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egon
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Project steps
08/24/07 07:29 AM Attachment
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I have been commissioned to fabricate some steps from a lakefront up to the front of a cottage yard [to me a big house] 
This stone type project is far from finished and be open to some revisions .
Egon
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Pat
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Re: Project steps
[re: egon]
08/25/07 09:09 AM
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The steps look small but with nothing to compare to they might be larger than they seem.
The immediately available rocks around here are not well behaved and don't impress me as good materials for an amateur stone mason. A friend/neighbor found a large flat rock which he dragged to his front door and used for a small porch.
I tried cutting granite with my tile saw and the cheap Harbor Freight blade didn't last very long.
Pat
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
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egon
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Pat; the steps are small in area and are about 8 inches deep but larger very local granite rock is not available on the site.
Larger rock would be beyond the tractor and my ability to move. The bottom rock is too heavy for the loader to lift.
For these reasons it must be considered a form of art as one can tell any resemblance to step compliance may be purely illusional.
As long as the owner is happy??? yet to find out!
My cheap tile saw does not do well on stone. However, a $25.00 4 1/2 in stone blade in my angle grinder works very well.
Egon
Edited by egon (08/25/07 12:37 PM)
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Pat
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Re: Project steps
[re: egon]
08/25/07 01:51 PM
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Ahh, pardon my uncalibrated eyes as I thought the steps in the picture looked smaller. They didn't look that thick but 8 inches is PLENTY BIG for the rise per step. I typically shoot for about 7 to7 1/2. I have some places where I need to put in some steps and had been wondering what to use. I thought about railroad ties and filling the interior "walled-in" spaces with gravel. The grade is variable and won't lend itself to a regular stairway. I'll have to have the run for some of the steps 2-3 feet. The rise of each step will be the dimension of the tie as I don't want to get into a bunch of extra work. I'll probably use rebar in drilled holes in the ties to stabilize them and conect one layer to another where I can.
Pat
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
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GaryM
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Re: Project steps
[re: Pat]
08/27/07 08:54 AM
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Pat,
Instead of ties, consider using "parking stops". Those cast concrete bumpers. They already have holes for rebar anchors.
Someone I know got some of those to contain his rock as you mentioned doing. They are tapered toward the top, so he just turned them upside down so the wide part was at the top.
Looked pretty good and no rot to worry about.
Gary
----------------------------------------------
Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?
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egon
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Re: Project steps
[re: GaryM]
08/27/07 12:43 PM
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Lets not make it simple Gary! Just imagine the chainsaw comments that sawing ties could produce! 
Egon
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Pat
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Re: Project steps
[re: GaryM]
08/27/07 02:23 PM
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Gary, Thanks for the info. I had also considered some other alternatives: 1. laying 3 side block wall with rebar, 2. ditto with mortared native rock, 3. pressure treated landscape timbers, and 4. forming and pouring rebar reinforced mini-retaining walls.
The formed version might be the most work but I could have any shape I wanted with little extra effort using bendable forms. As you can see this project is still in the "thinking about it" stage. I have a 3PH cement mixer so remote pouring of small scale concrete isn't too terribly difficult (in small quantities.) If I line the excavation with rocks I get a quick and dirty decoration that is not as butt ugly as plain concrete.
You caught me being lazy yet again! Ties are quick and easy but they aren't really a long term solution when not installed on good draining gravel beds like they were used for RR tracks.
Pat
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
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