How to make a concrete porch - step by step instructions

To make a porch near the entrance to the house, you can from a variety of building materials. If we talk about strength, then concrete is an excellent material that, if you observe the correct technology, will last for decades. Moreover, it is possible to make such a structure with your own hands. How to make a concrete ring will be discussed in this article.

The advantages of a porch made of concrete

We can say that the porch is the visiting card of the owner of the house. Therefore, its construction must be approached with all responsibility. You can make a porch both at the stage of building a house, and after its completion. The main thing that affects the quality of the porch, compliance with technology. Otherwise, sooner or later it may begin to deform or crack. And just the same, to prevent this, we consider in this article the details of the technology.

Porch made of concrete

A concrete structure has several advantages, here are some of them:

• Unlike other materials, the porch of concrete has a long service life.
• Concrete does not rot, does not corrode and after a while does not lose its physical characteristics.
• To increase strength, reinforcement is installed in the concrete body.
• Under the influence of ultraviolet rays, this porch does not deteriorate.
• Possibility to construct a porch of the most different form. There are no boundaries and rules here. Therefore, everyone can connect their imagination.
• For the manufacture of a concrete porch, all available building materials are used - sand, cement, gravel and water.
• Unlike a wooden structure, concrete is not subject to fire.
• Such a porch can be treated with tiles, natural stone, etc. As a result, you can get a beautiful appearance.

As can be seen, there are quite a few positive aspects of the material used for the construction of the entrance to the house. Now is the time to consider the possible forms and design of the porch with steps of concrete.

Varieties of forms

The porch of concrete can be made of such forms:

• round;
• trapezoid;
• rectangular;
• square.

The choice of one form or another directly depends on the size and type of construction.

Small concrete porch

As for the design features of the porch, there are such types:

• closed;
• open;
• verandah.

Also, a handrail is necessarily installed on the porch, making the whole structure not only safe, but also making the appearance aesthetic and complete.

As for the finishing, a lot depends on his own desire, as well as on the particular structure of the building. Also play a significant role and your financial capabilities. Having made all the calculations and having made the design, you can start work.

Design

The first thing to do is to design a structure on which the shape of the porch will be precisely indicated. An important role is played by the size / number of steps. The stairs should be comfortable for people of different ages.

Stairs to the porch should not be narrow. Otherwise, during intensive walking, inconveniences will be created.

Thus, when planning the manufacture of the porch, several important factors should be considered, which are listed below:

• The staircase should have a width of at least 0.85 m. This will allow free movement . Of course, if space permits, make a larger staircase.
• The tilt angle of the ladder must have a maximum reading of 5 °. If the slope is large, the descent will be too steep, and therefore unsafe.
• Predominantly preference is given to an odd number of steps.
• One step should have no more than 180 mm.
• The overhang of one step above another is allowed more than 30 mm.
• Between the door and the top platform, the differential must be no more than 50 mm.
• The size of the platform must be sufficient for the door to open freely.

Materials and tools

There are two ways to make a porch:

1. You can buy ready-made concrete.
2. Prepare the concrete mix yourself.

If we speak of the first option, this is the simplest method, but rather expensive. Such concrete has some advantages. For example, there is no air in it, the mass is delivered homogeneous, after hardening the concrete has high characteristics. But if we talk about the cost, it is much higher than the cost of self-made concrete.

A concrete mixer can be used to make concrete. In this case, the quality of the mixture will be no worse than imported. For the manufacture of concrete is recommended to use cement M400.In addition, you need to worry about the availability of the following materials and tools:

• cement M400;
• sand;
• gravel;
• reinforcement Ø65 mm .
• wire for a bundle of reinforcement;
• planking boards;
• bars;
• roofing material;
• nails.

As for the tool, the following set is required here:

• Bulgarian;
• punch;
• manual vibrator;
• concrete mixer;
• shovel;
• kneading capacity;
• bucket;
• hammer;
• tape measure;
• construction level;
• rule.

Having prepared everything you need, you can begin to start work.

Start of construction

When starting to make a porch, you should remember 3 important rules:

1. The height of the porch should correspond to the height of the foundation of the house .
2. To make mutual reinforcement, making the porch part of the foundation of the house.
3. To produce high-quality waterproofing.

Formwork and reinforcement

With the finished project, you can make an approximate consumption of building materials . For example, knowing the area of ​​the foundation, you can determine the desired amount of concrete mix. To determine the area, it is necessary to make such measurements: multiply the width, height and length of the future structure. This also applies to the stairs.

• So, first of all it is necessary to dig the foundation for the porch. The depth of the foundation must be equal to the depth of the foundation of the building. At the bottom of the trench lay a layer of sand pillows. It is necessary to tamp it well. To do this, after backfilling, slightly moisten it with water and tamp the appropriate equipment.
• The next step will be the manufacture of formwork. In the process of construction, be sure to follow the evenness of the entire structure. For this you can use the building level. Also formwork should be well secured. Otherwise, under the pressure of concrete, it can crumble.
• When the formwork is ready, you can make reinforcement. Between the armature is connected by wire. Directly in the place of the foundation of the house, you make holes and hammer rebar in them. This will allow for a combination of construction with the house. When performing reinforcement, the step between the wire should be 10 cm.

After completing all the preparatory work, you can start concreting.

Concreting technology and the construction of steps

You apply waterproofing to the foundation, for example, roofing material. When pouring concrete, use a vibrator. If such equipment is not available, then you can simply take the rail and penetrate the poured concrete with active movements up / down. This will remove all air bubbles from the concrete body.

In parallel with this process it is necessary to build steps for the porch. There are also some subtleties here:

• When setting up the steps and treads, set a right angle.
• For the construction of the formwork it is necessary to install stiffeners.
• The slope of the treads should be about 6 mm. This will allow water to quickly drain from the surface.
• A waterproofing layer must be laid at the bottom of the formwork.

If the steps are round, then you will need to use plywood, 30 mm thick, for the formwork.

Concrete pouring

The steps must also be reinforced. The armature is also connected to the foundation of the porch or house. This will prevent cracking due to shrinkage of the building. Finally, it remains to cast concrete on the steps and porch. The site must be leveled by the rule.

Check the leveling of the porch area and steps several times. This will save in the future material for their finishing.

Finishing the porch

When the concrete has dried, you can dismantle the formwork. This must be done carefully. After that, it's time for the final finish. To do this, you can use all kinds of building materials, for example:

• artificial stone;
• natural stone;
• ceramic granite;
• clinker tiles.

The final choice depends entirely on your preference. You can also choose the color of the finish, which will fully match the exterior of the facade of the house. Accordingly, the technology of installation of the material depends on the choice of finishing material.

This is how a porch is made of concrete. If you have your own experience, share it by leaving comments at the end of this article.

Video

The provided video footage describes in more detail how to make a concrete porch:

Schemes

In the diagrams, you can find a lot of ideas and examples of how to build your own porch of concrete:

Forms of a concrete porch

Concreting scheme

Angular design

Scheme in a section

Formwork

The calculation scheme of the porch and steps

Expansion joint

The structure of the porch with the foundation