Lakeguy,

My User name is short for Lake-bum, so we have more in common that the colon. I have the same situation and set mine in concrete. I set posts at the bottom and top in concrete and left the posts long enough to attach the railings. I attached the stringers to these. As I installed the step treads (bottom to top), I stacked rip rap under the treads betweens the stringers. This made a REALLY solid set of stairs. DO you have to worry about ice? This may be the reason your current ones were attached like they are. As far as digging the holes, they make for a long couple of hours, but as long as you've got a good set of post hole diggers with fairly sharp edges it's not that bad.

Thanks lkbum!
That sounds like a sturdy set of stairs! No we don't have to worry about ice in our part of Oregon. Just lots of rain in the winter and trees, shrubs, blackberries, etc that grow like a jungle! The cabin itself is post on pillar and when we purchased it, there had been a roof leak plus they had set the deck against the house without flashing the ledger boards. CARPENTER ANT HEAVEN! On one section of the big beams that support the house on pillars I could put my hand right through the 8 x 12! We jacked it up, leveled everything and replaced the beams and in addition moved the outside doorway, etc. Worked out pretty well. What kinda cabin do you have? I just love getting up in the AM, seeing the sun on the water, watching the mist burn off. My wife's a bird watcher so she loves the Ospreys, Canada geese, great blue herons, etc. The other day we saw something I've never seen before. A deer stag swimming down the middle of the lake!

I'm on the north end of Lake Lanier, about 40 miles north of Atlanta. Really pretty lake, but starting to get over developed.

We (my wife and I) bought an acre in 1981 (post jimmy carter) when all my friends were buying new cars. We paid less for the lot than a Toyota Supra cost at the time (about $20k). The lot alone is now worth about $450k. Best dumb thing we ever did. At the time, interests rates were still about 13% and inflation was around 8%. All my friends thought we were nuts. When we bought the property, the closest store was about 20 miles away in Cumming Ga. Now, unforntunately, we have a Home Depot, Kroger, Walmart, Ingles etc etc within 5 miles. Great for property values but sucks if you were looking for a place to get away from it all.

Our lot really needs a larger house on it to maximize its value, so we built an 1800 Ft^2 house that can be converted to a garage at a later date. Very rustic, an A-Frame slab (3 car garge finsihed like a house with an upstairs apartment). I always thought I'd build a retirement place on the lot, but with the growth and taxes, I'm now considering some property far away from Atlanta, maybe Tenn or Alabama on the Tennessee river.

My wife and I truly love the water. We have Blue Herons, Way Too many Geese, Red Tail Hawks (spectacular to see them snag a fish out of the water), and we see two or three deers a year swimming in the lake (it's about 1/4 mile across open water where I see them cross). When I get caught up with things this fall, I plan on posting some pics of my yard, my Broadmore and the place in general. Carpenter ants are a big problem here also, almost as bad as termites.

BTW, I was a co-founder of a Medical Device business (catheter based Vascular products way back in 1991), I still dink around in the area and am building some 1.5f to 2f products at the moment for vascular CTO applications. I really am very ignorant about Medical stuff in general, I'm an engineer by education and spent about 11 years doing research for a large aerospace firm. Fortunately, as aerospace was declining in the early 90's, I found a niche to work in Medical Devices.

lkbum,
Sounds like you have a real nice place. Smart idea with the garage! I know what you mean as far as appreciation. Our lake (North Tenmile Lake) is on the Oregon coast and offers the best of both worlds, the ocean is within minutes but the lake is just far enough inland to be sheltered by the Oregon Dunes. Water skiing, bass fishing tournaments, sailing and in Aug. speedboat races round out the activities. They have one of the best fireworks displays on the West coast on the 4th of July (over the lake). People watch from their boats and it is a sea of boats and lights. For better or worse Californians have discovered the lake and prices have escalated. Our cabin is 1200 ft^2 with 2 beds and 2 baths. We also have a shed and a boathouse. There has been an increase in the size and complexity of local houses being built and I worry about the "gentrification" of the lake. My wife and I don't regret our purchase. We love kayaking the lake and seeing the changes with the seasons. Our newest vehicle (other than the motorcycles) is my wifes '01 Camry which has very few miles as she bikes to work many days. I'd rather have a tractor or real estate than a new vehicle. I am building a small airplane so I can fly it on amphibious floats right up to our dock.
I am certainly no engineer! I am impressed with the skills of some of my patients who are real wrench turners. Welding, designing, fabricating, etc. all are within their repertoire. I like to play at it.

