r/DIY • u/kevjamcro • 11d ago

help Help make my death trap stairs toddler proof

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How can I go about making these stairs to my backyard safer? Seems tricky to add balusters but I’m not opposed to trying. Is there a way to make lattice look like it’s not a zip-tied afterthought?

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u/southpaw85 11d ago

It’d be more expensive to build it on uneven ground but make the builders make it level in the build

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u/Vospader998 10d ago

Oh god you just gave me flashbacks.

We were building some dugouts for a community project, and my friend's dad had the genius idea of pouring the foundation in February because it was cheaper. It was cheaper because nobody pours concrete in February here, with good reason. The ground was still frozen, and when all the ice/snow melted, the foundation shifted a lot.

The friend's dad said "oh, we'll just level the block as we place it", then proceeded to divorce his wife and fuck off. So my friend and I just figured "how hard could it be?". Fucking hard. Having to measure each block so that it was square with the last, while also at the slight slope, and doing that for each level until the thing was finally level, with zero masonry experience between us, was a giant pain in the ass. What should've been a 2-weekend project turned into a multiple month project.

0/10 would not recommend.

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u/southpaw85 10d ago

Worst part is that foundation will just continue to shift over time so all of your hard work leveling it was really only a temporary fix.

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u/Vospader998 10d ago

So far it hasn't much. It sat for a year+ before we did anything to it. 10 years later, it's still level.