Going to start concrete block stairs in my backyard to replace a wooden deck that was rotted. Your videos are very helpful and make me feel like this is a project that I can handle. I have never done this kind of work before but you have inspired me. Thanks for the great information and for explaining it in detail.
Sweet! I really appreciate the feedback and I'm glad the videos have been helpful. Good luck on your project, take your time and you will be just fine ✌
Thanks for responding to my comment about the stair construction in the ledger video. This video is exactly what I need to ensure success. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I'm truly enjoying the UA-cam experience so far, looking forward to what the future brings! Merry Christmas! ✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper sorry for the confusion. So sometimes there is a gap between the ground and foundation but we get that in Texas but maybe you dont where you are at.
Thank God I found your videos, you're such a great professor, I've felt in love with your videos I gotta a couple questions, I see 1of the videos you poured a concrete slab to lay down blocks to build the steps, anchored it to the house foundation, in this video you just went on the crushed stone not anchor it to anything, kind of floating, wouldn't it shift away from the house, what about if I need to build an extended porch 10x6 3 steps surround it by grass would it be built the same way blocks and filled with stones or pouring the concrete, then lay down blocks and fill up with stone what would you go with? Sorry I extended to much I'd really appreciate if you can answer. Congratulations for your videos.👍👍💯
Thanks for reaching out and watching the videos! So when you use concrete wall blocks which are dry laid on top of each other, laying them directly on an (Open Grade) gravel base is just fine. Concrete block walls are designed to be dry laid and have the ability to shift slightly with ground movement. But when you are using block and mortar with stone veneer and granite caps that will also be mortared, a concrete footing is necessary to basically make the entire stoop, one large piece. Some people may not agree with building block steps on gravel, but it is a tested and true method. What a footing does is make the proposed install 1 piece, split faced wall block is designed to be separate from each other and allow for slight movement through freeze / thaw cycles. When I say slight movement, we are talking 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch at most. They lift when it freezes and sink back into place when it thaws. Even that is an extreme case. With a 6+ inch base of clean crushed stone, the likely hood of block steps moving in cold weather is almost non existent because the stone does not hold onto water, it drains through freely. And with the block steps covering the base material, the cold does not penetrate deep enough to freeze whatever little moisture may be in the stone. And even if the little bit of moisture does freeze, the open spaces in the stone allow for it to expand into them and prevent the material from shifting. Now if I was building steps which would be much larger than that set of steps in this video, I would most likely build them on a concrete footing. But the size of these steps and width did not require a footing in my opinion. Just as I do not believe the project you are building requires a concrete footing. If you are only going 3 steps high, a gravel base of at least 6 inches is more than sufficient. Just be sure to compact the gravel firmly, than build the stoop right on top of that and follow the steps I took in that block steps video. Geo grid is very helpful, don't forget that... Good luck!
@@TheChristianHardscaper can I combine the two systems together, meaning concrete footing, then lay down dried concrete blocks and glue them then fill them out with stone and secure every thing with the mesh? BTW thanks for the great explanation
You absolutely can, The footing will only help for sure. I just believe it is not necessary. But yea, if you pour the footing, then glue the blocks and backfill with stone and geo grid, those steps will never move! ✌
Great video, you just gave me an extremely detailed guide for installing paver steps to my semi inground pool. Quick question…if you were asked to install paver steps up to the bottom of the pool railing…(about 3 steps) what would you use as backfill between blocks/pavers and the pool wall? Once again, thank you so much🤟
Great video! One question. I thought it was a no-no to use the house foundation as a retaining wall for the 3/4" clean stone? I've seen other videos where blocks are also placed along the foundation with a 1/2" gap, then clean stone is filled in. So the blocks, not the foundation, retain the clean stone. Which is better? I have vinyl siding and it doesn't feel correct to put the clean stone right up against it. Thanks!
