[Malrex]

Hey all,

Almost wrote this in the homeowner section since its for my own house, but thought I would throw it in here.

I'm in the process of building a flagstone walkway and patio. Everything is going fine with that. What I'm curious about is some different ideas for stairs from the house to the flagstone patio (three steps with a landing on top). My house is a log home, so I'm looking for something rustic. I've looked into block, and while some look ok, it's not my favorite. I thought about trying to put something together with some natural boulders (where the blocks would sit) filling in with gravel and flagstone caps. Or maybe trying just concrete blocks and putting on some veneer stone.

I don't do much hardscaping with my business so was just seeing if there was any ideas from the pros. I'd like to stay away from wood.

[VoodooChile]

Outcropping stone makes great steps. With a cut-off saw and some creativity you can get a very rustic look but still retain consistent tread height. This type of step is very common here in Wisconsin, where quarries are a dime a dozen. Might be rare where you are, where ever that is...

[agla]

Maybe not so rustic, but a fairly nice step can be made using bluestone tread stock on modular block risers. I see several around here using Roman Pisa risers.

[Olive Branch]

You could also try using the logs that are on your home. If you have some carpentry skills you could create a pretty cool set of rustic steps with solid timbers as your risers.

Just a thought,

also remember to make your landing big enough. You should have at least enough room to open the door and still comfortably still stand on the landing.

[Malrex]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I may drive to some quarries and look for some outcrop rock and see if I can flex my creative mind.

[johnkeegan]

What we've been using alot in our hardscaping projects are solid bluestone steps that can be 5,6,7or 8" thick and any reasonable length and width (14" works good- people's feet are getting bigger). They look great and are easy to set.

[Lanelle]

For rustic steps we use large, flat fieldstone boulders.
On our website, look in the photo gallery for a contemporary house with steps leading into a woodland garden.

[Malrex]

Thanks for the pictures!!

My client (the wife ) is having a hard time visualizing what I've been trying to explain to her...so these will help!

[4seasons]

Lanelle
your people are awsome!
those jobs are beautiful.