Why concrete is worse than paving slabs: it's all about the price. Porch made of tiles or concrete (which is better)
A porch with steps is the final part of building a house. When you need to make it strong, durable, cheap in price and beautiful, then concrete is chosen. If made from wood, then it will not be durable. If made of metal, then expect corrosion.
There is only one option left - from concrete. But you are unlikely to save money. A porch made of concrete will cost a pretty penny. Let's count. At the end of the article, we will tell you which material will be more profitable (in all respects) than concrete.
We will consider a porch of about 15 sq.m. If made of concrete, it will take about 25,000 rubles. It will take about 2.5 cubic meters of concrete (around 9,000 rubles). It also needs to be delivered to the place. It will cost 5000-6000 rubles.
Some people buy roofing material or waterproofing film. For formwork, a board is needed. You need to calculate its delivery. Self-tapping screws to the formwork. We need sand (about 2 thousand rubles), a reinforcing mesh, reinforcement (the thickness of the rods is from 10 cm).
If you make the solution yourself, then you need a concrete mixer to mix the solution with high quality. First, cement is mixed with water (1: 1), then sand (3 times more cement) and crushed stone are added.
The spending doesn't end there. Let's say you made a porch with concrete. Now you need to refine it: lay out tiles or grind.
Concrete has serious problem: the edges of the steps collapse and chips and cracks appear in the monolith of the site. Someone says that it is cracking from the fact that limestone comes across among the rubble. But this is not the only reason.
If you don't want to renovate your porch every year, then there is another option. Plus, it's much simpler.
Paving slabs instead of concrete
Many people claim that the tiles will "float" on the street. Why then do they make it around the city? The flow of people is large and nothing breaks, does not "float".
Tiles per sq. m. costs 500 rubles. The point is that this material does not require cladding. But sand is also needed here. And you will also need a curb (180 rubles. a piece). The curb will take about 3000-4000 rubles. (it all depends on the number of steps and the height of the porch). Several bags of cement to strengthen the curb at the edges (make stops so that it does not fall over).
A porch made of tiles will cost about 20-25,000 rubles (these are materials + work). Money is needed in the same way as for concrete, but the cladding is no longer necessary.