lakeguy, sounds like you are a pretty good engineer, or at least have some of the skills if you are building a homebuilt.
You should know the concrete piers for your stair foundation are the way to go in the conditions you describe - pay someone to dig the holes, a concrete pumper can put the concrete where you need it. Pier forms (round heavy cardboard tubes) 1 use - leave them in place.
Probably get by with 8 holes 4 per side on the stairs, last a life time. Sounds as if that amount of money will not break the bank for you.

lakeguy,
Just looked at your lake on google earth. Cool looking place. The dunes (I assume those are dunes) between the lake and the ocean are Giant. Doesn't look too developed, I noticed some of the docks have wave breaks outside the docks. Can you go between the two bodies of water on the narrow cut between them?

We have mega fireworks on the 4th also. Our lake is large, so we usually have 1000 or so (I'm not kidding) boats watching. We used to have concerts on the lake for Boats. At a recreation area called Lanier Islands, they would have concerts, and the bands would set up their PA pointed towards the water. Usually 100's of boats would raft up and enjoy the show. Unforntunately, it started to get a little out of hand and they had to stop doing it.

Regarding your plane with floats (I noticed the little town by the lake has an airstrip), Jimmy Buffett wrote a novel called "Where is Joe Merchant" that featured a float boat. His memoirs "A Pirate Looks at 50" also has some good reading on one. His novel was good, the memoirs so-so. But good reading.

Look us up on google earth. If you've never used it, you are in for a treat. Download from google. Enter lake lanier and then zoom in. We are near Dawsonville.

sorry, enter "lake lanier islands, georgia" into google earth. We are about 10 miles north of there near the intersection of 9 (ga 400) and 53.

Is the hill rocky? Are there stones you could scavenge from the property? There are few elements of landscape architecture more dramatic than rugged stone steps ascending a grade. Not exactly a weekend project, but...

These were laid about 700 years ago. Talk about longevity.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:340832}}

lkbum,
Yeah, I've Google earth on my computer but I haven't downloaded the newest version. Anyway, your place looks cool! Are you on the islands? Clear water? I had relatives in Florida the ones near water had gators. I remember seeing an aligator gar. Looked like something prehistoric! What's the topography like? Pine forests, live oaks, marshy? Oh darn, you said you were near Dawsonville. I'll take another look.

Marineguy,
Those are some steps! No, not enough rock to build a staircase and also there are a couple spots where the stairs have to be above a steeper slope. Besides, what are you trying to do, KILL ME? LOL :) There are reasons the serfs didn't live too long in those days! My wife and I went to see Pont de Gard, the aquaduct in southern France. It's amazing. Like your staircase it's in remarkable shape. No mortar, two thousand years old and it would take only a month of dedicated mason work to put it back to work!

Lakeguy,

Yes, very clear water, average depth about 90'. Those Islands are where the biggest fireworks are and concerts used to be. You can see it's a large lake 38,000 acres with 600 miles of shore. It's manmade so there are a lot of islands. No gators but we do have gars with the aligator snouts that will scare the Sh*t out of you the first time you see one up close. In another post, you said your place is only accessable by water. This would be the ulimate in privacy and VERY cool but how did you get your tractor there?. We have rolling hills, a mix of 60% hardwood/40% pine some exposed white sand beach, the rest hard clay or rock shore. On a clear day you can the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains (the appalachian trail ends in dawsonville).

Marineguy,
Is that you holding up those steps?

lkbum,
We don't live there, it is a cabin so we usually are there 1-2 W/E's per month. My tractor is at home. I was thinking of using it to help rebuild my retention wall at the back of the property. All I would have to do is borrow a barge and drive it off onto my neighbor's property and from there it is a gentle slope through the woods up to our place. Believe it or not when we first bought the place we had a septic truck come out on a barge and pump out our septic! (Although it turns out it didn't really need it.)It's about a 20 min boat ride from our marina on South lake to the cabin mostly because the canl is a no wake zone. Yes it's really quiet and it cuts down on the theft worries as well as the guys who show up at the door asking which way to the lake!

