Step Liners from Stegmeier may be stripped much earlier than conventional forms because they are made from a porous material that will accept bleed water, allowing the concrete to set up much faster.

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Building Decorative Concrete Steps

It's all in the form
According to Tim Wilson, general manager of Pacific Concrete Images in Laguna Hills, California, one of his company's newest products “will bend into a 2-foot radius with no problem. Other forms are limited to the radius you can cut.”

Pacific Formliners, reuseable polyethylene forms designed to help contractors create stairs, have been on the market for about two years. “Our formliners are easy to flex, easy to cut, thus making them very versatile and easy to handle on the job,” Wilson maintains.

On average, he says, you'll get eight to 10 uses out of each Pacific Formliner, which typically sells for $3.50 a foot.

They're available in seven standard profiles, each with matching finishing tools made out of stainless steel. The forms come 9-feet long, 2-inches thick and either 6- or 7-inches tall. Custom forms up to 24-inches tall also are available as a special order.

Most contractors like the product because it's reusable, Wilson says. “And if you're doing radius steps, it's definitely easier to form the radius with a Formliner. You don't have to cut anything; you just have to bend it.”

Usually, Wilson explains, contractors nail the Formliner to the inside of the wooden formwork. No release agent is necessary except you should spray the form with water before you pour the concrete. “Some people use a spray vegetable oil instead of water,” he says. “This makes it easier to strip the form away.” You can start at one end and work it off a little at a time, he adds, instead of pulling off the form all at once. It leaves a smooth, easy to-finish surface, he says.

Look! Wood be gone
Plastiforms, another innovative product that can make building stairs easier, are plastic boards designed to replace their wooden formwork counterparts. Made out of lightweight high-density polyethylene with UV inhibitors, the boards feature end connectors that allow them to be attached together with just a snap. No nails are needed.

Contractors like them, says Mike Lane, president of The Plastiform Co., because they're so easy to use and because they last so long. “We've got a 10-year club going,” he says with a laugh. And that's about how long they've been around.

“They're very quick to set up because of the camlock clamp that we use,” he explains. “There's a dovetail shape slot that runs the length of the board which allows the clamp to be installed anywhere by twisting it 90 degrees. For elevation changes, you just loosen the clamp and move the form up or down. It takes just a second.”

Contractors also have noted that the forms are time-savers. “I like the forms because I can strip them after four hours instead of going back the next day,” says Ron Clausen of CCC Construction in Caroll, Iowa.

The Plastiform boards are great for free-forming curved and radius work, Lane adds. The 2-by-4s will accommodate a 3-foot bend radius, while the 2-by-6s can be bent into a 4-foot radius. The boards can be stacked for radius work.

Currently, the boards are available in three widths — 31⁄2, 4 and 6 inches — and 12- and 15-foot lengths. In April, the company also plans to offer forms that are 8-, 10- and 12-inches wide.

On the rise
If you're looking for an easy way to texture vertical concrete surfaces, Polystone Products of St. Paul, Minnesota, may have just the thing you're seeking. About a year ago, the company nationally debuted its Versaliner, a polyurethane step form liner that can help create steps that look more like stone than concrete.

The reusable, finish-free, step-form system is designed to imprint a slate texture onto concrete stair risers and caps. (You'd still have to use a mat for the treads.) The product comes in 12-foot lengths with 2- and 3-inch cap pieces and separate riser pieces that range from 3 to 41⁄2 inches in 1⁄2-inch increments.

“The benefits are many,” says Bryan Greger, president of Polystone Products. “The system is tremendously faster and you get much better results. With this form liner, you'll create steps that look they were made by a stonemason.”

Basically, a contractor attaches the liner to the formwork with brads and when the concrete's set up, he strips it away. “You can use the liner again and again,” Greger says. “Maybe 100 times or more. It lasts as long as stamping mats do.”

As for radius work, “You can do a radius with no problem because you don't have to cut into the corners,” he points out. “You just wrap the liner around them.”

Due to many requests at the World of Concrete, Greger says his company plans on introducing a one-piece system in varying sizes that will simulate both granite and slate textures by this summer.