Someone heads for the garden and three dinner guests have to tuck their chairs in. That's a stair-placement problem worth catching before we build. Centred stairs can look just right from the kitchen window while cutting straight through the best spot for your table. Start with the route to the yard, then put the stairs where that route works.
Start at the destination
Mark the gate, lawn, shed, and places people carry things. At a Richmond Hill deck, the centred stair looked right from the kitchen window but sent the trip to the shed behind the head of the table. We set out the owners' six chairs on the lawn and tried the route. With someone seated, a watering can could get through; the person carrying it had less luck.
Moving those stairs toward the gate kept the dining area together. It also meant a longer walk from the patio door, so we drew that route before settling the framing. Side stairs can protect the centre; centred stairs can give a good direct connection to the garden. Either choice needs the full landing and a useful path beyond it, not a bottom step that deposits you in the hydrangeas.
Keep the landing in the drawing
Include the full stair and landing footprint, proposed grades, door movement, and any guard or handrail requirements. Do not move the stairs after framing as though they were a loose chair. Their support and relationship to the yard need to be designed.
Trex’s deck design considerations encourage planning movement and furniture together. Our layout test is to carry a tray through the proposed route with the chairs occupied, using a safe ground-level mockup.
Choose the route that stays clear
Keep centred stairs if they create a useful connection to the garden without splitting the usable deck. Move them to the side if that leaves a better outdoor room. Symmetry is pleasant. So is getting to the lawn without asking three people to tuck their chairs in.