Hi,
I have some cracking and chipping damage on my front concrete steps
probably due to wear & tear and rock salt. The previous owner
obviously skim coated the top of a few of the steps and that's what is
chipping away. At this point i'd like to possibly put some slate
treads on top and repair the risers with concrete or brick if it's not
too thick.
I have a few questions:
What is the best thickness of slate when using it for steps?
Does anyone have suggestions as to which product would be best to use
when laying in the slate?
What is the best (longest lasting) product to use for fixing the the
non-slated areas?

I have pics posted on my website: http://www.2twins.net/steps.html
Thanks for any info!

On Oct 2, 11:11 am, wrote:
Hi,
I have some cracking and chipping damage on my front concrete steps
probably due to wear & tear and rock salt. The previous owner
obviously skim coated the top of a few of the steps and that's what is
chipping away. At this point i'd like to possibly put some slate
treads on top and repair the risers with concrete or brick if it's not
too thick.
I have a few questions:
What is the best thickness of slate when using it for steps?
Does anyone have suggestions as to which product would be best to use
when laying in the slate?
What is the best (longest lasting) product to use for fixing the the
non-slated areas?

I have pics posted on my website:http://www.2twins.net/steps.html
Thanks for any info!

The slate I have seen is slippery when wet and old

On 2 Oct, 12:11, wrote:
Hi,
I have some cracking and chipping damage on my front concrete steps
probably due to wear & tear and rock salt. The previous owner
obviously skim coated the top of a few of the steps and that's what is
chipping away. At this point i'd like to possibly put some slate
treads on top and repair the risers with concrete or brick if it's not
too thick.
I have a few questions:
What is the best thickness of slate when using it for steps?
Does anyone have suggestions as to which product would be best to use
when laying in the slate?
What is the best (longest lasting) product to use for fixing the the
non-slated areas?

I have pics posted on my website:http://www.2twins.net/steps.html
Thanks for any info!

My first thought is something my grandfather use to say about building
steps: The feet remember.

It's hard to tell from the picture if the rise of all the steps,
including the last one onto the porch, are all even. If they are,
that's good, but it also means that if you add slate on top of each
step, then you should raise the porch floor by an equal amount to keep
the rise constant. If you don't, the feet are going to remember the
rise of the steps and a tripping hazard will be present at the top.

Have you considered starting from scratch, with either a set of wooden
steps or a precast set such as found he http://www.centurygrp.com/steps.asp

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:11:26 +0000, mateolola wrote:

Hi,
I have some cracking and chipping damage on my front concrete steps
probably due to wear & tear and rock salt. The previous owner
obviously skim coated the top of a few of the steps and that's what is
chipping away. At this point i'd like to possibly put some slate
treads on top and repair the risers with concrete or brick if it's not
too thick.
I have a few questions:
What is the best thickness of slate when using it for steps?
Does anyone have suggestions as to which product would be best to use
when laying in the slate?
What is the best (longest lasting) product to use for fixing the the
non-slated areas?

I have pics posted on my website: http://www.2twins.net/steps.html
Thanks for any info!

Have you considered using the recycled plastic wood or even real wood
instead? Might soften and warm up the steps a bit.

I'd paint the sides and top/face each step with the wood.

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:11:26 +0000, mateolola wrote:

Hi,
I have some cracking and chipping damage on my front concrete steps
probably due to wear & tear and rock salt. The previous owner
obviously skim coated the top of a few of the steps and that's what is
chipping away. At this point i'd like to possibly put some slate
treads on top and repair the risers with concrete or brick if it's not
too thick.
I have a few questions:
What is the best thickness of slate when using it for steps?
Does anyone have suggestions as to which product would be best to use
when laying in the slate?
What is the best (longest lasting) product to use for fixing the the
non-slated areas?

I have pics posted on my website: http://www.2twins.net/steps.html
Thanks for any info!

Second thought: Rip out steps and rebuild with wood. Looks like the
porch needs help. Now's your chance to build something with eye appeal.

What is the best (longest lasting) product to use for fixing the the
non-slated areas?



I've had really good luck with a product with a name like 'Akona' or
'Acona'; it's a two-component system that gets hotter than blazes while
it cures. I fixed a broken corner of a concrete porch with this stuff
about 18 years ago, and it's still doing fine. it was so long ago that
I don't recall seeing this stuff recently -- but I haven't been looking,
either.

If the concrete being repaired isn't in good shape, of course, the
repair material will just break away like everything else, but you knew
that.