My back stairs need help

[arwenmark]

I have concrete back steps original to the house that are in rough shape, I would like to keep them.

Do you think they could be fixed ? and if so how, what would you use. The wooden rail is going It was put up when someone hit the house years ago. I need to fix where the brick work was knocked out somehow as well.

[phil]

maybe consider cleaning it with muriatic acid then using this to fill in the gaps and chunks missing?
this cement grows as it sets which makes a tight fit, it is normally used to fix cracks. wet the stairs before you put it on.

http://www.lowes.ca/patching-spackling- ... lsrc=aw.ds

[wletson]

The gaps concern me a bit, but phil's idea could likely work. Scrub them down, rinse, and I would suggest a concrete primer before adding anything, just to be sure. Other than the gaps, they actually look like they are still in good shape.

[DRJR]

Plain old mortar mix from a bag.

Remove any loose stuff, clean the area well.

Mix the mortar on the stiff side (not to wet) apply with a pointing trowel.

It might take more than one application to do this.

Once the mortar has a little time to set up. Take a brush and lightly sweep it.
This will take the smooth look out of your patch.

To get the weathered look wash the area with muriatic acid.

[phil]

Id rebuild that railing wider to almost meet the steps. maybe think about drainage in there.. Im not cement expert you need to talk to someone from Italy;-) but the hydraulic cement is portland cement and I used it last weekend it says something on it about using it for refinishing so I figure maybe it bonds a bit better than the regular. My stringers were sitting on old rough cement. I made plastic pads so it doesn't have contact. I made a little puddle under each contact point where the plastic meets the cement so the weight was spread evenly and it seemed to stick ok. It is also used for anchor bolts and I set two in with hilti fasteners, but the drill I had wasnt long enough to properly reach through the board so the captive threaded fastener wouldn't sink fully flat like it should. i just made a little mound to cover them up and make them stick better. If you have foundation cracks the hydraulic cement is the right kind as it expands. it says to chisel it out to get fresh clean rough cement to bond to so I'd use a hammer and chisel and kind of roughen it up a bit where you have that roundover with the chunk missing. then wet it then fill the gap, it expands when it hardens. it will harden under water too. Its a lot more expensive than the regular kind of cement that you'd use in foundations etc. nothing will stick to the green paint properly of course. we have a tool here at work its like an angle grinder with carbide cutters and you can grind cement flat with it if all went wrong you cold remove matirial with something like that but that shouldn't happen. even just an angle grindr might help to get a hook into the existing.