[img][/img]Blue Fox,

The advice you've been given is sound, practical and by all reasonable standards a good idea.  On the other hand there might be circumstances in which you woud choose to decline it.  If I can remember how to attach pictures, I'll post a couple of a stair/landing I did for a homeowner a few years ago working with a limited budget that came out alright and required "design" wherein an engineers input was not going to be provided being cost prohibitive.  It did use a ledger attached to the house, so it's not exactly as you called out but even in the very wet climate of the NW, water intrusion has never been a problem, the attachment bolts were caulked with a silicone sealant and have stayed water tight.  I parenthesize "design" because as you probably know, design is more than an architectural rendering and implies a calculation of the load factors involved in any construction, which is way beyond my capabilities.  Both the owner and myself had many years involved in construction in the Alaskan fishing industry both shipboard and shore side in plants building all manner of structures.  The solutions we used in those circumstances were simply "best construction practice" a term that used to have the meaning that a tradesman ought to know what will and won't work. Most of the engineers I interact with are really great people.  I have the greatest respect for their profession and depend on them regularly for answers and calculations I cannot provide.  But there are situations where I know how to employ my skills and experience, like any competent tradesman, to build a structure as common as a set of stairs and landings or catwalk and provide my standard warranty which I tell my customers is this: Seven days past the end of all time. I have never had a callback or warranty issue.