Thank you! And yes, to a certain point... You don't want a lot of pressure on a foundation wall, and when you may have a lot of pressure on the foundation wall, building a block wall in front of it helps with that a lot. But in this situation I did not feel it was necessary. We backfilled with approx. 2 cubic yards of stone with geogrid every layer of blocks. Geo grid actually reduces the pressure from backfill stone because it holds it and stabilizes it. So In my opinion the inside wall was not necessary on this project. ✌
Thanks for another great video! I can't seem to find any good resources on building steps against a vinyl siding. Seems like most hardscapers just leave the siding in place and backfill directly against it. Any suggestions on what you would do to avoid that or would you? Would cutting out the siding and installing a flashing be the way to go? Thanks for any advice and best of luck with the new season!
@@ivans613 No problem! Building against vinyl siding is usually not a good thing to do. Removing it and using flashing is a very good idea. You can also build an inner block wall close to the edge of the siding so that when you backfill, it will be help back by the blocks and will not be putting pressure on the siding at all.
I’m building a staircase and debating if I should just use the 6” treads from Techo bloc or just build it out of block. My only question when building with block is do I have to bury one full block course before building my block that will be my actual riser for the step? My block would be “6” plus a 3” cap. I will have a landing in front with pavers so pavers will come up on the block 2 1/2”. Is that enough to just have one block and the pavers meeting up to it. Technically that block is buried by the pavers
Awesome videos!! One question. What is your calculation to figure out where you need to start your first row of steps so that your landing hits your benchmark?
Thank you! I measure down from the door and make my marks on the foundation wall where the steps will be. Then on the bottom row, I follow the height of my mark on the foundation ✌
That wall system gives you a few solid blocks in the mix for if you want to split them on your own and make corner pieces. If you don't need to, you just lay them in like a regular block ✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper thank you man! your channel has been super helpful. its kind of funny how Ive been researching hardscaping and the best videos are from two local guys. Small world
I always find myself going back to this video, very relatable to what I am doing and I love it. I wanted to ask about setting the first course of blocks, I noticed on your other video (the one with curved wall) you first set the blocks to determine the cuts, then remove them all, then set each individually ensuring 100% level among themselves and relative to blocks beside them. The part where you make sure the level doesn’t bounce between blocks on the same row. However, I noticed in this video that you skipped some of these steps. Is this because steps are different from walls? Maybe that they do not need to retain any pressure like walls do.
I'm glad it is helping you out. The curved walls do need a little more attention to detail for sure but I did hammer these blocks down and used a level to set them, but the main difference is that I screeded chip stone to lay the blocks on in this situation which can help with install time. That method is not always the best way to go depending on the circumstances... But whatever you lay the blocks on, you should be hammering them down into place so they are less likely to sink in the future. ✌
As someone starting out hardscaping, your videos are great to learn from! When get height measurements do you account for the geogrid or glue or any imperfections so the top cap will fit under door footing?
Thanks for the feedback, this trade is awesome man, worth the time to learn it. And yes, I give myself a 1/4 inch or so of extra play as well as set the blocks slightly more than 1/8 slope to give me another 1/8 inch or so of wiggle room. That will account for the glue / grid. Good luck with the trade! ✌
Thank you for the great content. I have two questions and I would really appreciate your help answering them: 1- in a project similar to this where you install steps that bleed into pavers, do you install the steps first and once done, you adjust the height of the pavers (string line) to account for the steps, then screed and finish up the pavers? 2- you said the first row of blocks need to be 3" below and 3" above, how do you account for that during the base preparation (i.e. that area is 3" lower than the rest)? or do you just hammer down the blocks until they're 3" deep?
No problem, so the steps should be built first. And to account for the 1st block to buried halfway below the surface you need to lay the 1st course on top of the base stone before you screed for pavers. The paver is 2 - 3/8 inches and the chip stone is 1 inch. So that will make the 1st block halfway buried.
