How To Repair Broken Cement Steps

Concrete stairs are common features in homes, specifically outdoors, near entryways, or in backyards. Concrete is an obvious choice for outdoor steps due to its high level of immovability and long-lasting qualities. Even so, even concrete will wear over fourth dimension and become damaged.

High levels of foot traffic and extreme weather are the enemies of concrete stairs, and they volition eventually crusade cracks in the textile. Cracks pb to aging, and crumbling gives style to large gaps in your steps. Since gaps are an obvious prophylactic hazard, you'll want to fix your steps as soon as possible.

Yuliya Kosolapova

Remove dust and droppings

Since you'll eventually be applying a bonding agent to the damaged area, the cracked or aging surface needs to be as clean and dust-free as possible. Using a wire brush, clean off dust and loose chunks of cement. As yous're brushing, wait for deeper cracks that will exist hard to fill entirely with cement mix. It's a adept idea to chisel away the edges of these cracks to ensure that the cement gets packed in there tightly.

Create a wood form

You'll need a wood form to assistance create your new step's shape accurately. Cut a slice of plywood to an appropriate size and place information technology horizontally along the side of the footstep. It should be flush confronting the side and rise to a higher place the pinnacle of the stride virtually an inch or two. If y'all are creating a corner for your pace, you'll need a 2nd piece of plywood for the perpendicular side. Screw the two pieces of wood together into an "L" shape to make the woods form into the shape of the corner. As an optional pro tip, spray the wood's interior side with cooking spray to prevent the cement from adhering to the wood. Place your wood class against the edges of the footstep and keep it flush against it using heavy objects similar cinder blocks.

Apply a bonding adhesive

Using a paintbrush, utilize a generous corporeality of concrete bonding agglutinative to the stride'south damaged area. The adhesive instructions should explicate how much to use and how long to let it dry, depending on how many inches of concrete you'll exist layering on. Drying time is typically between one and 3 hours.

Create your concrete mix

Be certain your step is prepped, and you are prepare to begin applying concrete before you start creating your physical mix. The mix will start to dry very apace. Following the instructions on the physical mix bundle, cascade the mix into a big saucepan or concrete tray and add the appropriate amount of water. Continuously stir up the mixture until it is the consistency of water ice cream or peanut butter.

Apply concrete to damaged areas

A pointed trowel works best for this step. Use the trowel to scoop out portions of the mix and press it down onto the footstep's damaged area. Be sure to press the mix into deeper cracks to foreclose air bubbling that volition have you lot repairing the footstep again sooner than you'd like. Overfill the damaged area a bit and and then use a steel trowel to scrape away excess cement. Polish out the acme with the trowel and make the added cement level with the undamaged areas of the step.

Fill in gaps

Remove your forest form and put it aside. Check the sides of the step for gaps since, once again, air bubbles will be problematic. Fill gaps in with more cement using your pointed trowel and use your steel trowel to straighten out the sides of the step. One time you've addressed any visible gaps, use a level to exist sure the top and the sides of your new concrete stride are directly and leveled out. If needed, go along adding mix or scraping it off to make it level.

Smooth the surface

For this pace in this procedure, grab an edging tool and a damp cement sponge. Round off the edges of the stride using the edging tool. A rounded edge is safer to walk on, and it actually lengthens the life of your new step since a round border is less likely to crack confronting pressure and weather. Have your cement sponge and wipe it along the surface of the new cement to create a smoothen appearance.

Let it dry

Check the package instructions on the cement mix to meet how long information technology will accept for your new step to dry completely. It may have a day or ii, so exist certain you've informed occupants of your project. Program out an alternating road of accessing the building, and brand sure yous've roped off the area to avoid the headache of someone strolling through and ruining your hard work.

A damaged cement footstep is not simply a safety hazard, just as well unsightly. It's all-time to get information technology repaired sooner rather than afterwards since the damage will only get worse as time goes on. Every bit you've seen, repairing a cement step is relatively simple, and a DIY fix is entirely inside reach. With the right tools and a practiced amount of resolve, we're confident you'll get that step looking good as new in a snap.

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Source: https://www.21oak.com/home-maintenance/broken-concrete-stairs-repair/

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