Ez-stairs

Kevin

http://ez-stairs.com/

Aside from the cheesy representative:
http://ez-stairs.com/info_s/images/stair_anim.swf

What do you all think of these brackets for building stairs? They appeal to me for two reasons:

1) They appear to be much faster than building a stringer.
B) I prefer the look of a closed stringer, but that is my personal preference.

Any thoughts? Anyone used them?

DecksEtc

They may be fine if your using 2x6 treads and the stairs aren't very wide. For me, I recommend 4' wide stairs (minimum) for all my customers, so those things wouldn't work for me. Also, I do a lot of box frame steps - much more stable and better to skirt, etc.

orionkf

What do you mean by box frame steps? I might know, but I'm not sure.

Also, I read on the website that you could do stairs up to 9 ft wide, but not sure how that's possible.

reveivl

Ya gotta step over the exposed stringer ever' three feet. LOL.

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Deckman100

I've used the brackets on three projects. Once you get use to the system they are definitely faster, especially if you can pre-assemble the stair and then lift it into position and attach. One aspect that I liked was that you can build wide stairs using only the two outside stringers. According to the brochure, you can go up to 7' wide on exterior stairs but you have to use 2x risers. The brackets are approved as joist hangers and the 2x risers span across the stair like floor joists and that is what gives the strength. The stairs I built were two exterior and one finished interior. However if I had a a tight situation between two walls with limited access, it would probably be faster to cut stringers. The system worked well for me.

BuiltByMAC

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silvertree

I have built many stairways, I understand that a 2X riser makes the thread solid, but I don't see the city of Mpls letting us build that way. But it looks good to me. The only thing I question is, if you have built a lot of steps, laying out the stringers goes pretty fast with a framing square, so I don't see the savings.

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AutumnWood Inc.

.......... The easy stair does seem a bit cheesy

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BuiltByMAC

I was just laughing because the thread's been dead since '05!

Mac

silvertree

And your point is what?

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VMFehr

Ditto

deckndave

I've used them a few times. For composite stairs it can be very time consuming as you have to wrap your stringers first. But for natural wood they are great. Very sturdy, accurate and EZ for sure. I highly recomend them. I built a 5' wide composite stair last summer using them and it worked great. I can't emphasize enough how nice these are. Especially for nat wood. I've built a lot o steps and can frame them conventional style with the best of 'em. Ez stairs just make it a mulligan!

deckndave

They make a bracket that you install every 16" that attaches from riser to riser and that is how you can build the wider stairs. As stated in previous post I built 5' wide set last summer using 1" composite. Rock solid.

Deckman100

Laying out the steps is the easy part and goes quick. Next you have to cut the first stringer and clean out each corner as you go. Once you have completed the first stringer, you lay the cut stringer over the uncut stringers and mark out for the next cuts and repeat the same process for as many stringers as you need.

If you are building a deck stair with composite treads, you will need a stringer every 12". For a 4" wide stair, that's 5 stringers. A 5 stringer stair with only 4 theads needs 50 careful cuts. EZ Stairs needs only two stringers, 6 cuts total and is engineered to be fast, and strong. I guess it all depends on how valuable your time is and if you like eating saw dust.

Warren

Is it from the same makers that brought you "Easy Crown"?
I don't have a link but this stuff looked ridiculous. I think they had some infomercials a couple of years ago. I hve built hundreds of stairs throughout the years and have always laid them out one set at a time and customized them to the situation. Somebody posted earlier to just get a framing square and lay them out. I second that motion.

basswood

You need this Makita saw. Then you can gang cut stair stringers 3 or 4 at a time:

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Warren

Just checked out the ez stair video and website. It says it will be 4x faster. I once built a 14 rise set of notched out steps in 3 hours solo. Guess with ez stair I coulda been done in only 45 minutes. Give me a break. Did you check out the amount of screws you need? Not to mention there will certainly be a learning curve. The longer widths also require brackets. More screws!

Tinstaafl

Rub it in, why don'tcha. I saw one of those on Craiglist a month ago for $200, and by the time I got done wavering, it was gone.

PA woodbutcher

I have a set of 14 riser 6' stair case to build next week.

Couple of years ago i cut 5 riser stringers for 60' set 16" OC. Took me all day to cut the jacks. The first 5 were sitting on an old crooked sidewalk that wasn't comin out and had to be cut individually. I used my old makita hyphoid to cut them. End of the day I had a blister in the palm of my hand from the start up twist.

I usually use a jigsaw with a stout 6" blade to finish my cuts.

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tat50

I have used EZ-stairs since 2006 and they meet every claim, expectation and more. The first time I used EZ-stairs, I built a 14-step turning stairway in my garage. I had two skeptical friends watch as it took me 45-minutes to assemble and install. This is the greatest invention in the trades in a long time. Additionally, you can span further with less materials, while creating a stronger stairs. They also have coated brackets for exterior applications including decks. tat

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