Hello all:

Today I demo-ed my front porch steps.  There were 7 steps, a little over 5′ wide, made of concrete, with brick in the rubble fill and inside the retaining walls. I don’t know how old the steps were, but it’s a brick house from 1915.

Unfortunately, nothing with any strength remained to build on, so I am starting from scratch – a big open patch of earth in front of the porch.

I am not sure which is the best way to proceed from here.  Ultimately, I will face everything with brick, and put limestone treads down, but I am not sure what is best to do under that.

Do I pour a couple of footings perpendicular to the porch, form out the stairs, fill some rubble in the middle, throw in some rebar, and pour concrete?  I have done this a couple of times before, although on a somewhat smaller scale.  What worries me about this is the materials cost and grunt work of so much concrete.

Or do I build out of block?  I have not done a stair like this before, and I have the following question:  What kind of footing is required for a set of steps built of block?  A thick slab below?  Something else?

I’ve got a picture of the job…if only I can find that adapter for the camera…will post it later.

Thanks for any input.

Alex