for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

NFT: Who knows how to repair concrete steps?

pjcas18 : 3/23/2017 2:19 pm
My old house had a wood porch, so when it would snow I'd throw rock salt out there and it would work fine.

My new house has concrete steps and I guess I never thought about it and just threw the same rock salt on my front porch.

Now, as some of you would have known, I have pock marks/decay/crumbling on the concrete steps.

similar to the picture below but not as bad.

I have had a couple landscapers who deal with stone work look at it and both say can't be repaired, I need to replace the porch, does anyone disagree? Is there away to just go over the steps with some quickcrete or something?

Seems like should be a way to fix it.


Calcium Chloride is better for cement  
Chip : 3/23/2017 2:32 pm : link
than rock salt which will ruin concrete. I am not sure a skim coat would work. Possibly do the skim and then go over it with an outside tile.
had the same issue 17 years ago when I bought my house. Problem is  
Victor in CT : 3/23/2017 2:34 pm : link
that patches dont work, because the underlying old concrete is already drying out and crumbling. After 2 years I had the whole thing dug up, replaced with flagstone slate steps and porch with cut stone railings. I'm just getting to the point now that I will have to have a masonry guy come and re-grout it, but other than that it's been maintaince free for 15 years. Money well spent.
yes there is a way to repair it. it's not easy though  
BH28 : 3/23/2017 2:39 pm : link
you need to remove all of the loose material and then at least another inch below that or the spall material will pop-put.

Make sure the area is free of any dust and then use a concrete spall material to fill. You can google spall repair material for different products.

The downside is that you probably wont be able to match the color of the existing.
I replace concrete steps  
mavric : 3/23/2017 2:41 pm : link
after they deteriorated. I attempted several patch solutions that ended up not being solutions at all. So I rented a jack hammer and broke the whole thing out, boarded up a frame and mixed new cement for the steps.

Note: if you do this, make sure you vibrate all the areas that will show (i.e., sides, front of steps, etc.) to draw the water to the surface so that the surface that shows is smooth when seen from all directions. This can be done in several ways such as grabbing hold of the wood where the concrete is touching and shake it back and forth and up and down as well has beating it with a big rubber mallet or even a 2X4 and a hammer. Very important if you are concerned with the cosmetic appearance when finished.
The answer is  
Jim in Fairfax : 3/23/2017 3:01 pm : link
Masons.
Anything you do will only be temporary  
jcn56 : 3/23/2017 3:01 pm : link
the new concrete won't bond to the old one and it'll be slightly different, so any time the weather gets cold and the concrete shrinks (or the water inside it freezes) the patches will spall.

You can temporarily repair it, but you'll be doing it often enough. If you do decide to patch it, go with something with vinyl in the mix so it'll be more flexible.
RE: The answer is  
pjcas18 : 3/23/2017 3:03 pm : link
In comment 13404189 Jim in Fairfax said:
Quote:
Masons.


Not near me. the mason I had look at it told me no repair solution will work, need to replace the steps.

I thought maybe he's being a typical contractor not wanting to be a "handy man" and fix something, but rebuild it.

Sounds like he's right and I guess I'll bite the bullet and replace the steps.

The problem for them is warranteeing the repair  
jcn56 : 3/23/2017 3:05 pm : link
It's not going to last, and even if he does it for you on the cheap, when it's falling apart in the year he's got an angry customer to deal with.
RE: The problem for them is warranteeing the repair  
pjcas18 : 3/23/2017 3:09 pm : link
In comment 13404197 jcn56 said:
Quote:
It's not going to last, and even if he does it for you on the cheap, when it's falling apart in the year he's got an angry customer to deal with.


Makes sense, just hoping someone knew some secret trick to fixing them up. Doesn't sound like it.

I have noticed since ruining my own a lot of people's steps have small crumbling, pock marks, decay, etc. and probably just the nature of concrete - they didn't necessarily put rock salt on them like I did, but it would be good if someone came up with a small repair kit/technology for concrete steps.
RE: RE: The problem for them is warranteeing the repair  
BH28 : 3/23/2017 3:27 pm : link
In comment 13404203 pjcas18 said:
Quote:
In comment 13404197 jcn56 said:


Quote:


It's not going to last, and even if he does it for you on the cheap, when it's falling apart in the year he's got an angry customer to deal with.



Makes sense, just hoping someone knew some secret trick to fixing them up. Doesn't sound like it.

I have noticed since ruining my own a lot of people's steps have small crumbling, pock marks, decay, etc. and probably just the nature of concrete - they didn't necessarily put rock salt on them like I did, but it would be good if someone came up with a small repair kit/technology for concrete steps.


The small crumbling you notice is poor construction methodology. When finishing concrete, a lot of contractors will add water to the surface to make it more workable. All this does is keep the water suspended on the surface of the concrete making it more likely it will chip off and take some concrete in the future.

The spall repair method I outlined will work, you just have to remove an inch or two of concrete to get it to stay. There is nothing that you can skim over the top that won't pop-out as others have mentioned.
these are pre-formed  
pjcas18 : 3/23/2017 3:32 pm : link
concrete steps, so in some places I don't think I have an inch or two to remove, know what I mean? Especially where the steps jut out over the next step.

here is a picture of the same type of steps my house has, like a traditional colonial.

that may be why they said they need to be replaced, if there is not  
BH28 : 3/23/2017 3:38 pm : link
enough to remove to repair.

You can at least try the spall repair with a 1/2" removal and see if that works. if that doesn't last, you'll have to replace. But it might be worth the effort to try a few small spall repairs and see if they last before you replace the whole thing.
It can be done  
rasbutant : 3/23/2017 4:22 pm : link
how long it will last, I don't know.
Link - ( New Window )
Get some bluestone treads  
oghwga : 3/23/2017 8:10 pm : link
And cover them
This is the product I carry.  
Tittle 9 20 64 : 3/23/2017 8:48 pm : link
I've had pretty good luck with it.
Link - ( New Window )
Back to the Corner