subway grating for deck stairs

Our architect specified subway grating for our deck, which we’re not happy about, but we will live with it, perhaps covering the grating with concrete pavers. But what about the stairs? Does anyone have any experience covering stairs with pavers? I’d like the stairs to be something people could sit on comfortably.

Guest User | 1 year and 6 months ago

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coreenc2018 | 1 year and 6 months ago

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For anyone else in a similar situation, it is common to design a strip of non-combustible materials (metal grating) at the property line edges and then use wood for the rest of the deck. This allows for a somewhat lighter and cheaper deck structure.

anotherposter | 1 year and 6 months ago

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[IMG_2457](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:SKQ8:img_2457.jpg.jpg)

anotherposter | 1 year and 6 months ago

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We have a metal frame deck with large concrete pavers set in and the stairs are kind of like a flat metal piece with some slim cut outs. We are very happy. I can try to post some photos if you want. Meets the codes.

rd684 | 1 year and 6 months ago

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I was in your situation when building stairs to my deck and ended up keeping the subway grating. Aside from being a little rough on bare feet, I’m glad I didn’t add pavers or bluestone on top. Two positives about subway grating: it lets light thru, and secondly, when it’s cold/rains, you won’t have ice and water accumulation.

patrickburnsjr | 1 year and 6 months ago

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Hi Ithica.

…and ahhh, so your deck is already filed, permitted, fabricated accordingly, and installed.

I think the gratings are a good feature for letting the light source through.

I wouldn’t clad your grating stair treads with thicker & heavier material ontop of them without compliant riser height and weight-load structural adjustments.

I would cover them with a soft outdoor material but remove frequently to release trapped moisture from corroding the metal.

Zxavier54 | 1 year and 6 months ago

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We just did this. Subway grating with bluestone pavers on top. Came out great. There are feet that the pavers sit on, but the deck platform has to be recessed the thickness of the pavers from the edge if you want it to look seamless (otherwise the pavers will sit a couple inches higher than the deck edge. For the stairs, there are steel beams on which bluestone pavers sit. I don’t know how they are attached but the contractor was experienced at this and it came out perfect. Think pavers are 1.5 thick on the stairs for durability. Pavers on deck are 1 inch. If you pave the stairs, find something big enough so there are no joints on the stairs. Worth the extra cost for durability and a clean look.

You have to decide now whether the deck pavers will have open joints or not. If the joints are filled then the deck has to be pitched for drainage. We left them open so rain drains through, and the bluestone is finished so it’s not slippery when wet. It will collect snow though.

Also recommend putting concrete under the deck because nothing is growing there anyway, and with pr oper drainage you’ll keep water away from the foundation.

We did everything to code with permits. Make sure you keep on top of the inspectors and use someone the contractor knows. Ours was a pain and added time and cost. Was worth it in the end though now that it’s done.

Zxavier54 | 1 year and 6 months ago

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We just did this. Subway grating with bluestone pavers on top. Came out great. There are feet that the pavers sit on, but the deck platform has to be recessed the thickness of the pavers from the edge if you want it to look seamless (otherwise the pavers will sit a couple inches higher than the deck edge. For the stairs, there are steel beams on which bluestone pavers sit. I don’t know how they are attached but the contractor was experienced at this and it came out perfect. Think pavers are 1.5 thick on the stairs for durability. Pavers on deck are 1 inch. If you pave the stairs, find something big enough so there are no joints on the stairs. Worth the extra cost for durability and a clean look.

You have to decide now whether the deck pavers will have open joints or not. If the joints are filled then the deck has to be pitched for drainage. We left them open so rain drains through, and the bluestone is finished so it’s not slippery when wet. It will collect snow though.

Also recommend putting concrete under the deck because nothing is growing there anyway, and with pr oper drainage you’ll keep water away from the foundation.

We did everything to code with permits. Make sure you keep on top of the inspectors and use someone the contractor knows. Ours was a pain and added time and cost. Was worth it in the end though now that it’s done.

Guest User | 1 year and 6 months ago

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We had wanted a concrete deck. But out engineers are so difficult to work with, and it took us so very long to get the permit, that we can’t face trying over. When I originally told the engineers we didn’t want the grating, they said just put concrete pavers on top…They like the grating (I think) because of water drainage.

patrickburnsjr | 1 year and 6 months ago

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So I’m not clear how far this staircase plan is in the process of. If the architect has not already been paid for the spec’ed staircase details and the iron worker has not already started fabricating the staircase risers, stringers, and tread calculation placements…then one should be able to devise a plan with concrete stair treads.
Concrete is cool on feet. Diamond plate is hot on feet. Gratings can be hard for barefoot humans and canines to walk on but all three applications are DOB code compliant and NYCFD reg.

hotpinksharpie | 1 year and 6 months ago

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Sounds like you’re bumping up against the fire code as I did years ago when we built our deck. We went with metal slats (about 1-2″ wide, spaced about 1″ apart) for the deck floor and subway grating for the stairs, and painted the whole thing a neutral grey/brown to go with the exterior brick. I didn’t love the idea of the open metal at first but TBH I’ve learned to live with it.

On the deck floor I have an outdoor carpet that does the trick of covering the slats well enough that I never needed pavers or additional decking. You have to be strategic about what furniture you choose as legs will fall thru the slats, but the carpet helps, and I also use old tile samples as “coasters” to put furniture legs on. An advantage to the open design is it’s good at letting light into the apartment below the deck, altho the carpet does partially block that. It’s also handy because we don’t have to clear too much snow from the deck or stairs.

The stairs are subway grating and we don’t have them covered. I sit on them occasionally and don’t have a problem with it – maybe not for exte nded periods of time, but long enough to sit and chat with someone. The only issue I have is it’s a bit painful to walk up and down them barefoot – f you would even want to. I have some climbing ivy along our fence that weaves nicely in and out of the subway grates going up the stairs for a pretty touch..

My advice would be to go ahead and build the deck to code and live with it for a while. You can always add extra materials to cover them after the fact. I would aim for a composite material instead of heavy concrete. You can definitely find rubber or carpet stair treads if you really need them.

But you may find you like and/or can tolerate the grating more than you thought, and don’t underestimate simply getting rugs and mats.

crosbyshawn4 | 1 year and 6 months ago

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Have you discussed adding the weight of concrete pavers with your architect? I would be concerned that you will be overloading the structural capacity of the deck and stairs. Also, has the grating already been installed? There are other types of grating that are more barefoot friendly that can be considered.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 6 months ago

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you would alter the height of the first step and the last step. that is confusing to people on the stairs and it would be against code. the other concern would be that the blocks would not be held in place and with no metal frame around them they will shift.

Guest User | 1 year and 6 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "202383"

Yes, I worry about that.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 6 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#5129 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#5128 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "189743"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(13) "justinromeu26"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$BjSWB1c5WUJ0DBogl53oBDpnZifM8J."
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(13) "justinromeu26"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(23) "justinromeu26@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2022-05-10 20:48:00"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(61) "Your First Name Your Last Name Your First Name Your Last Name"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(189743)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

That does not sound safe.