How to Install a Front Concrete Stoop

Concrete Foundation

• 1

  Dig a trench the width and length of your stoop, 6 inches deep. Tamp the ground in the trench flat with a tamper.

• 2

  Assemble a wooden structure, nailed together at the corners, to fit around the perimeter of the trench you dug in Step 1. Use boards that are 6 inches wide so the top of the wooden structure is flush with the ground. Lay the structure in the trench. This structure will hold the concrete as it dries.

• 3

  Pour wet concrete into the hole and fill it halfway. Lay rebar in a grid across the top of the concrete, then fill the rest of the hole with wet concrete.

• 4

  Use a trowel or squeegee to level the top of the concrete. Allow the concrete to cure according to the manufacturer's instructions.

• 5

  Pry the wooden structure out of the hole with a pry bar. Fill the gaps that remain with soil and tamp it down with the tamper.

Stoop

• 6

  Spread the top of your concrete foundation with wet mortar.

• 7

  Lay a course of concrete blocks over the mortar, covering the entire foundation. Spread mortar on the backs and sides of the blocks that face a side or back of another block. Leave the blocks that face an outer edge free of mortar.

• 8

  Scrape the excess mortar off the outer joints with a trowel.

• 9

  Spread the top of the first course of concrete blocks with mortar -- except for the front row of the first course blocks. The front row of blocks will form the first step of the stoop, and thus should not have mortar or a second course of blocks covering it. Cover the surface of these bricks to protect them from mortar.

• 10

  Lay the second course of blocks over the mortar you spread on the top of the first course of blocks. Again, spread the sides and backs of the blocks with mortar.

• 11

  Scrape the excess mortar from the front facing joints with the trowel.

• 12

  Wait for the mortar to cure according to the manufacturer's instructions, then wash off the extra mortar dust with a hose and a stiff brush.