Hi all,

I have a question about building steps (2 to be exact) using bricks. I
am familiar with laying bricks but not sure what the standard method is
when it comes to step making.. Essentially there will be two steps
running in between two brick pillars.

My nuffter questions are as follows and I apologise in advance.. )

Do you lay a perimeter of brick and fill with concrete (there is
already a solid concrete base), OR do you fill completely with bricks
and build layer by layer from the ground up OR do you lay a perimeter
of brick with some cross sections such as this - ---|-----|--- for a
compromise between the two. The top will be capped by a bluestone or
limestone type of thing, and the front view - brick riser etc rendered.

Also do you need to "join" the steps into the pillar when building the
pillar and steps from the ground up to give it extra strength?

I would like the steps to be around the 2.5 brick width wide. If I lay
two brick widths along as a step then the capping stone would overhang
a little which I understand is not good as they eventually may
chip/break with no support. If I lay 3 bricks width wide then it feels
just a little tooo big for what I want.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Cant help most of your questions sorry but be SURE to use the right
kind of bricks, some cant be used for pavers they absorb water spall
and fall apart.

use paver type

Thanks - I have a bunch of seconds bricks all good quality. They are
the solid core red bricks so I assume that will be strong enough if
setup correctly


wrote:
Cant help most of your questions sorry but be SURE to use the right
kind of bricks, some cant be used for pavers they absorb water spall
and fall apart.

use paver type

Thanks - I have a bunch of seconds bricks all good quality. They are
the solid core red bricks so I assume that will be strong enough if
setup correctly


wrote:
Cant help most of your questions sorry but be SURE to use the right
kind of bricks, some cant be used for pavers they absorb water spall
and fall apart.

use paver type

I can help you with this step by step but first...what the heck are you
talking about here?
Do you lay a perimeter of brick and fill with concrete (there is
already a solid concrete base), OR do you fill completely with bricks
and build layer by layer from the ground up OR do you lay a perimeter
of brick with some cross sections such as this - ---|-----|--- for a
compromise between the two.

Ok.....Ok.........I just got it...sorry. If you want brick to show on
the the step riser simply lay the stone first on the step (first step
at the bottom) then face the riser lay the second stone face the riser
ect. Lay = industry term laying block, laying brick, laying stone....

It sounds like you dont want to "build" steps you want to "face" a set
of concrete steps 2 very different things..

Also do you need to "join" the steps into the pillar when building the
pillar and steps from the ground up to give it extra strength?

Are the pillars going to be resting on the steps? or are they at the
top resting on the landing? In either case NO you do not have to "join
them" Im just trying to get a better picture of what you are doing.

If I lay
two brick widths along as a step then the capping stone would overhang
a little which I understand is not good as they eventually may
chip/break with no support.

If each step if going to be capped you would only need to put the brick
on the face of the "riser" (the part at the front of your shoe) as this
is the only area that would be visable correct? Also a little bit of an
over hang is not going to be a problem with both materials you have
listed. If you are under a couple of inches (2) this is fine. You also
have the option to cut the stone or have them cut to size from your
suplier.


wrote:
Hi all,

I have a question about building steps (2 to be exact) using bricks. I
am familiar with laying bricks but not sure what the standard method is
when it comes to step making.. Essentially there will be two steps
running in between two brick pillars.

My nuffter questions are as follows and I apologise in advance.. )

Do you lay a perimeter of brick and fill with concrete (there is
already a solid concrete base), OR do you fill completely with bricks
and build layer by layer from the ground up OR do you lay a perimeter
of brick with some cross sections such as this - ---|-----|--- for a
compromise between the two. The top will be capped by a bluestone or
limestone type of thing, and the front view - brick riser etc rendered.

Also do you need to "join" the steps into the pillar when building the
pillar and steps from the ground up to give it extra strength?

I would like the steps to be around the 2.5 brick width wide. If I lay
two brick widths along as a step then the capping stone would overhang
a little which I understand is not good as they eventually may
chip/break with no support. If I lay 3 bricks width wide then it feels
just a little tooo big for what I want.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Thanks so much.., I am glad you understood what I was talking about.


Italian wrote:
I can help you with this step by step but first...what the heck are you
talking about here?
Do you lay a perimeter of brick and fill with concrete (there is
already a solid concrete base), OR do you fill completely with bricks
and build layer by layer from the ground up OR do you lay a perimeter
of brick with some cross sections such as this - ---|-----|--- for a
compromise between the two.

Ok.....Ok.........I just got it...sorry. If you want brick to show on
the the step riser simply lay the stone first on the step (first step
at the bottom) then face the riser lay the second stone face the riser
ect. Lay = industry term laying block, laying brick, laying stone....

It sounds like you dont want to "build" steps you want to "face" a set
of concrete steps 2 very different things..

Ideally this is what I am trying to confirm as what method is best. Do
I set a croncrete block in the shape of the two steps (since it will be
rendered and capped with bluestone etc it does not matter re the
material used) or do I pour concrete to fill in a perimeter of bricks
to give brick steps extra strength or do I make a solid brick set of
two steps. Not sure which way is stronger/cost effective etc.
Probably the best option I can see materials/effort wise is to do a
hollow brick perimeter - leaving it hollow because the capping stones
will cover over the top. My only concern here is strength.


Also do you need to "join" the steps into the pillar when building the
pillar and steps from the ground up to give it extra strength?

Are the pillars going to be resting on the steps? or are they at the
top resting on the landing? In either case NO you do not have to "join
them" Im just trying to get a better picture of what you are doing.

The pillars will be resting on the concrete base so No they do not need
the steps to be laid out. The top step will go between the pillars,
the bottom step will sort of wrap around the front base of the pillars.
I was only going to 'join' them into the pillars so there would be
additional strength and reduce any movement. But if that is not
required then bonus.



If I lay
two brick widths along as a step then the capping stone would overhang
a little which I understand is not good as they eventually may
chip/break with no support.

If each step if going to be capped you would only need to put the brick
on the face of the "riser" (the part at the front of your shoe) as this
is the only area that would be visable correct?

Yes that is correct. I am happy to simply brick in the shell - the
risers - and have enough support for the capping stones with a hollow
middle but how strong would that be? If a step comprised of two
'walls' with about a single brick width hollow in the middle and a
capping stone of around an 1/2 to an inch or just under (around 1.5 - 2
cm) as the tread would this be strong enough?

Also a little bit of an
over hang is not going to be a problem with both materials you have
listed. If you are under a couple of inches (2) this is fine. You also
have the option to cut the stone or have them cut to size from your
suplier.


Thanks for that, I was hoping a very slight overhang would be allowed,
but was told by a supplier that this was not a good idea due to the
breakage..


Thanks again







Hi all,

I have a question about building steps (2 to be exact) using bricks. I
am familiar with laying bricks but not sure what the standard method is
when it comes to step making.. Essentially there will be two steps
running in between two brick pillars.

My nuffter questions are as follows and I apologise in advance.. )

Do you lay a perimeter of brick and fill with concrete (there is
already a solid concrete base), OR do you fill completely with bricks
and build layer by layer from the ground up OR do you lay a perimeter
of brick with some cross sections such as this - ---|-----|--- for a
compromise between the two. The top will be capped by a bluestone or
limestone type of thing, and the front view - brick riser etc rendered.

Also do you need to "join" the steps into the pillar when building the
pillar and steps from the ground up to give it extra strength?

I would like the steps to be around the 2.5 brick width wide. If I lay
two brick widths along as a step then the capping stone would overhang
a little which I understand is not good as they eventually may
chip/break with no support. If I lay 3 bricks width wide then it feels
just a little tooo big for what I want.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks