How to build a garden staircase yourself

Before starting the construction of a staircase on a personal plot, you need to think about certain points, for example, if the slope where you plan to build the staircase is quite steep, then the staircase should not be located in a straight line, but tangentially – this is done in order to reduce the steepness of the stairs.

It is also necessary to take into account the factor that the ladder must be safe and comfortable enough for movement. To do this, it is advisable to limit the maximum height of the steps of the stairs to 12 centimeters, and make the width of the steps from 40 to 50 centimeters.

In order to prevent rainwater from accumulating on the steps in bad weather, they need to be given a slope of 1-2 degrees.

For the construction of the staircase itself and the production of work, the following materials and tools will be needed:

• lightweight concrete, class not lower than B-7.5
• concrete B-15
• cement mortar
• sand bedding, to which cement is added to stabilize it in a ratio of 9: 1
• granite tiles
• clinker brick measuring 20x10x5 centimeters
• field stone
• gravel or coarse sand
• putty
• construction film
• fabric waterproof

The volumes of building materials that are supposed to be used for construction are calculated individually, depending on all the parameters of the staircase to be built, as well as the conditions of its operation.

Of the tools for building stairs, you need: a concrete mixer, a pair of shovels, a drill, a rope or a bricklayer’s rope, a building level, a hammer, boards, pegs, a rubber or wooden mallet, a trowel or trowel, a sharp knife, materials for sealing joints, a bucket or a wide container for diluting mortar.

Construction process

1. We measure the length of the base of the slope and its height. It is also necessary to measure the width of the area that leads to the stairs. These measurements must be performed with special care, because it is for them that the project will be drawn up and the amount of building material used will be calculated.
2. We make excavation. At the bottom of the excavation, it is necessary to scatter a layer of sand approximately 10 centimeters thick. If the excavation was carried out in a waterproof soil, then instead of sand it is better to use a drainage layer of the same thickness. After the sand is laid, it is tamped, thereby giving it the necessary density.
3. We collect the formwork for the stairs. The formwork is usually made of boards or it can be customized – prefabricated. In any case, the formwork must be built with an increased margin of safety – so that it does not collapse during the filling with concrete.
4. At the bottom of a recess, directly onto compacted sand or drainage, construction film is laid with a sufficient margin, which is carried out beyond the side walls of the formwork. The film is laid in order to prevent water from leaving through the soil and so that the concrete does not mix with the sand. The film must be carefully fixed so that it is stationary during the filling of the formwork with concrete.
5. We fill the installed formwork with concrete, starting from the bottom step of the staircase under construction. For this process it is necessary to use concrete grade B-15. After the concrete has hardened, additional formwork is installed, which will serve for the production of plinths, on which the clinker cladding will be installed. If desired, plinths can be made of brick.
6. The formwork is filled to the end with concrete. Concrete, in the process of filling, must be tamped using a special construction vibrator to avoid the formation of air voids.

   It is necessary, in the process of concrete setting, to pour it with water and cover it with a construction film or tarpaulin in order to avoid cracking it and so that it gains the necessary strength.

7. After the concrete hardening process is completed, need to remove the formwork, simultaneously cleaning the surface and preparing it for tiling.

   Make a preliminary layout of the cladding elements “dry” in order to measure the seams and more accurately adjust the cladding material.

   Then clinker tiles or bricks are laid on mortar, observing the planned thickness of vertical and horizontal joints..

8. Granite tiles are used for facing works, under which it is necessary to put sand bedding stabilized with cement in a ratio of 9: 1.

   Calculate the height of the backfill so that the laid tiles protrude about 1-1.5 centimeters above the plane of the laid brick.

9. Granite tiles are leveled with a mallet, to form a level surface with the laid clinker. After that, the steps are covered with a mixture of sand and cement..
10. In order for the cement in the bed and between the tiles to gain the necessary strength, steps must be periodically moistened with water.

    The joints between the laid bricks, for a better aesthetic perception, can be filled with a special putty for outdoor use. During the application of the putty, it must be “embroidered” for better drainage of water from the stairs.

    You can “embroider” with a bent steel wire suitable for the thickness of the seam diameter.