In another attempt to help minimize the grit and gravel that ends up on our floors, I decided to make a small landing at the bottom of our deck stairs. This deck is how you reach our front door, so it gets the most traffic in and out of the house.
It’s built mostly from leftovers and scraps from rebuilding and expanding the front deck in 2024.
I used pieces of 6x6 pressure-treated lumber that were cutoffs of the posts under the deck for the sides and bought just two 2x6 pressure-treated boards to make the “box.” I used butyl tape on the top of all of those to help diminish the chance for rot to develop of the years. Finally, I stained it black to match the stair jacks and deck trim.
I was able to built this in my shop during our recent rainy weather and then set it atop some concrete pavers that were securely set at the bottom of the stairs last year.
I had sorted scraps and leftover pieces of the composite decking material to come up with good coverage and had TheMisterT help me set up a cutting station near there after the weather cleared up. I was able to get it all attached in the morning, then in the afternoon I painted the cut edges black to match the edges on the deck and stairs.
I’ve thoroughly cleaned the heavy-duty doormat that has set on the pavers and added it to this to help catch sandy dirt and pebbles before being tracked onto the deck and also into the house. It was drying in the sun when I took pics.
I’d like to add quite a bit of packable gravel around the whole area to keep rain from splashing dirt up onto the sides of the platform and stairs, as well as those planters.
At first the little platform scared our “little” dog 
, but after adding the (familiar) mat back and helping her past it, she was comfortable going up the stairs. It took a few more trips for her to be comfortable going down the stairs and she would go off the side. What goes on in their little dog-brains?