How to Build Steps

THE NICE PART about building outdoor steps is that you're not limited to the materials you would be forced to use indoors. Blending the steps into the surrounding landscape using materials that are compatible with an adjacent patio, house or garden, is an inviting challenge and one that permits you to give free rein to your imagination and ingenuity.

Inviting, easy-to-use steps can be constructed with a variety of materials

Almost all masonry or concrete materials can be used to build steps. Poured concrete, brick, masonry units, cut stone, field stone, tile, loose aggregate—all are possibilities. They can be combined with heavy wooden members such as used railroad ties, wood rounds, whole or split logs, heavy timbers and so on.

A railroad tie, for example, makes an excellent riser while providing a broad edge and a bulwark for whatever materials you use for the tread. A heavy timber or log will do the same job. In many cases, the wood can be used almost by itself. A series of steps are dug into a bank or slope and the lumber staked in place both to serve as risers and to contain earth treads. More often, since continued weathering will surely erode the dirt, a more durable material is substituted simply by excavating between the risers to a depth of about 4 in. and filling with poured concrete, broken concrete used as flags, brick, block or even loose aggregate.

Designing Steps

Steps are a means of getting from one level to another. The most attractive steps and those easiest and safest to climb are not designed simply to conform with space limitations. The total riser dimension (a vertical line from top level to bottom level) is usually pretty well established by the conditions which made the steps neces­sary in the first place. But when there is some leeway in the total tread distance, and this is usually the case outdoors, there is ample opportunity to design the steps in line with a practical and pleasing tread-riser relationship.

A good tread-riser relationship is not one that gets you from the bottom to the top in the least number of steps, but one which prevents you from stubbing your toes on the way up. You should also be able to make the ascent without taking an awkward step-and-a-half on each tread and without having to stretch to get from one step to the next. A long stairway with high risers and short treads doesn't look pretty, is tough to climb and can be dangerous. Broad treads with low risers look much better, are safer to use, and are more appropriate in an outdoor setting. The general rule is the shorter the riser, the wider the tread. When you step high, you tend to bring your foot down verti­cally. When the step up is close to a normal walking stride, you need more tread.

Attractive front step is flagstone mortared to poured concrete foundation. Note how various masonry units blend nicely to enhance entrance. Top, right: Simplest kind of form can be used to cast concrete steps on slope. Here, riser boards have been removed. Treads have a slight slope for water runoff

Design steps for comfortable use by extending tor-ward or cutting back into bank for good tread-riser relation. The risers can also slant back.

You can't go wrong if you work with the following dimensions as minimum and maximum:

Riser form boards can be staked in place with per­forated steel bars as above. Bars, used by pro­fessionals, have holes so the boards can be nailed.

Cement block steps can be made in different ways using full or split blocks (see right). The block is often surfaced with material like flagstone.

Good tread-riser relations are shown opposite. Steps designed this way keep you from stubbing toes, prevent awkward step-and-a-half on treads

Use firm, straight boards to get straight risers, staking them so they will hold concrete. Line up boards by stretching a line between end points

Minimum rise of 3- to 4-in. with an 18- to 24-in. tread Maximum rise to 7- to 8-in. with an 11- to 12-in. tread

Actually there is more flexibility in tread width than riser height. If you have a long gentle slope, each of the treads can be a little walk in itself. When space is limited you must design accordingly. Per­haps you can substitute a ramp or have the steps make a turn, providing a landing for the next series upward.

When you start, determine the vertical distance between the two levels (total rise) and decide, within the limits imposed by space restrictions, if any, the horizontal dis­tance between top and bottom steps (total tread width). When total tread width is not limited, choose the best tread with (in relation to riser height) suggested by the chart. Otherwise, make the best compro­mise you can.

Five ft. is a good width for steps. This will accommodate two people side-by-side without knocking shoulders. Two ft. is an absolute minimum and should be used only when space restrictions make it impera­tive.

Attractive flag step for door (or for a series of steps) is constructed as below. Brick and other materials can be used, placing them in mortar bed.

