DIY: How to Make Steps Out of Cement Blocks

Cinder blocks are cheap. If you buy them in bulk at a hardware store, they cost about a dollar apiece. Using them to build steps yourself is more cost-effective than paying a construction company to do it. The amount of materials you need will depend on the job, but a small staircase can be built with the materials listed here. Cinder block stairs can, for example, replace the steps in front of a raised front door.

9 8-inch-by-8-inch-by-12-inch cinder blocks
4 80 pound bags ready-mix concrete
1 60 pound bag mortar mix (optional)
Garden spade
Wheelbarrow
Stiff-bristle brush

Instructions

- 1
  Dig a trench 16 inches long, 32 inches wide and 6 inches deep. This will be your foundation.
- 2
  Mix the concrete in a wheelbarrow. Ready-mix concrete comes with aggregate (gravel) and cement pre-blended, so just add water. Use all four bags of concrete. You want a ratio of one part water to four parts concrete mix.
- 3
  Pour the concrete into the trench, and allow it five days to set. Clean out your wheelbarrow immediately before the concrete hardens. Spray water into it with a hose and scrub thoroughly with a stiff-bristle brush.
- 4
  Set six cinder blocks on the concrete slab, two wide by three long. You want the sides of the cinder blocks with holes in them to face horizontally and the flat, closed sides of the blocks to face up. All six together should fit squarely on the slab.
- 5
  Mix your 60 pounds of mortar. Spread a layer of mortar over the three blocks that will serve as the high end of the staircase. You want at least an inch of coverage. Use the garden spade to get an even spread.
- 6
  Set the three remaining blocks on top of the mortar you just poured. Allow the mortar 48 hours to set.

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