How to Fill Brick Steps

[imroberts]

I'm building some steps outside my back doors and patio doors.

The steps will consist of risers made from bricks matching the house, and slabs, 20mm thick, for the treads. The step outside the patio door for instance will be 1800mm wide and made of three 600x600 slabs.

I've already laid a concrete base and this weekend built the "frame" of visible bricks which will form the risers and sides.

I assume I should fill the resultant "void" between the foundation and the actual step, so as to provide a solid base to lay the slabs onto, however I'm not sure how best to fill this. I'd wondered about filling it with bricks however this seems like a lot of work as I'm not a quick bricklayer!

Filling it with concrete would be much quicker than laying loads of bricks though this feels a bit overkill for steps which ultimately only need to support the weight of a person?

I filled underneath some garden steps at my last house with some MOT Type 1 hardcore as I had a load leftover from a driveway which was laid, and wondered if this would be an acceptable solution? I can pick it up in 25kg bags easily enough and would be much quicker than either mixing concrete or laying bricks.

Or should I do something else?

 

[George_engineer]

Yes backfill with stone/rubble. Ideally cap with some type 1. So long as it's relatively incompressible and well compacted it won't matter much for steps.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Whatever rubbish is lying around - broken bricks, offcuts, rubble, all jigsawed and bedded into whatever half-dried mortar mix you have leftover.

Dead bodies were a popular option in soap operas once.

I wouldn't personally use type 1, I'd worry that whackering or hammering it could dislodge the surrounding bricks. Also it will suck the water out of whatever mortar you bed the slabs onto.

 

[George_engineer]

Bodies are far too compressible.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Bodies are far too compressible.

They got away with it for a couple of years...

 

[phatboy]

I used a few old blocks and bricks I had around, and odd chunks of concrete I had laying about. Then I capped it with a small amount of concrete.

 

[imroberts]

I don't have much of anything lying around, so whatever I'm going to fill the steps with will have to be bought.

It seems there are varying opinions on using MOT Type 1 and looking at prices, this would be the most expensive option to fill it anyway.

Could I simply fill it with sharp sand? I assume this is relatively incompressible as it is often used for laying patios and block paving etc. I'll be bedding the slabs on a solid base of cement once I've filled the steps with whatever I fill them with.

 

[phatboy]

People are often giving away free rubble on Facebook, worth a check in a local Ecycle type group.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Sharp sand mixed with cement and water would be OK, and would be perfect for filling around any rubble you can get hold of.

I can't imagine having no rubble, I've always got a stack somewhere around the place. Until I hire a crusher now and then.