So, the excavator is coming on Friday, and how do I report the decision to the participants: The staircase of 2 steps will be 2m wide, made from granite block steps. The decision was influenced, among other things, by availability and the feasibility for the contractor who doesn't want to do too much frills, but rather work by square meters. But: he seems reliable, which has become a decisive point for us by now. We then abandoned 's idea of brick paving because our construction guy has never laid it before and rather didn’t want to. Ultimately, the local civil engineer was decisive, who has everything in stock that we will now use. So, we are digging out the 40cm after all, putting in gravel, and on top of that comes a kind of "Saxon path surface," i.e. a water-bound path surface. Apparently, this is a proven light version of it, which is also affordable. I looked at two references, huge truck parking lots of this type, and thus, on top of the gravel, there will be 10cm of this thinner material (name forgotten), as is mostly used here in the Saxon castle gardens (compacted, beige-yellow sand-gravel mixture). The same also in the carport, also no paving there. Depending on usage and habit, we will then lay a path with larger slabs or maybe do nothing of the sort o_O. I thank you for the suggestions and participation! Even though it didn’t become this or that, it has still brought me on this path, which I now like. Let's see how long :D:D Currently, we actually make decisions more according to what is reliably possible. This also has the advantage that you don’t build too many castles in the air.