On this project our team helped create the ultimate outdoor living space, including a large concrete
patio, a sunken concrete hot tub vault, concrete stairs, and concrete walkways. The concrete
finishes include a light sandblasted concrete border, and exposed aggregate inner sections. Take a
look at our process below.
The first step of this project was excavating for footings, and piles. Since this is a brand new home
on a steep hill, the earth surrounding the house is relatively loose and required additional supports
such as footings and piles to bear the weight of the concrete patio and rear steps while also ensuring the concrete does not sink or settle.
The side of the house is going to have a walkway and a large set of concrete steps leading to the front. This also required excavation so that brackets could later be installed as supports for the walkway and steps. On projects like this with lots of access for machines and equipment, we have a fleet of mid size excavators and skid steers.
Following the excavation stage, our team poured concrete piles spaced around the perimeter of
where the patio will be, connected by concrete footings. After the piles were installed we began to
back-fill around the piles. Since there was quite a bit of earth to build up, we brought in gravel for a
solid base, compacting it in layers..
One of the strongest support systems we use in the concrete construction process (when required) is steel brackets. Steel brackets are installed by bolting the bracket against the house foundation, and are set to be underneath the concrete. On this project we installed multiple brackets along the entire side of the house to help support the concrete walkway and concrete stairs.
After all the gravel had been brought in and graded, we began forming for the first patio pour. The first pour will be the lightly sandblasted concrete borders, and large set of curvy stairs. It is very important that the forms hold their curvy shape and do not move during the pour, for this reason the stairs required extra bracing.
The final stages of preparation before the pours was to form the side walkway, and stairs along the
side of the house. After all formwork is finished, on every project we cut and install a rebar grid, and
rebar dowels into the foundation of the house.
Days following the pour, all the forms were removed and the site was given a thorough clean up to
make way for the sandblasters to sand blast the concrete borders, and so the landscaping company
could begin their part on this beautiful outdoor living space.
After the other trades had finished their work on this project, we came back and gave the job one final power wash to prepare it for sealing. We sealed the exposed aggregate sections using a high gloss sealer. This high gloss sealer darkens the concrete, while also emphasizing the colour in the aggregate, and adding a slight shine.
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