# Forum Home Renovation Stairs, Steps and Ramps  Deck Stairs & Nail Punching

## kesawi

I have an 8 year old deck which I am doing some long overdue maintenance on. 
I have repunched all the nails with the exception on the ones running along the outside of the deck as they sit directly under the balustrade. There is only a 75-100mm gap, which doesnt leave me enough room to get the floor punch and hammer lined up at a steep enough angle to drive the nails properly. Is there a tool that can get which would fit in this space and punch the nails? I wish to avoid removing the balustrade as Im afraid of damaging it in the process, and my life would not be worth living if I did. 
I also have some stairs from the deck which I need to sand and repaint. The timber treads sit on steel stringers and are easy enough to remove. When I replace the treads after painting, do I need to install anything to keep the timber tread separated from the steel? The stairs are exposed to the weather and I was of the impression it was not good practice to have the timber resting directly on steel.

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## stopper

Do you really need to re-punch the nails under the balustrade? If so a tap on a piece of flat bar will bring them down level.  
No need to put anything additional between the timber treads and steel stringers. Just ensure they are well painted at the point of contact. 
cheers
Steve

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## UteMad

if you wanted to put something between i spose you could put alcor but its common to fix treads straight to steel stringers.. council does it this way as standard practice 
cheers utemad

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## kesawi

Thanks for the responses.

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