Comment by Don Hansen on October 19, 2009 at 5:49pm

Beautiful Steps

Comment by Bobby Leatherwood on October 25, 2009 at 6:36pm

Very nice. This is a great illustration of how to do it right.

Comment by Tammy Chebny on November 24, 2009 at 1:01am

I really like this. I have a set of unfinished stairs in my foyer and I have been wondering how they would hold up if I carved concrete on them. They are wood stairs not concrete. The floor at the bottom of stairs is concrete and the landing at the top is a wood platform. Do I just need to put lath, bonding agent and a scratch coat first or did you do something different for the substrait? Did you use vertifaux to carve the steps or a different product. They really did turn out beautiful. I really love the color too. what did product did you use to color them with?

Comment by Ed Warren on November 24, 2009 at 7:47am

Hi Tammy,
I reconstructed the steps. I lowered the steps by 1.5" to give me room to add the cement and still be on plane with the tile. Be sure the steps are all the same rise! I also added some support to reduce the possibility of unwanted fracturing. Yes, I used lathe to help out with no cracking more than anything. I will be glad to discuss the details and send pics of process. let's go to friend mode.
BTW, your "Train Tunnel" carving is remarkable. I got a few of the pics on my review list. Fantastic job!

Comment by Tammy Chebny on November 24, 2009 at 10:13pm

Thank you for the complement on the train tunnel. Truth be told that was my very first project right out of Nathan's vertical concrete class. The ramp is made of ply-wood, but the carpenter made sure it was very solid and had no movement. Even with that, there are a few hairline fractures along the very top step. Can't seem to figure out why there and nowhere else. I have many fractures on the mountain wall and a few on the corner stones of the arch that have appeared within the last few months. They look natural, but I know they are there. I'm guessing it is because the pre-existing walls were not re-forced like the ramp was. I did use lath on everything. That is why I was concerned about doing my stairs because they land on a concrete floor, but the top is a wood landing. I was excited to see that you had actually done this type of project. I would love to learn whatever I can from you with this project as well as see your pics.

Comment by Ed Warren on November 25, 2009 at 7:59am

I noticed a few fractures (cracks) on an exterior rock. I did not get any on the steps but the a/c was not on and here in Houston, we got some pretty thick air! My guess is that the surface dried a bit faster than the core and the cracks developed. I would suggest covering the project with plastic for the drying period and see if that helps.

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