Concrete Bag Steps for Cold-Winter Climates

Question from Monetta:
We’re going to our cabin in Idaho with all the family over the July 4 week and thought we might try your concrete bag steps on a steep hillside down to the river. If we do it, I’ll take some photos for you to see.

Answer from Pat:
I fear this technique is only good for a Mediterranean (largely frost-free) climate. Since the concrete is not wetted all through, it undoubtedly contains air and thus could contain moisture in winter which then would crack the stepping stones, unless you add reinforcement. You could make it work, however, in areas where there is only mild frost by first making sure each bag is level and COMPLETELY on top of supportive ground. Then cut open the top side of the bag, leaving the sides intact. Carefully trowel out half of the concrete mix into a bucket. (Wear gloves and mask so you don’t breath dust.) Add water (about a quart or a quart and a half according to package directions) to the bottom half of the bag and mix quickly, trowel it more or less flat and then lay a piece of pre-cut chicken wire flat on top of the wet concrete. (This will be your reinforcement.) You could even pound a couple of precut, short rebars into the ground through the bag so the top of the rebar is level with the top of the mixed concrete. Then mix the other half of the bag in the bucket with water, and pour that on top of the chicken wire in the bag. Pull the sides of the bag up to hold the concrete in place and pull the earth (the ground) close around the sides to hold it better. If the slope is too steep to make space for each step to be flat on the ground, angle your steps sideways up the hill, as you can see from the photo of my stepshttps://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/landscape-design/steps-from-concrete-bags/I angled them so they were not straight up and down. This makes it easier to make them lie flat so they are thoroughly supported from the bottom.

Another problem you might have in an area where the ground freezes is frost heaving. http://www.mncondodefects.com/wp-content/themes/levin/articles/Frost_Heaving_Winter_Woes_Require_Summer_Remedies I know that is a big problem in places like Maine and other parts of New England where stones often move around in winter and walls can fall down if not correctly built.

If you can overcome these problems and if you do take photos, I would love to see the results, but perhaps in Idaho some kind of wooden steps might work better. If there is a hardware store nearby I would ask them, or alternatively, look at other people’s slopes and steps to see what works in your area. Have fun with your family at the cabin!