Two steps back.

We're replacing the stairs in the front. The wood was beginning to rot on the sides of the steps, so we wanted to take 'em out before they caused more rot in other pieces of wood.

So, I huffed and puffed, and with my handy crowbar friend, I yoinked/pried/cursed/swore/hit and got all the stairs out, leaving behind a skeleton of a staircase for me to put new boards on.

And I was all excited. I'll buy boards, which I already priced out. Then I'll stain them and seal them and they'll look gorgeous.

And then I pried up the top stair and the lip.

So. The top of the stairs is a small landing pad. It's about 5.5'x5' wide. A little spot where the mail box is, where the door opens, etc. It has stone outdoor tile on it. There is plywood on the bottom, then about 1/2"-3/4" thick slab of cement, then the tile on top with grout.

The outermost 1" of plywood is NASTY. As in soggy with fungus underneath.

We're currently exploring options.