Guide To Building Your Garden Steps
Every house facade and site has visual assets and liabilities. The well-done front yard highlights the pleasing points and masks the poor ones. All the elements of good design come into play as you arrange your component parts for the ideal front yard.
If your house needs or will adapt to your desire for a special theme garden, the look must always begin in the front yard. Themes are successful only if you unify all the garden aspects carefully.
Properly constructed garden steps not only take a walk or path into another dimension, they also serve as a retaining wall, holding back soil erosion. This means you need to plan carefully, and securely anchor them into the slope they ascend.
Select materials to match or contrast with the walkways at top and bottom. Besides the brick and timber versions you can build steps entirely of concrete (just dispense with the bricks), set bricks or concrete slabs into a and base, mix stone or concrete treads with brick risers, or terrace the slope with timber risers and surface the treads with gravel, wood chips, or other loose fill.
Whatever materials you choose first decide how many steps you will need, how deep each horizontal tread will be, and how high to make each vertical riser.
Useful RULE
The tread dimension plus the riser dimension should about 17 inches. Try to make your riser dimension no more than 7 inches and no less than 4 inches. No matter how you juggle the figures, just be sure all treads and risers will be exactly the same depth and height. Changes break a person's stride and cause stumbles. Also, be sure to take into account the depth of tread-finishing materials and mortar, if any, when planning a concrete foundation.
Use stakes and a level string or board to determine the total rise your steps will ascend and the total run they will traverse. To determine how many steps you will need, divide these measurements by combinations of tread and riser sizes until you come out with equal size steps.
A Caution
Building codes usually place limits on tread and riser sizes and other stairway dimensions, so check with local authorities before finalizing your plans. Codes also mandate handrails in some situations.
There are several important things to consider when starting your landscape project. It begins with selecting the right landscaping company or professionals to make sure you get the best results.
If your house needs or will adapt to your desire for a special theme garden, the look must always begin in the front yard. Themes are successful only if you unify all the garden aspects carefully.
Properly constructed garden steps not only take a walk or path into another dimension, they also serve as a retaining wall, holding back soil erosion. This means you need to plan carefully, and securely anchor them into the slope they ascend.
Select materials to match or contrast with the walkways at top and bottom. Besides the brick and timber versions you can build steps entirely of concrete (just dispense with the bricks), set bricks or concrete slabs into a and base, mix stone or concrete treads with brick risers, or terrace the slope with timber risers and surface the treads with gravel, wood chips, or other loose fill.
Whatever materials you choose first decide how many steps you will need, how deep each horizontal tread will be, and how high to make each vertical riser.
Useful RULE
The tread dimension plus the riser dimension should about 17 inches. Try to make your riser dimension no more than 7 inches and no less than 4 inches. No matter how you juggle the figures, just be sure all treads and risers will be exactly the same depth and height. Changes break a person's stride and cause stumbles. Also, be sure to take into account the depth of tread-finishing materials and mortar, if any, when planning a concrete foundation.
Use stakes and a level string or board to determine the total rise your steps will ascend and the total run they will traverse. To determine how many steps you will need, divide these measurements by combinations of tread and riser sizes until you come out with equal size steps.
A Caution
Building codes usually place limits on tread and riser sizes and other stairway dimensions, so check with local authorities before finalizing your plans. Codes also mandate handrails in some situations.
There are several important things to consider when starting your landscape project. It begins with selecting the right landscaping company or professionals to make sure you get the best results.