Masonry Steps

I'm making my project list for next spring. I gotta hustle, my daughter is getting married next December and I've got a ton of *censored* to do around the house before then.

My house is on the side of a hill. The lot is terraced. Currently there is an old dilapidated set of wood stairs going from the driveway to the back porch. It's about an 8 foot rise. I want to replace them with something more stable. I'm thinking about block with stone treads. I'm not sure how to do the footers for this thing. Does every step need to be on a 4 foot footer, or just the perimeter of the stairs, or just the top and bottom?

What kind of soil conditions are you dealing with? Drainage? The answer is certainly you would not need 4 feet of frost protection unless permanently affixed to the building. Even poured stairs would be placed on well drained, compacted soil and not have the frost wall protection. Most critical is the ability to maintain drainage year round. Block or brick will shift slightly over time, however nothing will stop movement forever. The wooden steps apparently have been adequate for years, so you need to decide just how much attention you want to devote to this project so late in the season. If the wedding is THIS December, be careful of how much area you want to tear up, because it will be nearly impossible to relandscape; seed, etc and still look presentable. If it's snow covered that's great, but don't kill yourself trying to make it happen unless you have friends and equipment handy to help out. Charlie

Actually the wedding is next December. I have all next spring and summer to work on this and about 5 other projects. The soil is clay. It was terraced 22 years ago when the prior owner had the pool installed. These stairs are one of the last things I need to replace. Here's a couple of pics of what I'm getting rid of. I'm thinking of block or brick risers with stone treads. I put that chain link fence in about ten years ago and the post closest to the house is starting to lean. Ten years from now I don't want to have the steps to start sliding down the hill.

I think the best way is putting a retaining wall on each side of the stairs.



Too bad, the porch looks too close to put the stairs against house & use the foundation wall as one of the "retaining walls".