Lining of Steps with Natural Stones

The staircase in front of your home will be much more appealing if you line it with natural stones. That way, you will induce the warm feeling of closeness to Nature. Stairs, constructed from natural stones, complement perfectly the vegetation in the yard.

You can select polygonal plates, golden-beige or silver-gray in color, or slabs of cut stone. The advantage of the latter is that they have a regular shape, which makes cladding easier to install.

How to Prepare the Surface for Placing the Slabs from Natural Stone?

The concrete surface must be washed and dried.

All dust should be removed.

Good washing, cleaning and dust removal are a must because they allow for the opening of the pores of the surface. This is especially important for old cement surfaces, if you want the slabs to be installed there successfully. When dealing with uncleaned and full-of-dust surfaces, the pores are not open and the clumping of slabs/surface is not strong.

Excellent Washing is Particularly Important

If you use a stream of tap water to wash the concrete steps, this will only wash away the dust on the surface without cleaning the steps in depth.

For in-depth washing, please, use a water-jet machine. When washing with it, the pressure should be above 100 atmospheres.

It is advisable to process the surface of the stairs with a special detergent before gluing the slabs.

Special detergents, which are applied onto the surface of the stairs, serve to enhance the bond between the surface and the stone slabs, The resulting connection is elastic which is a further advantage.

The application of special detergent can be done:

• in the form of a solution of detergent and water
• by applying undiluted detergent by spraying with a whisk broom

The second way of applying is more funds-saving.

After application of the detergent, please, wait 24 hours. During this time, the coating will dry and a rugged layer will form. It is now the time to glue the stone slabs.

How to Glue the Slabs to the Foundation

You can count on special adhesives, which are sold in the shops – adhesives for stone cladding. However, they have one big disadvantage in terms of price – they’re expensive. If you do not want to compromise, however, please use those.

If you cannot afford an expensive glue, you can prepare your own mixture. Cement-sandy solution prepared in a ratio of 1:3 is particularly popular for this purpose; even better is the ratio 1:2.

What Should the Density of the Solution be in Order for You to Achieve High-Quality Bonding of the Slabs

The density of the solution has to be medium. If the solution is too thin, the slabs will sink into it and their alignment will be difficult. If it’s too thick, they won’t be able to squeeze easily.

How to Arrange the Plates

The plates, constructed from natural stones, have an irregular shape. You should take your time to arrange them so that they fit. It is important not to leave very wide joints between the slabs. If you choose slabs of cut stone, the arrangement would be easier.

How to Shape the Edges of the Stairs

You will further augment the effect of closeness to Nature if you arrange the stairs by the shape of the stones or at least by the stones’ edges. Please, choose narrow pieces. You can further shape them by threshing; if you have a cutting tool, it will be easier.