# L material ideas, exterior use



## PeterT (Aug 13, 2021)

Our outside deck & stairs have 15 year old Duradeck which we despise. Duradeck is basically a thick linoleum material intended for outside weather. One day soon we will reno / re-surface but unlikely this year. The issue is the noses of the stairs. A picture would help but basically the material overhangs the stair nose by ~1/2" & then a cheesy plastic trim is slid over. That trim is all cracked, busted, missing. The Duradeck is curling. Its ugly & trip hazard. What I would like to find is some weather proof rigid material like a white vinyl or even aluminum, L shape like ~ 1" x 1" x 1/8". Which I can cut to length, drill through holes & screw it into the stair nose plywood. Kind of as finished cap. I've walked the Home Depot & big box store isles & didn't see anything. Any ideas?


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## CalgaryPT (Aug 13, 2021)

This probably won't be that helpful Peter, but I had a similar situation with a friend's property in Lethbridge years ago—except it wasn't Duradeck, it was old 2x6s that had some sort of weird outdoor anti-slip material glued on to them. Normally I would have suggested ripping them up and replacing. However, the boards had a sentimental attachment to the owner as they were salvaged from a barn fire that destroyed his parents' building decades earlier. (He said they remind him of his dad.)  He wanted angle iron attached to the edges as he routinely dragged things down them, but that would have introduced a tripping hazard as the lip would protrude.

The solution was to use a small laminate trimmer, with a jig that set the depth to 1/8". This allowed me to route a recess into the lip to accept the angle iron. Even though the laminate trimmer is smaller than a full size router you still couldn't get fully into the corners, so these had to be chiselled out by hand. removing the steps wasn't practical but I can't recall the reason why—hence the jig that clamped onto the stair.

I do recall hitting a nail or screw on the first step I did. After that I learned, marked all the existing screws, and either worked around them carefully or countersunk them further. I'll never forget hitting that screw. What a horrible feeling (and sound).

Anyways, this was my solution. Probably won't work in your case, but I guess the take away was to recess any protruding lips on stairs if you add to them.

P.S. I appreciate your comment on Duradeck. Reminds me of my experience with vinyl fences:  looks great, but once they need repair, you'll almost always end up scrapping the whole thing. Wood you can sand and refinish at least, and always match paint of course.

Old school baby. (Well, sometimes at least.)

Best of luck.


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## PeterT (Aug 13, 2021)

Thanks PT. Here is pic of my stair abomination. Where is the Embarrassed emoji? 
And sketch of kind what I had visualized as yet another stop-gap fix until we rip this sh*t off & re-surface deck & stairs, which will be a 2022 $$ project. 
I think even if I got the stairs fixed before snow flies just so its not a flapping in the wind . This same edge treatment is everywhere on the deck. 
Most of the stair nosing I've seen is as you say, kind of recessed or properly integrated into the top surface. This bandaid treatment is more about dealing with the overhang & curl which is waiting for unsuspecting toes.


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## PeterT (Aug 13, 2021)

btw if it wasn't obvious - the rubber matt was another add-on after wife took a spill one frosty morning. I wont comment on footwear, apparently that's taboo LoL. Looks ugly but its functional, I choose door #2
The Duradeck has this wonderful texture that 
a) traps dirt & dust from anywhere so looks like crap after a month, requiring constant scrub cleaning or high pressure wash or... maintenance!
b) holds just enough moisture/water which freezes & makes the equivalent of a curling rink. Just an accident waiting to happen with high heel any kind of shoes
c) eventually de-bonds over time except on broad, large areas


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## Janger (Aug 13, 2021)

How about aluminum angle? Not from HD. That would be $20 a stair.


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## Janger (Aug 13, 2021)

ooops nope it's $44 per stair. 

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/paulin-1-8-inch-x-1-1-2-inch-x-4ft-aluminum-angle/1000170191


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## PeterT (Aug 13, 2021)

Yes that's what I'm thinking too John. Metal Supermarket 8 or 10 footers & just get through another winter doing the stairs.
The extruded nosings I can kind of see would be more expensive. But Home Depot metal offcut prices are criminally insane. Not that I ever purchased any metal there but I know my prices. I'm generally getting put off by them & other big box store prices in general.


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## CalgaryPT (Aug 13, 2021)

Janger said:


> ooops nope it's $44 per stair.
> 
> https://www.homedepot.ca/product/paulin-1-8-inch-x-1-1-2-inch-x-4ft-aluminum-angle/1000170191


I thought you were joking @ $20 John. But $44? 

Yet another mystery product manufactured with Gypsy Tears I guess. Very nice.


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## Janger (Aug 13, 2021)

PeterT said:


> Yes that's what I'm thinking too John. Metal Supermarket 8 or 10 footers & just get through another winter doing the stairs.
> The extruded nosings I can kind of see would be more expensive. But Home Depot metal offcut prices are criminally insane. Not that I ever purchased any metal there but I know my prices. I'm generally getting put off by them & other big box store prices in general.



Try Steel inc. or perhaps that new place on 40th ave N somewhere. Theres some posts in here on them somewhere. Steel inc will be about $6 a pound for aluminum.


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## PeterT (Aug 21, 2021)

Well, 6 hours of my life today I will never get back, but the job is done. Ready for winter. Before & after pics - from brutally ugly to moderately ugly. But at least safer from perspective of no flapping surfaces to catch on toes & anything else on the stairs. I could have filmed a Milwaukee commercial today, all the cordless tools were out. I ended up getting material from Metal Supermarket because they had what I needed, 1x1.5x0.125 aluminum L section. Making the custom nose/corner wasn't too bad, cut to length & lots of countersunk holes. I tried a bit of texturing with my orbital sander but it wa smore for morbid interest. The time consuming nasty bit was cutting away the material so the aluminum could be positioned. Obviously rusted, rotten metal kleats or whatever they used to hold the vinyl (or not). I have this same plastic edge banding sh*t everywhere around the deck but no way I'm going to do this anymore. Save it for the resurface capital project 2022.


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