Ideas from Ed: Step by Step (Vol. 9, Issue 8)

There are a lot of accidents on steps.  Some are from carelessness, like ascending or descending too quickly.  Some are from poor design and build, like having differing heights between each step.  Sometimes a problem can occur without much warning, seemingly for no obvious reason.  That’s what happened to a set of precast concrete steps that’s the focus of this month’s article.  They have serviced this porch for many years with no issue, but suddenly the top step just broke through.

This was a one-piece precast unit and needed to be replaced immediately for safety’s sake.  Obviously there are choices to think about – whether to pour new steps, buy a replacement precast set, or build wooden steps.  I checked with several local concrete companies, none of which knew of anyone locally that supplied precast units.  However, one suggested that I check with a builder’s supply company one county away who might be able to help.  I made a phone call, followed by a review of the company’s website and a visit to the location, and we had what we needed.  This supplier sells concrete stringers and concrete steps as separate pieces which are more easily transported than one-piece units, and must be assembled on site.  All you need to do is choose the appropriate number of steps, the width needed, and put things together.  That sounds simple, doesn’t it?  We needed to make two trips in a pickup truck to safely haul four steps and two stringers to the site, because each step weighed about 240 pounds, and the pair of stringers weighed as much as a step!  Accomplishing this task is definitely a two-person job (at least), and both should have strong backs!

The old steps gave way relatively easily with a bit of influence from a 10-lb sledge hammer.  My son Brian did most of the demolition, and piled all the pieces just a few feet away.  We hoped to be able to dispose of the bulk of the rubble by “burying” the pieces under the new steps.  As it turns out, the stone porch foundation behind the old steps had a lot of gaps between stones.  We thought it to be the perfect time to fill those gaps, sealing things well and stabilizing the wall a bit.  Since all work would be hidden, we used Surface Bonding Cement and were more interested in function than appearance.  Here is the material we used and a picture of the gaps filled.  Remember that I am in no way advertising for any particular brand of material, but only show you what I used on a project: 

Surface bonding cement like this has good strength due to the many fibers that are mixed in, and that helps the material to stick in place in vertical applications.  I happened to have several bags of this from another project, and likely wouldn’t have used cement with a white color if this would be visible when completed.

As you can see from this photo below, there was a “foundation” of bricks under the old steps.  That made things easy for us, and provided a nice base for the new ones without a lot of fuss to get everything level.

We set the risers in place and did our best to get them spaced correctly, plumb, and with an ever-so-slight pitch away from the porch so water would run off the steps once they were placed.

The first step section is set on the ground in front of the stringers, and then the others are placed one by one, working the way toward the top.  We used wood “stickers” to help position things and allow us to slide the very heavy steps around a bit.  Then we pulled the stickers out. 

As we made our way up with each step, we filled behind and under them with the broken rubble of the original steps.  We managed to get about 99% of those scrap pieces placed and “disposed of” beneath the new steps.

All told, and aside from picking up the material from the supply yard, it took two of us about five hours to transform things from the top picture on this page to the bottom picture above. 

If tackling a job like this, wear gloves while handling the concrete and when mixing up the patching cement.  You will also need to wear eye protection when sledge hammering the old concrete into pieces.  Have help handling these very weighty sections, and be careful you don’t get a finger pinched below or between them!  Otherwise, it is a pretty quick and simple undertaking.

I hope all your projects go well.  Thanks for reading, and happy restoring!

Ed

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Ideas from Ed 2026_August_Step_by_step.pdf

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