ASSUME TOTAL RISE TO BE 3’·- FOR IDEAL 6" RISE (36″/6") 6 RISERS WILL BE NEEDED. THIS MEANS 5 TREADS. IDEAL TREAD = 15, SO TOTAL TREAD SPAN IS 5(15") OR 75"

Poured Concrete Steps

Simple forms can be used to shape poured concrete steps but, since they must be rigid to support great weight, they should be well braced. The simplest form, which is no more than side boards and nailed-in riser boards, is set to accommo­date the slope and braced with pointed 2x4s driven into the ground and nailed to the side boards. On narrow steps 1 in. stock for the riser forms will be rigid enough, but when you approach 3 ft. or more it is good practice to set a long brace down the center of the form, tying it to each of the riser boards with a nail or two. The excavation provides for a minimum of 4 in. of concrete for tread and riser and for the buried connecting points between treads and risers. Soil under the forms should be well tamped and dampened be­fore the pour.

Where there is no slope (steps between a patio and house door) the forms must be built from the ground up. If the project is all concrete, it's like pouring one layer of concrete on another, each successive layer shortened the width of the tread. A fairly stiff mixture of concrete is called for to minimize waiting time between pours. The first layer is poured to the height of the bottom step and then, after a wait of about an hour (when you're sure the con­crete is stiff enough to support it), the sec­ond step is poured. Actually, you can wait overnight if you prefer, scoring the mating area of the first pour so it will bond well with the next. The riser board of the bottom step will have to be removed so you can do whatever finishing you wish on the face of the riser.

Rubble—broken concrete, clean stone, broken brick and so on—can be used to help fill in the forms. Many builders do this to cut down on the amount of con crete needed. Keep the foreign material in the center, however. Don't use so much of it or place it in such a way that any section of the concrete is less than 4 in. Work the concrete enough so it smooths out against the inside faces of the forms. If you intend to work on all surfaces of the concrete, give it an exposed aggregate texture or some similar treatment, remove the forms before the concrete has har­dened. After it has set it will have suffi­cient body to hold together with the forms removed.

STOCK

CROSS BRACE 2X4 BRACM6
LESS THAN 3' WIDE USE l×8 STOCK-OVER 3' WIDE USE 2X8 STOCK-8" STOCK GIVES RISE (STEP HEIGHT) WHICH IS CONVENIENT

Pour concrete steps one at a time, letting concrete set one-two hours between pours. Remove forms —be careful of all corners, edges—and finish.

Fill concrete in solidly be­hind riser boards. Air pockets will result in frus­trating repair work. Don't remove boards until you're sure the concrete has set.

After the riser form boards have been removed from the steps, fill in the holes left by the braces used to hold the forms and smooth off the riser-tread comers.

Don't put a slick, steel-trowel finish on treads (a smooth finish is seldom a good idea on treads). A wood float will give a finish that provides better traction in wet or dry weather.
Poured concrete can also be used as a foundation for other materials. What this amounts to is casting concrete steps that are then faced with another material. Thin flags can be cemented to both vertical and horizontal surfaces—or you may want to surface only the treads with flags. Brick, precast concrete blocks and other similar materials are easily placed in a mortar bed. When the facing material has a specific dimension (brick or precast block for ex­ample) , calculate beforehand and make the concrete form accordingly so you can minimize or even eliminate the need to cut pieces to fit.

Brick steps take more time, but only be­cause they are relatively small units and must be bonded to each other as well as to the foundation. There are two simple methods you can use. You can pour a concrete foundation which is, in itself, a series of steps, and then cover the treads and face the risers with brick. The other method is to build with brick from the ground up (on a concrete footing, of course). The first two courses of brick are solid from front to back. The next courses, also solid, are stepped back to form the treads.

Still another method of using brick is to build a wall on a small footing, make the tread with solid brick and fill in behind with concrete and rubble. The fill is leveled off to the height of the bottom step and the second tread is made with brick. Behind this you again fill with concrete and rubble, level off and continue building up until the steps are complete.

The rustic steps below combine railroad ties. logs. etc.. with broken concrete or flat field stone.

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