The eighty-year old steps on the path to my front door seem to be made
of some sort of composite cement casing over a much softer crushed red
shale brick-like core. Over the last twenty years years some cracks in
the vertical facing resulted in frost damage and some sections of the
outer casing falling off the facing. I've repaired them as they
happened, with mortar, sometimes with a bit more cement added, and
sometimes padded out by mixing with small gravel to fill the deeper
sections. Occasionally frost has caused a repaired bit to fall out
again, and I've patched it up again. We're typically talking about
sections up to 8 inches long and 4 high. though one is now about 15
inches long ( and up to about one inch deep)

In the recent severe weather, it's ALL fallen out again.
I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.
Thanks
Toom

Toom Tabard wrote:
The eighty-year old steps on the path to my front door seem to be made
of some sort of composite cement casing over a much softer crushed red
shale brick-like core. Over the last twenty years years some cracks in
the vertical facing resulted in frost damage and some sections of the
outer casing falling off the facing. I've repaired them as they
happened, with mortar, sometimes with a bit more cement added, and
sometimes padded out by mixing with small gravel to fill the deeper
sections. Occasionally frost has caused a repaired bit to fall out
again, and I've patched it up again. We're typically talking about
sections up to 8 inches long and 4 high. though one is now about 15
inches long ( and up to about one inch deep)

In the recent severe weather, it's ALL fallen out again.
I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.
Thanks
Toom


try epoxy 'mortars' to repair and possible use some form of anti-water
penetration on it for next winter. I had a bot of frost spalling on some
render, and the waterproofing stopped it completely. It was where water
was being splashed onto it on the north side of the house.

On Feb 3, 12:43*pm, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
Toom Tabard wrote:
The eighty-year old steps on the path to my front door seem to be made
of some sort of composite cement casing over a much softer crushed red
shale brick-like core. Over the last twenty years years some cracks in
the vertical facing resulted in frost damage and some sections of the
outer casing falling off the facing. I've repaired them as they
happened, with mortar, sometimes with a bit more cement added, and
sometimes padded out by mixing with small gravel to fill the deeper
sections. Occasionally frost has caused a repaired bit to fall out
again, and I've patched it up again. We're typically talking about
sections up to 8 inches long and 4 high. though one is now about 15
inches long ( and up to about one inch deep)

In the recent severe weather, it's ALL fallen out again.
I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.
Thanks
Toom

try epoxy 'mortars' to repair and possible use some form of anti-water
penetration on it for next winter. I had a bot of frost spalling on some
render, and the waterproofing stopped it completely. It was where water
was being splashed onto it on the north side of the house.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Have you considered having the whole lot replaced with real stone?

Robert

On 3 Feb, 12:43, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Toom Tabard wrote:
The eighty-year old steps on the path to my front door seem to be made
of some sort of composite cement casing over a much softer crushed red
shale brick-like core. Over the last twenty years years some cracks in
the vertical facing resulted in frost damage and some sections of the
outer casing falling off the facing. I've repaired them as they
happened, with mortar, sometimes with a bit more cement added, and
sometimes padded out by mixing with small gravel to fill the deeper
sections. Occasionally frost has caused a repaired bit to fall out
again, and I've patched it up again. We're typically talking about
sections up to 8 inches long and 4 high. though one is now about 15
inches long ( and up to about one inch deep)

In the recent severe weather, it's ALL fallen out again.
I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.
Thanks
Toom

try epoxy 'mortars' to repair and possible use some form of anti-water
penetration on it for next winter. I had a bot of frost spalling on some
render, and the waterproofing stopped it completely. It was where water
was being splashed onto it on the north side of the house.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Many thanks for that - looks promising - I'll look into it.

Thanks

Toom

On 3 Feb, 20:11, RobertL wrote:
On Feb 3, 12:43*pm, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:





Toom Tabard wrote:
The eighty-year old steps on the path to my front door seem to be made
of some sort of composite cement casing over a much softer crushed red
shale brick-like core. Over the last twenty years years some cracks in
the vertical facing resulted in frost damage and some sections of the
outer casing falling off the facing. I've repaired them as they
happened, with mortar, sometimes with a bit more cement added, and
sometimes padded out by mixing with small gravel to fill the deeper
sections. Occasionally frost has caused a repaired bit to fall out
again, and I've patched it up again. We're typically talking about
sections up to 8 inches long and 4 high. though one is now about 15
inches long ( and up to about one inch deep)

In the recent severe weather, it's ALL fallen out again.
I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.
Thanks
Toom

try epoxy 'mortars' to repair and possible use some form of anti-water
penetration on it for next winter. I had a bot of frost spalling on some
render, and the waterproofing stopped it completely. It was where water
was being splashed onto it on the north side of the house.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Have you considered having the whole lot replaced with real stone?

Robert- Hide quoted text -


Other neighbours with similar steps and bigger problems have had major
work done, but mine isn't at that stage.
Thanks
Toom

In article
,
Toom Tabard wrote:
I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.

When the weather gets better soak all the bits to be repaired in diluted
PVA - the container should give the proportions. Think it's about 3:1 with
the larger part water. Let it dry. Use the same mix as the gauging water
for the mortar mix. I used this when repairing some stone mouldings some
30 years ago and they're still in place. But don't get the same wear as
steps. Other thing which can look good is to repair then clad in real
marble etc tiles. You can sometimes buy end of range boxes enough for this
job at Wicks etc. Using a decent waterproof adhesive and grout should keep
the water out.

--
*Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 4 Feb, 15:27, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
* *Toom Tabard wrote:

I'd appreciate any advice on whether and how more effective and longer-
lasting patching could be done - e.g any special mortar or cement/
concrete mix? Any hints on how to stop water penetration and frost
damage at the seams between the repair and the original material,
which I assume is what causes the weakness after a few years?
Temperature here is supposed to be max of 4 or 5 celsius over the next
few days, with no frost. Is that too low to attempt repairs now? I'd
like to fix it to prevent further frost damage to exposed soft core
material and edges of the damaged sections.

When the weather gets better soak all the bits to be repaired in diluted
PVA - the container should give the proportions. Think it's about 3:1 with
the larger part water. *Let it dry. Use the same mix as the gauging water
for the mortar mix. I used this when repairing some stone mouldings some
30 years ago and they're still in place. But don't get the same wear as
steps. Other thing which can look good is to repair then clad in real
marble etc tiles. You can sometimes buy end of range boxes enough for this
job at Wicks etc. Using a decent waterproof adhesive and grout should keep
the water out.


Many thanks for these ideas. Since stuff can't really stick to the
soft core, and it all depends on the strength of the patch to the
outer casing, I've also been wondering whether there's any kind of
wire or metal mesh I could cut to size to embed in the repaired
sections to reinforce them. If there's nothing designed for the
purpose I might need to look around B&Q for something else suitable.

Thanks

Toom