Wood steps are definitely an option I am considering. 

The speaker was saying that the trend where decorating consisted of using earth tone colors has long passed and the new trend is to go with gray colors and everything should be square like kitchen cabinet doors are not flush and square, door knobs and handles are now square, bathroom towel racks are square, paint on walls is gray fencing in not longer vertical and everyone is going with horizontal wood fencing, outside walls on properties is gray.Personally, I disagree with the decorating and I hate gray walls inside a house with a passion.

Instead we ended up replacing the columns with wood and replacing the railing with a PVC handrail.  

((Knock on wood)) it has never needed a repair. 

Most of these are also wood siding exterior so require more than average paint for example. 

They chew on the baseboards/pipes/cables/cabinets, scratch up the wood flooring, urinate/defecate/vomit on the carpet, and jump on windows and doors.

The reason it is functional is because the building requiring it are over 100 years old and we can’t indemnify antique wood frame.

Thanks Nathan.Yes, the mortgage $941 includes the taxes and insurance.The house is almost new (1 year old roof, HVAC, driveway, water heater, septic, interior/exterior paint, 1 year old window, etc.. ).Plus I have 3m of rent in my reserves/savings account.Knock on wood.. not much more can break ( fingers crossed ).Thanks for the insight.

Originally posted by @Roy Nash:@Steve Vaughan agreed. 

Is the wall steel stud or wood frame?