Lkbum,
a couple pics of the lake

Here is a link that might be useful: lake pics

Now THAT'S a cabin! Nice lookin' place, especially if you like working with your hands (as I also do). Ever got stuck there for an extra day or two because of weather? Just curious, it would be a great excuse to extend the weekend. Good looking tractor also. Is that a wave break around your dock? If so, how is it secured? It appears as if you have a floating dock. How much does the lake fluctuate (seasonal?). One last question, our surface water temperature is in the mid 80's right now. Makes for a float after cutting the grass. What is the temp of your lake? I was off line for a while and this post rolled to the next page so I missed the pic's. Will post some of mine next week.

Lkbum,
Yeah,
It looks better now (new deck and a new entrance). The place is actually pretty nice. A master suite and jacuzzi upstairs and 2 baths total. About 1200 sq. ft. Can't exactly claim to be ruffing it. Water temp is in the high 70's to low 80's in summer. I've been swimming in Oct. and May but it's a little chilly. Yes, floating dock and boathouse. Yes that's a wave break. Pilons driven into the lake bed and the breakwater rises and falls with the water. We never get stranded 'cause we are well protected by the dunes.

lkbum,
the actual attachment is a large metal hoop around large logs ( 3 ft. accross) as the breakwater. The lake goes up and down by as much as 6ft from summer to winter. We're lucky, we have about 18' clear water off the end of our dock. Thanks for the compliment. We have views that can't be beat. The lake has an interesting history. During the 30's it was a mecca for hollywood types. Bing crosby, Bob Hope, The Ink Spots, etc. all played and stayed at the lodge on South Lake. They had a haute cuisine chef and a restaurant built on pilons out on the water. WWII came along, there was a fire and it all was forgotten. Before that there were dairy farms up the valleys that the arms of the lake go up and farmers brought in their milk by boat to a creamery in Lakeside. Kids still go to school via boat and our mail is delivered by boat. It is really funny when you get someone to deliver something. Our satellite TV had a special "anywhere in the continental U.S." The guy that called couldn't understand, our address is __ North Tenmile Lake. "But what road are you on?" No there is no road. We ended up having to pick him up at the dock with his stuff! It's also good for crime 'cause the sheriff is pretty vigilant and there are only a few places to access the lake. He can just wait for them to show up at the dock while getting a play by play from the residents who are full timers! Needless to say most thieves find easier pickings.

That is the utlimate in cool, mail delivery and travel to school by boat. I wonder how long the line is to get that mail route, it would be well worth the wait. Lake Lanier fluctuates about 8 feet in a normal year. Right now we are having our driest year in history (apologies to steve2ski who is apparently getting all of our rain) and the lake is currently down about 9 feet, projected to drop another 8' to 10' if we don't get a tropical storm. I still have about 12' off the end of my dock but can push the dock out into deeper water if needed. Who owns/manages your lake? Ours is an Army Corp lake. Boy they need more resources which would help them do a better job.

Cool. We are low this year as well. The lake is managed by the state. It's actually kinda interesting how the lake is set up. Normally, lakes in Oregon are like the coastline in that no one can own them and they are public domain. Back in the bad 'ole days (1800's) when they surveyed the lake they eroniously thought they could drain it and convert the valley into farmland. Then they figured out that in order to do that they would have to remove the whole Oregon Dunes which acts as a dam and even if they did remove it the wind and sea would replace it in a couple years anyway. In the meantime they had handed out all these deeds and/or claims that they couldn't take back so the long and the short of it is that the lake became one of the few in Oregon that allows personal property on the side of the lake. Originally the property ran out into the middle of the lake but there was a move by the state that took all the lake back below the high water mark so that theoretically the lake belongs to the state and the land to the cabin people. We have a lease on our boat house that is something like $20.00 every 5 yrs. We are designated as a warm water lake so we have bass fishing which is pretty good and there are trophy fish competitions regularly.