Looking for experiences with exposed concrete stairs

Hi Foris,

I need your help regarding our planned exposed concrete staircase.

We are having the staircase shuttered and poured on site. The plan is to afterwards “plaster” or treat it with “Beton-Ciré”.
Our staircase builder pointed out to us that there are 2 options for shuttering the staircase and that for exposed concrete usually no wood is used because of the structure that will then be visible. Or rather, that the choice of shuttering material depends on what the staircase will be treated with afterwards.

The special shuttering means extra work and accordingly extra costs. I don’t want to save money in the wrong place but also want to avoid throwing money out the window. Hence my question:

Do you have experience with Beton-Ciré and its opacity? How thick is the material applied and spread? Can wood grain from the shuttering be covered with it?

Or: what do the results look like when the staircase is poured with special exposed concrete shuttering, does it have a cozy quality? The problem here will be that the staircase will still be heavily loaded during the entire further construction phase.

I would certainly be happy to hear about experiences but will also send an inquiry to the manufacturer of Beton-Ciré.

Thanks in advance!
pfadfinder

What do you want now? Exposed concrete or [Beton Cire]? The former is a complex execution of a concrete staircase, the latter a decorative plaster. You don't need both. Have the structural engineer offer you genuine exposed concrete and then find out how much the decorative plaster is supposed to cost, you will be surprised. Both are, by the way, craftsmanship; with exposed concrete one could even say "natural product." You only see the result afterwards.

What do you want now? Exposed concrete or Beton Cire? The former is an elaborate execution of a concrete staircase, the latter a decorative plaster. You don’t need both.

That’s right! With exposed concrete (as the name implies) you want to see the formwork texture, small inclusions, screw heads, etc. That is exactly this philosophy. The other is a final treatment that completely covers your exposed concrete, which then is not necessary. Is something going on the steps?

Thank you for your quick feedback.

If I don't need both, I am already satisfied. As far as we are concerned, it may be natural exposed concrete. I am just worried because with acquaintances the staircase allegedly suffered a lot during the further course of construction, although I don't know how it looked before, I only know the final product.

The shell builder said yesterday that exposed concrete would cost us about €800 more. Beton-Cire is definitely not cheaper. In addition, it would still have to be processed, which would cause costs again.


Nothing should be put on the steps as a covering anymore because we like the look of the contrast between the exposed concrete on the staircase and then the oak floor on the adjacent floors. So this contrast.

I think I will order exposed concrete from the shell builder and pay the €800. We can then cover and protect the staircase with a tarp. If we don't like the result in the end, it could still be reworked if necessary. I am attaching a photo of a concrete structure that appeals to us the most, maybe someone can say something about how well exposed concrete matches this.

Your surface is at best "poor" exposed concrete. Exposed concrete is particularly fine, carefully compacted and smoothed with special oil formwork. The difference is that there should be as few voids as possible. You want a smooth, closed surface. If you make exposed concrete, tell your staircase builder exactly and agree on a quality level (SB 1-4). Make it very clear that no covering should be applied on it, i.e. the steps must be straight and level. I say this explicitly because no one here dared to do it and that is also why we took a precast part from the concrete plant. You can also order precise chamfers to the step edges there; I imagine it would be difficult to make on-site formwork. The exposed concrete should also be hydrophobized; otherwise, it will absorb everything. During the construction phase, wrap it with boards plus fleece. If something goes wrong, it can still be sanded. Beton Ciré would have cost around €2500 for a straight staircase, 16 steps. Just for comparison. The stuff is very expensive and the processing is also elaborate. For a staircase, sealants are also applied; otherwise it wouldn’t be walkable. We preferred to take the concrete staircase (simple quality) from the rough builder in the LV and instead bought a precast part for about €4500 including hydrophobization, packaging, and other small stuff.

thank you very much for the many details! They are really worth their weight in gold. I will discuss this again with our staircase builder; if he doesn't think he can achieve high quality, we might possibly switch depending on the delivery time. On the other hand, a staircase wouldn't necessarily be required if the house is scaffolded anyway. Although maybe for the window installers, whom we expect around the end of April.

We have a total of 22 steps + landing. I have often read that the landings are then poured on site and only the stairs are prepared in the concrete plant. That might lead to deviations afterwards. But I will try to clarify that.

Price-wise we are at 2450€ for the staircase with wooden formwork and in-situ concrete, plus 800€ now for fair-faced concrete quality, although it remains to be clarified which quality level.

Is your staircase with a railing or basically framed by walls? I would also be interested in the sealing of the joint between the staircase and the wall with fair-faced concrete..