A concrete porch is a solid building requiring a thorough approach. In this article, we will walk through the cycle of works related to the construction of a porch of concrete with our own hands or just stairs to the house, speaking of the construction of the porch, the concrete structure will have a more reliable structure than the porch made of bricks, since this will be a single monolithic system.
Concrete porch made by own hands
Materials - which we need for the construction of the porch:
- Wooden formwork - thick wooden boards are not suitable for wooden formwork, which will be able to withstand the concrete that we will pour into our frame.
- High-quality concrete, or rather sand, cement and a bit of rubble - we will not talk about the choice of concrete and the differences in detail, you can read about the choice of concrete and the differences in concrete grades - the concrete of which brand is needed for the foundation.
- A tile or an artificial stone - from which we will decorate the porch.
Step-by-step technology for the construction of the concrete porch
Step 1
To begin with, we will make a skeleton frame-a formwork that will serve as an excellent support for our concrete here we will fill it. So the frame must be made of solid boards that can not be deformed to strengthen the frame can be conventional nails or self-tapping screws and the second option will be more convenient for subsequent disassembly of the formwork.
The frame can be made reinforced or simple, the difference is for what purposes you will use the porch and what loads will be subjected to it, note, of course, it is very difficult to predict at once, therefore we will consider 2 types of carcass.
Sample porch with reinforcement - for heavy loads
Scaffold for concrete porch with reinforcement side view
But we will make an ordinary frame for the porch - this will save on welding work, except that this porch can be done in just a few hours so we look at our skeleton.
Conventional frame for pouring concrete
We attach a special fabric to the edge of the steps - this is an invoice fabric that will help in the future when we remove the formwork it will prevent the adhesion of concrete to the boards, in addition you can choose a patterned fabric - this will make it possible not to decorate the porch infurther, tk on it will be a beautiful pattern. So we attach the special fabric to the edges.
We sew the edges of the formwork with a special cloth
Step 2
The next step is pouring concrete into the formwork. The process of preparation of concrete is usually different, and we think with this you will determine yourself, but still we advise you to pour concrete of the brand M200 - this will in the future not worry about the reliability of the design.
The process of pouring concrete into the formwork
The concrete is poured and leveled with the help of an ordinary shovel. During the pouring of concrete, the boards can give - "slack" and start to deform under the influence of weight, so we advise you to strengthen them with horizontal struts, which can be nailed from above with the help of nails.
We strengthen the formwork with horizontal boards
Step 3
In the third stage, when the concrete mixture has already started to freeze( about 2-3 hours), we begin to tap the concrete with a conventional hammer or vibrator - this will allow us to easily separate the formwork from the structure.
Let's walk with the vibrator
Next, we level the surfaces of the steps and start to remove the formwork in this case, the main thing is not to rush.
Removing the formwork
After removing the formwork, you need to grind the surface of the steps a little more, and then in the intervals using a conventional trowel or horizontal ruler to make a longitudinal line along our porch, this will create the appearance of a finished structure that will delight the eye.
Our porch is ready
Our porch is ready, the number of steps depends on the structure of the frame. Further, the porch can be finished using stone or tile.
And, how do you make a concrete porch?details in the commentary.
