Deck stairs look simple until you cut your first stringer wrong. I have done that, and one bad cut can waste a whole board. Building deck stairs is one of the most useful DIY projects you can take on.

In early 2020, my family and I hired pros to tear off the stone steps, wrapped with a waist-height rock wall, at the back of our house. The steps were nearly 100 years old, and the entire fixture was ...