I actually started this project a few weeks ago, but almost immediately got rained out for 4 days. Whoops! It took awhile to get the motivation again to finish it up. This is one of those projects that makes me think, “why didn’t I do this sooner?”

It’s also not 100% complete, as I really need to refresh the porch paint.  But at least I’ve removed some of the surface area that has to constantly be upkept haha!

diy-airstone-porch-stairs

Just like with my bathtub project, I’m pushing the envelope of “approved” uses of this product. In this case, technically the Airstone is not supposed to be bonded directly to wood as it shrinks/expands with weather changes. Well, worst case I have to replace some bricks if they crack or come loose. If someone kicks them accidentally, they may crack, and I’ll have to replace them too. For me, it was worth the risk.

If you want to do a project like this by the books, you would need to either 1) apply cement backerboard to the wood first (like for tiling a shower, for example) or 2) apply a skim coat of a cement product meant for tiling over wood.

Or, you could just get some PL Loctite adhesive and go to town. I used the same procedure as I did in my bathtub project. It’s super simple and goes by pretty quickly. The only issue I had was that I needed a partial row for the top stair since the roughly 1″ gap was pretty noticeable (it wasn’t on the other stairs). I enlisted the help of my husband since the hacksaw was not working very well to cut the pieces lengthwise.

He brought up the circular chop saw, and it cut the pieces really easily!! I was afraid they would just shatter, but it wasn’t an issue at all. So if you have a lot of cutting to do in your application, I definitely recommend trying this.

fall-porch-airstone

The awesome new stone makes the paint look much worse by comparison. I should really get on that. To be honest, I thought about painting it first (which would have been the smartest idea), but was too lazy.

I had a little visitor during my photoshoot and caught this funny, but blurry photo. HOW CUTE IS SHE?

magic-cameo

Just as a reminder, here’s how the stairs look before (right after fresh paint):

porch-ceiling-1

And now,

airstone-porch-stairs

fall-porch-redo

I can’t wait to see how they look with some fresh paint!

6 Responses

  1. Veronica

    What a great idea! Do you have stonework any where else on the house? If not, how does it blend in with the overall look? Love your posts!

    Reply
    • Rachael Evans

      Hi Veronica! We have a stucco look cement foundation, so it kinda blends with that. But our siding is vinyl. All gray/tan tones.

      Reply
  3. Christal Prout

    what color did you use? i notice there are three colors on the Lowes website.

    Reply
  4. Jeanne

    This is exactly what I want to do to my front porch steps, thanks for sharing! What color paint do you have on the floor of the porch & steps?

    Reply

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