20 dakikalik videoda, iş ancak 15.dakikada başlıyor,video girişinde bol geyik muhabeti,Agustos ayinda insani üşutecek gıdıklada gülelim espriler,blondie muhabeti,sanki sivrisinegi ameliyat ediyorsunuz,atomu parcaliyorsunuz yada uzay mekigi yapiyorsunuz,hazir betonrme malzemeler ile bahce tanzim ediyorsun,sanki tüm izleyiciler yarin gidip bu malzemeleri temin edip bahcesini düzenleyecek,ornegin papua yeni gine,Yemen,ekvador vs.vs.bir tas koyuyor on dakika izahat,size tavsiye hic konusmadan sei calismali bir video senin izlenme oranini 5 e katlar,you tubede izlenme orani ölçülmüştür,13 dakikadan sonra insanlar sikilir hele senun dilini bilmeyen,ishal olmuş agiz ile mutemadiyen kendini on plana cikartan videoyu akraban izler,yapacagin işi seveyim.
Enjoy the video! Check out the next portion of this project by clicking this link right here👉ua-cam.com/video/EVmJ6tNYb58/v-deo.html
Going to start concrete block stairs in my backyard to replace a wooden deck that was rotted. Your videos are very helpful and make me feel like this is a project that I can handle. I have never done this kind of work before but you have inspired me. Thanks for the great information and for explaining it in detail.
Sweet! I really appreciate the feedback and I'm glad the videos have been helpful. Good luck on your project, take your time and you will be just fine ✌
Spending the winter watching these vids to help me decide how I want to set in steps with a patio area in our backyard.
Nice man, glad the older videos are still helpful ✌
Terrific video,this is my summer project to a tee!!! Really appreciate the detail
Thank you! Good luck with your project! ✌
Love the way you explain how organized you work and take your time don’t work on a rush you should be a mentor hardscape
Thanks, I'm glad it is helping people! ✌
Thanks for responding to my comment about the stair construction in the ledger video. This video is exactly what I need to ensure success. Keep up the good work!
No problem at all, glad it was helpful. Hopefully the video of us finishing them will be up in a week or so. ✌
Amazing detail to your projects. You are an inspiration to many. Merry Christmas guys.
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I'm truly enjoying the UA-cam experience so far, looking forward to what the future brings! Merry Christmas! ✌
What would you do if the foundation is separating from the ground (like if there is a gap between the foundation and dirt)? Thanks for all your vids 🙏
I'm not quite sure what you mean, like the dirt in front of the foundation is sinking..?
@@TheChristianHardscaper sorry for the confusion. So sometimes there is a gap between the ground and foundation but we get that in Texas but maybe you dont where you are at.
Hahahha love the black hair, we'll get the likes eventually xD
He could totally pull it off! Lmao 😂 ✌
Looking good... as always.... details, details, details.
Thank you ✌
Great video brother. Happy new year too Benny and you.👍🏻🇺🇸
Thank you, Happy New Year to you as well brother! ✌
“I see some blond hair and I want to paint them black!”
🖤🖤🖤
😂👌
What if there are no walls to draw it out on? How would we know how far out the wall should start so we don’t need an extra step at top
Jet black!!!
Thank God I found your videos, you're such a great professor, I've felt in love with your videos I gotta a couple questions, I see 1of the videos you poured a concrete slab to lay down blocks to build the steps, anchored it to the house foundation, in this video you just went on the crushed stone not anchor it to anything, kind of floating, wouldn't it shift away from the house, what about if I need to build an extended porch 10x6 3 steps surround it by grass would it be built the same way blocks and filled with stones or pouring the concrete, then lay down blocks and fill up with stone what would you go with?
Sorry I extended to much I'd really appreciate if you can answer.
Congratulations for your videos.👍👍💯
Thanks for reaching out and watching the videos! So when you use concrete wall blocks which are dry laid on top of each other, laying them directly on an (Open Grade) gravel base is just fine. Concrete block walls are designed to be dry laid and have the ability to shift slightly with ground movement. But when you are using block and mortar with stone veneer and granite caps that will also be mortared, a concrete footing is necessary to basically make the entire stoop, one large piece. Some people may not agree with building block steps on gravel, but it is a tested and true method. What a footing does is make the proposed install 1 piece, split faced wall block is designed to be separate from each other and allow for slight movement through freeze / thaw cycles. When I say slight movement, we are talking 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch at most. They lift when it freezes and sink back into place when it thaws. Even that is an extreme case. With a 6+ inch base of clean crushed stone, the likely hood of block steps moving in cold weather is almost non existent because the stone does not hold onto water, it drains through freely. And with the block steps covering the base material, the cold does not penetrate deep enough to freeze whatever little moisture may be in the stone. And even if the little bit of moisture does freeze, the open spaces in the stone allow for it to expand into them and prevent the material from shifting.
