Outside steps down a short hill


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Old 09-10-02, 01:44 PM
the limited
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Outside steps down a short hill

I need advise as to how to proceed in building a set of steps down a hill that goes from a back enclosed porch to a driveway.
The hill is 20 feet long and has a 6 foot drop to the drive. We are considering using landscaping ties, sand/gravel and paving stones or bricks to complete it.
How can this be done neatly without elevating the steps as they travel to the bottom?
 
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Old 09-10-02, 07:58 PM
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Hello T L and Welcome to DoItYourself.com

A few things to consider:

The most comfortable rise (height) for a step is between 6" and 8", therefore the math works out to 9 to 12 steps. At 9 steps (8" rise), your tread per step (if you make them all equal) would be about 2'3", at 12 steps, around 18".

Three general guidelines for a comfortable and safe step are:
A) the tread depth (run in inches) multiplied by the rise be between 72 and 75
B) the depth width plus twice the rise should equal about 25 and
C) the rise plus run be between 24" and 27"
You will notice that by these guidelines, the tread for a 6" rise could vary from 12" in case A, to 9" in B and 18" in C - a lot will also depend on the size or stride length of the people who will be using the steps.

You might want to consider creating a (level) landing at the top by the porch to make entering and exiting the enclosure safer and easier. If this landing was 3' to 4' in depth, your average tread would be bit a more comfortable at the larger riser height and you could also make another landing either in the middle or at the bottom to further shorten the average tread depth.

Is the slope of the hill constant or does it have a natural landing somewhere along the drop?

I take it from your question that you prefer hard paving to a sodded tread - if you haven't considered sod, another option would be to just anchor landscape timbers or railroad ties in as your tread face using rebars driven thru the timber and 2' or so into the ground and keep the treads fairly level and a comfortable width.

Or you could create boxes or bins with the timber in which your interlock or pavers or stone is held to fill the rest of the tread. If you are using precast pavers or interlock, it'd be easier if you make the inside measurements of the bins multiples of the paver sizes so you don't have to cut them. With any box or bin (as with step risers), you will still have a bit of the edge of the nose of the step above ground. You could soften the effect by putting a garden bed beside the steps or you could turf right up to them and keep them trimmed with a line-trimmer or clippers...

Hope others have some suggestions also

Howie
 
 

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