How to make a metal porch with your own hands

The article tells how to make a metal porch, starting from the choice of sizes for its foundation and ending with the anti-corrosion coating of the porch. From the article you will learn how to make the formwork and to reinforce the foundation, from what metal-roll to make a ladder.

You are going to build a staircase to the house or bath, the metal structure always looks stylish and airy. A metal porch with your own hands will harmoniously look both with a concrete house and with a wooden one.

Preparatory work

Start preferably with a sketch of the porch. Arm yourself with measuring devices, measure all the necessary dimensions and apply the desired porch to the paper and draw up a project (see the Project of the porch. Professional advice). What is the drawing for?

Installation work will be carried out according to your own sketches, which will speed up construction. And with the help of the drawing you can correctly calculate the required amount of material for the device of the porch.

How to determine the size of the porch

The metal porch, as a rule, assumes the presence of a staircase. Its dimensions can vary from 0.8 m to 1.0 m. At 0.8 m, only one person can use the ladder, and at 1.0 m two people can disperse. These are the minimum sizes which, if desired, can be increased. Reducing them is not worth it, it will lead to difficulties in operation.

The number of steps is desirable to make odd. It is convenient for people to start and end movement with the same foot. The ladder should have a slope not steeper than 45 ° and not less than 26 °.

The step size in height can vary 12 cm - 20 cm, and in width not less than 25 cm. Note that in order to withstand the specified slope of the stairs, the height of all the steps must be the same (deviation on one side or the other by 5 mm is allowed). Steps can find one on one no more than 30 mm.

The dimensions of the upper platform must be set so that the door can open without obstacles. There must be enough space on the landing to open the door. The bottom of the door is 5 cm above the site itself.

Foundation under the porch

Of course, the metal porch has a small weight in comparison with a concrete porch. Nevertheless, the foundation for it is still worth laying. Without a foundation in the spring, the porch can "lead" and all the work will be a waste.

Foundation dimensions

The foundation should lie below the freezing depth by 20–30 cm. In Moscow and the Moscow Region, the average freezing depth is 1.4 m. If the house is heated and the temperature in it is always maintained not lower than 10 ° C, then the foundation depth can be reduced.

Reduce the depth by:

• 30% - floor on natural soils;
• 20% - gender of levity;
• 10% - the floor on the beams

Find out where the groundwater horizon passes. It is unlikely that he will fall under the foundation. If this happens, it is necessary to carry out work on the drainage of water.

Stages of installation of reinforced concrete foundation under a metal porch

So:

1. Foundation pit. Dig a foundation pit, taking into account the sand and crushed stone preparation.
2. Sand-crushed stone preparation. Уложите слой песка и утрамбуйте его, периодически поливая водой. Толщина песчаного слоя составляет 10 см. Точно также уложите слой щебня толщиной 5 см. Sand-crushed stone preparation должна быть больше размеров фундамента на 10–15 см со всех сторон.
3. Wooden formwork Install wooden formwork. For formwork it is necessary to take boards with a minimum thickness of 2 cm and a length of no more than 20 cm. Boards should not be dry and must be planed on the side that will come into contact with concrete. Place pegs in the corners of the foundation. Pull the string on them. With a meter pitch, you need to drive the same pegs along the entire perimeter (use the twine). Nail the nails to the bars from the inside, the length of the nails must be such that the nail can be bent downwards.

   By the pegs, with a foundation height of more than 0.2 m, you must install a strut or stop.

4. Reinforcement. Before pouring concrete, it is necessary to lay reinforcement of a periodic profile of class A-III, with a diameter of 12 mm. It is necessary to connect the reinforcing mesh with a pitch of 200 mm in the longitudinal and transverse direction. The intersection of the longitudinal and transverse reinforcement tie the wire. It will be enough to have two grids, lower and upper. Do not forget about the protective layer when calculating the length of reinforcing bars. The clear distance from the concrete face to the rod in the light is at least 40 mm.
5. Concreting. Consider that the metal construction of the stairs will need to be slightly drowned in concrete. Concrete should not be poured to the top of the site, leave 10–30 cm (depending on the design and size of the porch). After installing the metal porch, pour the concrete pad to the top. Preference give factory concrete brand B15, F150, W - any. After you have filled the concrete you need to rid it of voids. Ideally suited vibrator, you can do with improvised means, for example, chopper. After removing the air bubbles, close the concrete with a film; now the concrete is ready for strength. At least a week the design can not be touched.

Metal works

The metal porch consists of the following elements:

• stairs;
• railings;
• canopy is possible (see. Canopy over the porch of the front door with your own hands: beautiful and practical)

What kind of rolled can you weld the stairs

As a rule, take two channels and put them on the overall width of the stairs. This will be, so to speak, the basis of the design. By the channels you'll cook rental under the steps. The design of the steps can be varied (see. Steps for the porch: the original design of the main entrance).

Consider one of the structures:

1. Take a ravnopolochny corner. Cut the rolled stock to the required step size, taking into account the length of the weld. Weld a corner around the contour.
2. Take the next cut corner, weld the corner to the corner along the contour. Now we weld the same corner along the contour to the channel bar. Thus we perform the installation of the corners to two channels.
3. Connect the resulting g-shaped elements. The top of the g-shaped elements are connected by equal shelf angle, scalded along the contour to the two elements, with shelves inside. The bottom of the steps is also connected corner, but shelves out.
4. You can fill the received steps with various material. For example, plywood and wood. For fastening the steps to the metal we use screws, twisting them from the bottom. We also use silicone glue and ordinary glue on wood to connect all the details.

It is not necessary to close the horizontal opening with wood. You can mount the boards directly on the steps themselves.

Installation of handrails and handrails

The porch with the hands from metal, having more than three steps needs a handrail with hand-rail, for safety of a design. The height of the railing must be at least 0.9 m.

Railing can be made of various products. One of the options for railings. At the bottom of the porch and at the top install racks of rectangular tubes. To the bottom and top of racks we cook pipes of smaller section.

Top tube will be handrail. The space between the two pipes can be filled with any rental, with any step. It all depends on your imagination (see Wrought Porch).

Be careful, after the installation of metal structures is completed, it is necessary to protect them from environmental influences. To do this, clean their surfaces. Then apply the paint for 2 times on a coat of primer. Thereby you extend the life of the structure.

About metal rolled and welded seams

There is a range of rolled products, where all the required sizes are indicated. Composing a sketch of the design, apply all the size in the selected scale. All elements of the ladder should look harmoniously relative to each other.

Most seams will be butt and overlap. The seams must be of high quality.

Visually, welds should meet the following requirements:

• smooth surface and smooth transition to the base metal;
• the seam is tight, without cracks and accumulation of pores;
• all seams must be fully welded

Advice on how to determine the density of a butt joint. On the one hand, we suture the seam with kerosene from a spray gun for 2 times in 10 minutes. On the other hand, we apply a watery chalk suspension. If within 4 hours and 8 hours (at minus temperature) no spots appeared, then the seam is sufficiently tight.

Be sure to read the safety rules before starting welding. As a rule, this information is provided in the documentation for the welding machine.

Metal porch do it yourself will require a serious approach to work. But, if you want to do something well, then do it yourself. But for many years you will contemplate your work with pleasure and pride.