Now if I was building steps which would be much larger than that set of steps in this video, I would most likely build them on a concrete footing. But the size of these steps and width did not require a footing in my opinion. Just as I do not believe the project you are building requires a concrete footing. If you are only going 3 steps high, a gravel base of at least 6 inches is more than sufficient. Just be sure to compact the gravel firmly, than build the stoop right on top of that and follow the steps I took in that block steps video. Geo grid is very helpful, don't forget that... Good luck!
@@TheChristianHardscaper can I combine the two systems together, meaning concrete footing, then lay down dried concrete blocks and glue them then fill them out with stone and secure every thing with the mesh? BTW thanks for the great explanation
You absolutely can, The footing will only help for sure. I just believe it is not necessary. But yea, if you pour the footing, then glue the blocks and backfill with stone and geo grid, those steps will never move! ✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper thank you a million times and Benny you gotta match pant it black "rolling stones"🤣🤣
🤣🤣No problem!✌
Great video, you just gave me an extremely detailed guide for installing paver steps to my semi inground pool. Quick question…if you were asked to install paver steps up to the bottom of the pool railing…(about 3 steps) what would you use as backfill between blocks/pavers and the pool wall? Once again, thank you so much🤟
Glad to hear it, you should backfill with the same kind of 3/4 clean stone in between the blocks and back wall. ✌
Great video! One question. I thought it was a no-no to use the house foundation as a retaining wall for the 3/4" clean stone? I've seen other videos where blocks are also placed along the foundation with a 1/2" gap, then clean stone is filled in. So the blocks, not the foundation, retain the clean stone. Which is better? I have vinyl siding and it doesn't feel correct to put the clean stone right up against it. Thanks!
Thank you! And yes, to a certain point... You don't want a lot of pressure on a foundation wall, and when you may have a lot of pressure on the foundation wall, building a block wall in front of it helps with that a lot. But in this situation I did not feel it was necessary. We backfilled with approx. 2 cubic yards of stone with geogrid every layer of blocks. Geo grid actually reduces the pressure from backfill stone because it holds it and stabilizes it. So In my opinion the inside wall was not necessary on this project. ✌
Thanks for another great video! I can't seem to find any good resources on building steps against a vinyl siding. Seems like most hardscapers just leave the siding in place and backfill directly against it. Any suggestions on what you would do to avoid that or would you? Would cutting out the siding and installing a flashing be the way to go? Thanks for any advice and best of luck with the new season!
@@ivans613 No problem! Building against vinyl siding is usually not a good thing to do. Removing it and using flashing is a very good idea. You can also build an inner block wall close to the edge of the siding so that when you backfill, it will be help back by the blocks and will not be putting pressure on the siding at all.
Is there anything besides cement to hold concrete blocks together so they don't shift?
You can use a (Concrete Adhesive) there are a lot of manufacturers who make it but that is what its called. It comes in a tube like silicon caulking.
I’m building a staircase and debating if I should just use the 6” treads from Techo bloc or just build it out of block. My only question when building with block is do I have to bury one full block course before building my block that will be my actual riser for the step? My block would be “6” plus a 3” cap. I will have a landing in front with pavers so pavers will come up on the block 2 1/2”. Is that enough to just have one block and the pavers meeting up to it. Technically that block is buried by the pavers
You will be fine with laying the 1st course at the same level of the pavers. That leaves you with about a 6-6.5 inch 1st step.
Awesome videos!! One question. What is your calculation to figure out where you need to start your first row of steps so that your landing hits your benchmark?
