Stone Steps & Entry Stairs in Leesburg, VA

Stone Steps & Entry Stairs for Leesburg Homes and Estates

Steps are where masonry craft is most visible and where safety matters most. A good flight has uniform risers, deep treads and a foundation that will not tilt or crack. Exterior steps commonly use risers of about six to seven inches with treads fourteen inches or deeper, which gives an easy, unhurried stride. Treads are often thermal bluestone or granite with a slight overhang, while the risers can be stone, brick or veneer over a solid core.

Steps joined to a house or porch need a footing that reaches below the roughly 24 inch frost depth, otherwise they pull away from the foundation during freeze-thaw cycles. That usually means a concrete footing and a block or poured core with stone applied over it. Freestanding garden steps made of heavy slabs can rest on compacted aggregate, but they still need a firm base and drainage behind them. Metal handrails can be added for comfort and for guests who appreciate something to hold on a frosty morning.

Loudoun homes often sit above the street or step down toward a rear terrace, so stairs are part of nearly every project. In the Old and Historic District, brick or stone entry steps complement period architecture, and exterior changes visible from the street may need architectural review. In communities such as Lansdowne, River Creek and Brambleton, an HOA may weigh in on materials. Out west toward Hillsboro and Purcellville, large fieldstone or slab steps climbing a hillside garden are a hunt-country classic, set into the slope with a slight forward pitch so water never rests on the tread.