I often see people building stairs and railings that aren't properly reinforced. By code, your stair design must have guardrails that can resist a 200-pound load in any direction. What people often fail to realize while they're building stairs and railings is that it’s not enough to just do a great job attaching the railings/guardrails to the deck.

In addition, you need to make sure the outer deck boards are tied back into the deck framing. A good stair design not only includes building stairs that fall within people's comfort range but also means building railings that are strong enough to keep everyone safe.

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