Building The Outdoor Stairs

[ArtMech]

I just replaced a rotted wooden sill beam that was in contact with a concrete porch landing. Apparently, concrete holds moisture like a sponge.

One construction detail that you may want to consider is maintaining an air space between your wood and your concrete. This isn't what you would be using, but might give you an idea of how to separate a wooden post from direct contact with concrete. Simpson Strong-Tie ABA ZMAX Galvanized Adjustable Standoff Post Base for 4x4 Actual Rough Lumber ABA44RZ

In your case, I could see fabricating a metal plate to separate the two.

You also want to separate any other areas where concrete meets wood or at least use galvanized flashing.

I know for sure that wooden elements need to be separated from concrete.
But sudden temperature fluctuations in the metal usually generate condensate, which can adversely affect both wood and concrete during the winter or wet season or in crosswinds with rain.

I am going to use plastic tape for this (there is one in our market and I have already bought one, 35 cm wide, 0.8 mm thick). This tape is usually used in my area to separate the foundations of a house from the walls during construction.

The metal plate you have noticed is only intended to stabilize the wooden column (or post) before concreting. And it is working well now. It will later be concreted and sunk and will no longer perform any function. However, it may continue to condense and corrode. Therefore, I will additionally cover its surface with primer and paint.

I hope the plastic tape will successfully separate the wood from the concrete and prevent moisture from penetrating the wood.

What you write about is really important. Although I had thought about it, thank you anyway for reminder and sharing your experiences.

 

[ArtMech]

OK. Lets continue the project.
This is how a formwork looks like from underneath.

 

[ArtMech]

I had to find non standard 2 x 6.5 m long boards for the beam formwork.

Then I had to trim the ends of the floor board at an angle. Because the total calculated height of the stairs somehow did not match, no matter how hard I tried. This had to be done with a hand saw.

 

[ArtMech]

The three bottom formwork boards needed to be supported by hammered poles to prevent them from bent by the concrete.

The tops of the poles were cut according to the dimension required.

 

[ArtMech]

Further construction of the beam formwork.

 

[ArtMech]

And here is how it looks like when finished.

 

[ArtMech]

The last job... concrete pouring. Uh...

 

[ArtMech]

The pics with the removed formwork will soon be published.

 

[/pine]

Nice work...!
FWIW....One trick when forming concrete stairs is to rip the bottom of the riser forms on a 45* angle...with the long point on the inside of the form it allows the poured tread to be finished a bit closer to the finish riser...
...it make a bigger difference when using 2X form material...!

 

[ArtMech]

Nice work...!
FWIW....One trick when forming concrete stairs is to rip the bottom of the riser forms on a 45* angle...with the long point on the inside of the form it allows the poured tread to be finished a bit closer to the finish riser...
...it make a bigger difference when using 2X form material...!

Yeah, I was thinking about it.
But I decided to use a diamond grinder later to even the horizontal surfaces of the stairs, because I'll have to putty the whole surfaces anyways.