Thank you! I measure down from the door and make my marks on the foundation wall where the steps will be. Then on the bottom row, I follow the height of my mark on the foundation ✌
why are some of the blocks hallow, and some are not?
That wall system gives you a few solid blocks in the mix for if you want to split them on your own and make corner pieces. If you don't need to, you just lay them in like a regular block ✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper thank you man! your channel has been super helpful. its kind of funny how Ive been researching hardscaping and the best videos are from two local guys. Small world
Glad to hear it! You from Massachusetts?
I always find myself going back to this video, very relatable to what I am doing and I love it. I wanted to ask about setting the first course of blocks, I noticed on your other video (the one with curved wall) you first set the blocks to determine the cuts, then remove them all, then set each individually ensuring 100% level among themselves and relative to blocks beside them. The part where you make sure the level doesn’t bounce between blocks on the same row. However, I noticed in this video that you skipped some of these steps. Is this because steps are different from walls? Maybe that they do not need to retain any pressure like walls do.
I'm glad it is helping you out. The curved walls do need a little more attention to detail for sure but I did hammer these blocks down and used a level to set them, but the main difference is that I screeded chip stone to lay the blocks on in this situation which can help with install time. That method is not always the best way to go depending on the circumstances... But whatever you lay the blocks on, you should be hammering them down into place so they are less likely to sink in the future. ✌
As someone starting out hardscaping, your videos are great to learn from! When get height measurements do you account for the geogrid or glue or any imperfections so the top cap will fit under door footing?
Thanks for the feedback, this trade is awesome man, worth the time to learn it. And yes, I give myself a 1/4 inch or so of extra play as well as set the blocks slightly more than 1/8 slope to give me another 1/8 inch or so of wiggle room. That will account for the glue / grid. Good luck with the trade! ✌
Thank you for the great content. I have two questions and I would really appreciate your help answering them: 1- in a project similar to this where you install steps that bleed into pavers, do you install the steps first and once done, you adjust the height of the pavers (string line) to account for the steps, then screed and finish up the pavers?
2- you said the first row of blocks need to be 3" below and 3" above, how do you account for that during the base preparation (i.e. that area is 3" lower than the rest)? or do you just hammer down the blocks until they're 3" deep?
No problem, so the steps should be built first. And to account for the 1st block to buried halfway below the surface you need to lay the 1st course on top of the base stone before you screed for pavers. The paver is 2 - 3/8 inches and the chip stone is 1 inch. So that will make the 1st block halfway buried.
Dye it black!!
Can’t stand stair layout no matter how much I prepare and think of everything it still frustrates me
Looking great man
It is definitely tough laying them out, tons of measuring... Thanks man! ✌
Hey Benny ! can I bum a smoke ?
He would absolutely give you one. 🤣🤣✌
black black black!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
👍
dye it black!
Dye it black
Dye it 🌑🤣
Hope it’s not late. Paint it black lol
😂 ✌
Dye it black 😂
🤣👌
Benny massage your scalp
20 dakikalik videoda, iş ancak 15.dakikada başlıyor,video girişinde bol geyik muhabeti,Agustos ayinda insani üşutecek gıdıklada gülelim espriler,blondie muhabeti,sanki sivrisinegi ameliyat ediyorsunuz,atomu parcaliyorsunuz yada uzay mekigi yapiyorsunuz,hazir betonrme malzemeler ile bahce tanzim ediyorsun,sanki tüm izleyiciler yarin gidip bu malzemeleri temin edip bahcesini düzenleyecek,ornegin papua yeni gine,Yemen,ekvador vs.vs.bir tas koyuyor on dakika izahat,size tavsiye hic konusmadan sei calismali bir video senin izlenme oranini 5 e katlar,you tubede izlenme orani ölçülmüştür,13 dakikadan sonra insanlar sikilir hele senun dilini bilmeyen,ishal olmuş agiz ile mutemadiyen kendini on plana cikartan videoyu akraban izler,yapacagin işi seveyim.
dye it black!
Dye it black
Dye it black
Dye it black
🤣 ✌