How to form & pour Concrete Steps with a Pier Foundation. D.I.Y

Hey what's up everybody this is CLS All-in-One. I recently replaced my old wooden steps that were in very poor condition with some concrete steps. This is a five step set of stairs measuring at approximately three and a half feet tall by five feet wide by eight feet long. So the first step in this process is building a footing or foundation. Building codes in most areas will usually require a foundation for concrete entry stairs. In my area I'm required to have a foundation that's at least 40 inches below the surface because the frost depth can reach close to three feet in my area. But you will want to keep in mind the building codes will vary so please check with your local building codes before proceeding with a project such as this. Foundations for entry stairs are important because they provide support for the heavy vertical loads and will also keep your stairs from sinking sagging or pulling away from your house. For my stairs I chose to go with a pier foundation. These are 10 inch concrete building form tubes and I placed one in each corner of where the staircase footprint will be located. So these pier footings consist of a hole dug to approximately 40 inches deep with a poured concrete footing at the bottom with the diameter being at about 16 inches and the depth at 10 inches along with a half inch rebar cage to reinforce the concrete and a piece of rebar sticking up at about one foot for the piers to tie into. Then I place the building form tubes on top of the footings then backfill the sides which is the point I am at right now. The next step will be adding a rebar cage to the inside of the tubes and after that I'll be filling the tubes with concrete. So right here we are backfilling the building form tubes and the top of these tubes are just going to be slightly above ground level. Now it's time to make some half inch rebar cages to go inside these tubes. They do make some rebar benders but if you don't want to buy one you can just get creative and use a bench vise or even a truck hitch as I'm using right here to bend the rebar. So what I've done here is bent three pieces of rebar into the same shape. Then I tied these pieces of rebar together in a triangular pattern to make a cage. And here's something to keep in mind when making a rebar cage for a footing or pier. The cage should be at least one and a half inches from all outside edges of the concrete. Now that the cages are in place it's time to mix up some concrete. For this I'll be using Quikrete high strength just add water mix and mixing this to a consistency where I can easily pour this into the tubes. And as I fill the tubes I make sure to pack them tightly to ensure the concrete fills the entire tube. And at the same time I make sure to keep the cages centered inside these tubes. Now it's time to add some J-Bowl anchors into the fresh concrete. These will be used to secure some steel H beams to the top of these piers. After setting all the anchors in place it's time to wait approximately 24 hours to allow the concrete to dry. So the vertical load of these concrete stairs will be extremely heavy. Because of this a side support will be necessary to distribute the main weight of the stairs to each corner pier. So for this I'll be using two H beams that are three-eighths of an inch thick that will span from the back pier to the front pier. And for the span going from side to side I will just be using rebar after the forms are in place. And here's a look at the beams after securing them to the piers. So now I have a foundation that will support the weight of the concrete stairs. And here is a look at the beginning of the concrete form process for my stairs. I have used two eight foot sheets of five-eighths OSB. Alternatively you can just use some regular plywood. But I chose OSB because it gives the concrete a texture that I prefer over plywood. I have also reinforced the sheets of OSB with numerous 2x4s to stiffen them and keep the sheets from bowing out. And to secure these forms to the ground to start with I'm just using some three foot long rebar stakes. But I will be adding some more supports later on. As you can see here I have the forms perfectly level with each other and placed in the exact position I want the stairs to be located. To figure out the proper stair rise height and tread run depth there is numerous stair calculators online that can do the math for you. A good baseline to start with is a rise of seven inches and a tread run of 11 inches. But depending on the length and drop of your steps these numbers will more than likely have to be adjusted. For my stairs to have an even rise and tread run for all five steps I ended up with a seven inch rise and a ten and a half inch tread run. And I would like to add that you should always check with your local building codes to make sure what the minimum and maximum is for the run and rise for stairs located in your area. Another thing I'd like to mention is you should grease any part of wood forms that will come in contact with the concrete. This will prevent it from sticking when removing the forms. For this step I'm just spraying the wood with some WD-40 but alternatively you could use some other products such as diesel fuel applied with a rag. Now it's time to add some cross support forms for the rise portion of the steps. For this I'm using some two by eights that I have ripped to seven inches wide along with a 45 degree angle cut on the bottom edge that I'll explain here in a few. To attach these I've cut some two by four blocks that secure to the OSB and then secure to the two by eights with the use of three inch screws. And here is a look at the 45 degree angle cut at the bottom of the rise forms. This allows me to float and finish the concrete step runs without removing these rise forms. With this 45 degree cut I'm able to reach all the way to the inside corners of the runs and can leave all the forms in place until the concrete dries and hardens. But you will want to keep in mind when using this method it will not allow you to finish the face of each rise. If this is a concern you should just remove the rise forms once the concrete starts to harden and is ready for finishing. Now it's time to add some anchors to the existing foundation that will tie in with the concrete steps. For this I'm using some half inch rebar that has been cut to 16 inches