Sunken porch steps are one of those ‘little jobs’ that are so easy to ignore! Sure, they may bug you every time you notice them, but it’s often still just left as a task for another day. The problem, of course, is that if you can see a problem you be absolutely assured that it will only get worse – and often quite quickly. If your sunken/damaged steps lead to a commercial or publicly accessible property you are likely also obliged to keep them well maintained to help mitigate against trips and falls. No matter how serious you think the damage may be, rest assured that professional concrete repair services will make it not just look as good as new but will help prevent the issue from arising again anytime soon.
Why Damaged Concrete Steps Matter
Leaving aside the obvious problem that they present a risk to health, damaged concrete steps can lead to a host of other structural issues. The real problem with damaged steps isn’t just that they look bad, but the fact that those cracks and crevices will allow for rain and meltwater to seep into your foundations. You’ll usually notice this first if you start to see damp patches along basement walls or even drops of water falling from the ceiling. The bad news is that what you see is often only a small fraction of the extent of the real issue, so in this case, you need to start looking at taking action as soon as possible. If just ignored for much longer it’ll risk damaging the property foundations and cause serious structural issues.
Repairing Concrete Steps is Straightforward
You may be tempted to just have the entire step scrapped and replaced with a brand new alternative. That’s fine if you don’t mind spending that kind of money, but remember that concrete step repair not only is much quicker and cheaper but should always result in just as good an end result. Raising a sunken step usually requires the injection of foam that helps to refashion the crumbled materials into something altogether much stronger. There is usually not anything wrong with the actual concrete itself, instead, it just needs to be patched back together and reinforced with modern materials. Lightweight polyurethane foam will comprehensively solve this issue and leave the step entirely watertight as well as lifted back into its proper position.
A Perfectly Repaired Concrete Step
Ever wondered how important that getting your steps just right happens to be? Steps are supposed to be very carefully measured – at exactly 7 3/4″ – so that people can navigate them with ease. We’ll let you make your own mind at how precise that figure really needs to be, but the good news is that if you want to play by the book then concrete lifting and repair can deliver that precise a measurement. Once the sunken step has been restored to the proper height, your concrete technicians will then look at carefully planning those steps out so they are perfectly flat and smooth.
High-quality professionals should be able to perform these tasks – even with heavily damaged and sunken concrete steps – within a matter of hours. Unlike replacement works that are disruptive, noisy, and usually encounter additional issues along the way, a repair will almost always be a one-day job and require very little time to set (about an hour or two) before it is fit for safe and comfortable use again.
