Sitting on the lowest plot in a subdivision built on a ridge, the home brought to its new owners a multitude of water and erosion problems. Accordingly, in addition to adequate drains, a series of walls and stairways was installed to control water flow and create usable space on the steeply sloping property.

A stairway was placed between two angled, 9-in.-thick walls of 3,000 psi concrete. Each stair tread, constructed also of 3,000 psi concrete, was pinned to the wall with two pieces of 1⁄2-in. rebar. The steps and tops of walls, including three 3-ft. walls used to level the ridge and two 2-ft. walls installed to retain soil around trees and planting beds, were stenciled and colored when the concrete was poured. After removal of the forms, vertical surfaces were stenciled and plastered.

For 1,000 sq. ft. of flatwork, fiber-reinforced 4,000 psi concrete was placed, screeded, bull floated and edged. After a paper stencil was placed on the slab and floated into the surface of the concrete, a dry shake color hardener was applied at a rate of 50 lb. per 100 sq. ft. A release agent was then cast at 30 lb. per 1,000 sq. ft. over the entire slab. A 3-ft. 9-in. stamping tool was used to texture the surface. Following removal of the stencil after curing the slab, excess release was cleaned from its surface and two coats of sealer were applied.