On this project our team was called in to remove and replace a wooden set of steps and landing with a new concrete set of steps, planter, retaining wall and landing for the front entrance of the house, as well as a concrete walkway, and a smooth finish concrete patio. Take a look below to see our process.
The first step on this project was to remove the old wooden staircase and landing that leads to the front entrance of the house. The wooden steps were starting to rot and the homeowner decided to replace them with a contemporary concrete front entrance to match the style of their home.
Once the old stairs were removed, we excavated, formed and poured concrete footings. Concrete footings are used as a solid support for concrete walls and retaining walls while also acting as a sturdy base to form the walls on.
While part of our team began to form the retaining walls and planter walls in the front, another part of our team started excavating in the backyard to start the new concrete patio. We are equipped with compact excavators and other small equipment that can fit through narrow access ways like gates, or between houses. All excavation material was brought to the front and loaded in one of our trailers and hauled to a recycler.
For all architectural concrete walls we use a premium paper faced plywood, which results in an ultra smooth finish. We most commonly use an internal bracing system which does leave behind a uniform cone pattern in the concrete walls. Once the concrete walls were poured we then stripped the forms and were ready to begin prepping the concrete stairs and landing.
The first stage in preparing the steps and landing was to haul in gravel to backfill between the wall and planter walls to build a solid base for the concrete steps and landing to be poured on. After backfilling we custom cut all material on site and formed the concrete stairs.
After excavating the back patio, we then brought in gravel for a base for the patio to be poured on. On all concrete slabs, patios, driveways we at least go for a 4” thick gravel base and a minimum of 4” for concrete thickness. After compacting the gravel with a plate compactor we then cut, and installed a rebar grid. The patio is now ready to pour!
The freshly poured concrete patio features a smooth finish blending it perfectly with the existing landscaping the backyard has. Once the forms were removed we then did expansion cuts (Relief Cuts). Expansion cuts were done by saw on this project to help maintain a modern/contemporary appearance. After the patio had been saw cut and cleaned, it was ready to be used and enjoyed!
While pouring the patio we also poured the front concrete landing and concrete stairs. The stairs and landing also featured a smooth finish to match with the walls and maintain the contemporary feel..
The final stage of all projects is a final clean up. A few days after the final pour the forms are removed, all concrete surfaces are swept clean, and all other materials are cleaned up and hauled away.
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