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Cutting stone comes with a number of safety hazards. First and foremost, if you’re not comfortable with the equipment required to cut stone, including blades and grinders, you could easily injure yourself. The heavy machinery also poses a risk to your ears if you don’t wear proper ear protection; similarly, you need to wear eye protection to keep debris from irritating your eyes.

However, the biggest risk from cutting stone comes from the stone dust. When breathed in, stone dust can be a huge hazard to your lungs. Always wear a face mask when cutting stone to prevent inhaling stone dust, and thoroughly clean the work area when you are finished.

To avoid injury, we recommend hiring a stone-cutting professional, rather than attempting this job yourself.

The material you use depends on how hard-wearing your steps need to be and what you want them to look like. The most common stone for exterior steps is bluestone. It’s hard-wearing and durable, and bluestone steps cost between $15 and $30 per linear foot. Limestone is also a popular option and is mid-range, costing $25 to $50 per linear foot. You should always consider the specific requirements of your project before ordering any materials.

It is possible, albeit a lot slower, to break up a rock using water. You would do this by freezing and thawing the water. You could create some initial holes or cracks in the rock, then pour water into the cracks or holes and allow them to freeze (so it's best to do this in winter or in colder climates). Since water expands when it freezes, this puts pressure on the inside of the rock and causes it to crack. You could continue to pour more water in and let it freeze to continue to break up the rock.

Unfortunately, there are many disadvantages to stone houses. They are slow to build and the materials are pricey, both of which balloon the total cost. Stone walls require a more robust foundation, which costs more to install. Running plumbing, electrical, and HVAC through a stone house is much more difficult too, so homeowners need to seriously consider if the aesthetic benefit is worth the cost of building with stone. One of the questions to ask a masonry contractor is if a similar aesthetic can be achieved with another material.