the backhoe today. I moved a fair bit of dirt with a shovel and a grape hoe, though, in order to get make sure the bottom of the hole was level. It was close, thankfully. There was some dirt along the edges that needed moved so I could set the forms.

For the forms, I used some boards Danny salvaged from an old mobile home he helped demolish. They are fat 2x4s, measuring about 1-3/4” x 4-1/4”. I had to pull some old staples out of them, and then I was ready to set them in place. I also cut some stakes from some scrap boards I had near the house.

I started in one corner and leveled the forms from there. By lunch time I had one end and over half of both of the long sides done. Since it’s important to put the outside corner of the root cellar walls in the right place, I had to take some measurements from the west side of the house. Determining the precise location of this corner is somewhat difficult. However, using a ladder strapped to the floor joists in the house, I was able to measure eleven feet out from that side of the house and set a stake at the inside corner of the root cellar.

To figure the outside corner, I measured from the stakes I had set previously. It soon became apparent that I didn’t have things laid out square. It was time for lunch at that point, so I left it till this afternoon. Armed with an exact measure of the hypotenuse of a right triangle with two eleven foot sides and a framing square, I adjusted one of the corners on the forms I had already set. Once I did that, the diagonal measurements came out correct – things were square.

It didn’t take long this afternoon to finish the forms. I built a small box to go around the floor drain. I’m not sure exactly what the usual way is for pouring a floor with a drain. I figure that I can pour everything around and up to the form around the drain with enough slope for water that ends up on the floor to head for the drain. Later, I’ll cut the drain pipe at the right level, mix and pour some concrete, and fill the last section of the floor around it.

The next step is to dig a couple inches deeper near the forms for the footer and lay out some rebar in the footers and floor. I don’t think that will take too long. Once that’s done, we can have the ready mix truck come out. The only thing that may interrupt the timing of things is rain. If we get too much rain, I’ll have to wait for things to dry out before the concrete truck can get close enough to the hole. I hope the weather cooperates so we can pour the concrete next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Squaring and leveling

After raising the frame on Labor Day weekend, the first thing to do was to make sure the frame was square and level. In order to square it, I had to move one bent forward a few inches, another bent toward the back an inch or two, and move the center line of the house toward the west a couple of inches. If the frame had been set on a sill with mortises to accept tenons on the bottom of the posts, there wouldn't be a need to square up the frame. Having the bottoms of the posts sitting on concrete piers allowed for some things to be out of square depending on how close to the center they each stood on the piers.

The first thing to do was to insert pieces of aluminum under each post to act as a moisture barrier. I don't want moisture to wick up the piers and into the posts. Rot wouldn't be a good thing. I had plenty of aluminum from the siding off of an old mobile home that I deconstructed this spring. I used a hydraulic jack to lift each post just enough to slide the pieces of aluminum underneath.

The aluminum moisture barrier helped to provide a smoother surface under the posts for moving them into square. Mark the intern and I attached a come-along from the bottom of a post to the next concrete pier. Applying some pressure with it allowed a few judicious knocks with the 'commander' (aka a beetle -- a large mallet) to adjust the intended posts toward square.

After squaring the frame, we checked the level. I rigged a water level using a hose and some clear rubber tubing at the ends. However, it didn't want to work for some reason. The water in the level wouldn't stabilize. Something was going on. So, we used a line level on a taught string. This revealed two posts that were about 1/2" higher than the other 10 (it was level between these 10 posts). Rather than block up 10 posts with hardwood wedges, we jacked the two high posts about and inch off of their piers, and I then used a chainsaw to shave off enough from the bottom of the posts to bring them into level. This worked great.

Once the frame was square and level, we were ready to move on to the next project: purlins and first-floor floor joists.