long. I then drill a hole into the foundation at around four inches deep. Then add construction glue to the inside of the hole then hammer the rebar in place. I then repeat this process with a piece of rebar located at about every 16 inches across. Now this next step is somewhat optional but will cut down on the amount of concrete needed. So what I'm doing here is adding filler to the inside of the step forms. I have outlined the edges with blocks then filled the center with dirt then added more blocks and large rocks to the center and made sure to compact all the dirt with moisture so it has a solid base. When adding fillers such as I'm using here you'll want to be careful and make sure you maintain an eight inch gap from all edges of the forms so the concrete has good structure with thick walls. The next step will be adding a rebar cage to the inside of the stair forms. Again I'm using some half inch rebar and I've bent three main supports that match the shape of the stairs. When adding rebar to the inside of the forms you'll want to make sure to maintain a one and a half inch gap from all edges and not allow the dirt as well. So here's a look at the rebar cage. I have three main supports that match the shape of the stairs along with vertical and horizontal supports every 12 inches. And in all the areas where the rebar would have come in contact with the ground I've used pavers for the rebar to rest on. So I got my rebar cage in place and I'm just about ready for concrete. But before I start pouring I'm going to add some more side supports to the forms to keep them from bowing under the extreme pressure caused by the weight of the concrete. For this I've added two by fours approximately every two foot then secured them to the forms with screws. Then secured the opposite end of these two by fours to the ground with form stakes. And this was done on both sides of these forms. Now it's time to start pouring the concrete. For this I've ordered around two and a half yards of ready mixed concrete. To figure out how much concrete you need there is various concrete calculators online to figure out the math for you. This staircase requires about three yards of concrete but I did add some filler to the middle of these forms earlier which was about half yard. So I ended up at two and a half yards. As you can see here I've started pouring from the bottom step and will work my way up one step at a time while making sure to pack the concrete thoroughly in all areas. I will also be using a concrete vibrator which I'll be demonstrating here in just a few. The concrete should be at a consistency where it's wet enough to pack and fill all areas but not so wet that it starts spilling out of the bottom steps. It's very important to make sure the concrete is packing all the way to the bottom of the forms. The higher you get on the stairs the harder it will become to pack. That's where the concrete vibrator comes in handy. The vibrator helps the concrete settle to the bottom and fill all voids but you have to be careful not to overuse the vibrator because this can make all the rocks and the concrete mix sink to the bottom which will severely weaken the concrete. So just a few seconds here and there should do the trick. And at this point here I'm hand packing the outer edges of the forms to make sure the concrete fills around the steel H beams. Now it's time to start adding more concrete to the top and I will continue to hand pack and use the concrete vibrator with every one foot of concrete that gets poured. So right here I'm getting pretty close to being done pouring the concrete. I just got one foot left and now it's time to use the concrete vibrator one last time. Again being careful not to vibrate the concrete too much because I don't want the rocks to settle all the way to the bottom. Now it's time to start screening the concrete and remove any excess concrete. The objective here is to get the concrete flush with the top of the forms and fill any low spots that may exist. And this will usually require a couple passes. When screening I like to use a sawing motion. This helps cut the excess away while filling the voids at the same time. After screening the concrete I can then start floating the concrete which will start to give the concrete a much smoother appearance. After floating all the concrete I then wait for the concrete to harden to the point where I can only push the concrete down with my finger about one quarter of an inch. At this point I can begin finishing and edging the concrete. If you plan on leaving the rise forms in place as I will be doing you'll want to make sure the concrete is flush with the bottom of the rise forms. Otherwise you'll end up with blemishes in the corner areas. Edging the exposed edges on the concrete is highly recommended because it packs and strengthens the corners plus gives the steps a nice rounded edge. After edging if you desire a broom finish now would be a good time to lightly broom the steps. And if you plan on removing the rise forms to finish the areas behind it should be safe at this point to remove these forms. But I will not be demonstrating this step in this video. After waiting approximately 24 hours for the concrete to harden I can now begin to remove the forms. And as long as the forms were greased properly they should all remove fairly easy. So I will start first with removing the rise forms. And here's a look at it after removing all those. And now I'm going to go ahead and remove the OSB forms on these sides. So as I mentioned earlier I chose to use OSB because I like the texture it leaves in the concrete. But others may prefer to use just regular plywood. And here's another idea if you wanted a different texture you could use sheets of T111 siding to get a siding looking finish. And here is a look at the concrete steps after removing all the forms. From this point these steps are ready to use but we still did a little more work. The next step was adding some custom rebar railing and some decorative angle iron on the corners of the steps. Then we removed approximately four inches of dirt around the perimeter of the house. Then added some concrete slabs that surround the steps. Okay it's now time for me to go. Hopefully this video will help you out with your concrete stair project. Have yourself a great day and I'll see you next time. Oh and if you like this video if you could hit that like button.