Porch Concrete Repair Options?

[FrankLee]

My porch concrete needs help.

It is a 33sf uncovered porch, surrounded by three walls facing east in Michigan. I have to use an ice melter (calcium chloride) in winter. The concrete is spalling baldly on the front edge.

The house was built in 1990. After the brick was laid, the porch cavity was filled with all kinds of broken brick, chucks of concrete, dirt etc. New concrete was poured and could be anywhere from 4" to 12" thick. Tearing this out would be a nightmare and break the surrounding brick.

I'm considering Quikrete Re-Cap, but I dunno.

Anyone have experience with this type of repair? Or have any better ideas? Outdoor ceramic tile?

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[cgrutt]

What about capping it with bluestone or similar? May need to cut that front lip flush with the riser.

 

[larry4406]

+1 on capping.

You might then affect the stair rise height making the top riser taller. Max variance within a flight of stairs is 3/8”.

Roof above?

 

[Shiftless]

I visited a distillery in northern Nevada one winter and noticed that they had a stairway that was heated just enough to melt snow.
If you want to enlarge your project and add convenience, safety and value to your property, now is the time to install heating mats before you cover that old concrete landing and stairs with bluestone or ???

 

[FrankLee]

Roof above?

There is a 12" eave with gutters on three sides, otherwise uncovered.

I visited a distillery in northern Nevada one winter and noticed that they had a stairway that was heated just enough to melt snow.
If you want to enlarge your project and add convenience, safety and value to your property, now is the time to install heating mats before you cover that old concrete landing and stairs with bluestone or ???

I like that idea!

 

[JuncleJohn]

Drilling and sawing out the old slab might be the better way to go. It will take some time, but it’s not a large area to demo so, shouldn’t be that bad of a job.

I’m not aware of any top coating that will be a permanent repair.

John

 

[larry4406]

Poor roof design in my opinion.

I would infill frame it and install a cricket to prevent snow/ice accumulation on stoop.

 

[FrankLee]

Poor roof design in my opinion.

I agree completely! There are quite a few houses in the subdivision with this roof style.

That's not the only flaw. The downspout in the corner of the garage dumps water onto the sidewalk which freezes. I dug a french drain system about 15' into the front yard.
The city didn't install enough storm drains in the along the rear lot lines between the houses on the next street. Floods during heavy rain.

Then there were the builder mistakes. Ugh.

 

[Rusted Nut]

I've never used Quickcrete Re-cap, but I've used a lot of other Quickcrete products; and they're all pretty good. You could install a metal grating, that wouldn't freeze on top. Epoxy maybe? Check with manf for compatability with ice melt. There are some concrete slip resistent coating available, that have a very rough surface and won't be slippery with a thin freeze. What ever you do, a slope will help.

 

[MoonRise]

IIRC, max allowable variance for the rise from step to step is only 1/8" with the total allowable rise variance for the entire staircase of 3/8".

Bluestone slab topping would be way over that or even an outdoor rated porcelain tile would both be over that 1/8" rise height variance. So then you would have to top ALL the steps and the walkway to stay within the rise height variance limits. Ugh, bigger project than you thought.

The real fix IMNSHO is to remove that damaged concrete section completely and redo it. Drill and cut it out instead of just slamming it with a sledgehammer or jackhammer, especially by the brick walls. Form it up with proper pitch/slope, pour it, cure it, seal it.

And redoing the roof over the entranceway so as to reduce getting rain/snow/ice would help too. Again, bigger project.

I don't remember exactly what products were used, but at work the exterior entry steps were deteriorated rather badly. A fix was tried with a cement based product, didn't last a year. A fix was tried with a more expensive polymer based product the next year, it didn't last a year. Based on that limited sample, I don't have much confidence in 'topping' products. YMMV and all that.

 

[red]

My porch concrete needs help.

Anyone have experience with this type of repair? Or have any better ideas? Outdoor ceramic tile?

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I like the idea of ceramic tile, BUT it must be porcelain tile with little or no water absorption. My brother did it with his house in PA severe cold winters, no problems.

He used something like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Sele...lain-Wood-Look-Floor-and-Wall-Tile/1000097674

 

[toolmiser]

Poor roof design in my opinion.

I would infill frame it and install a cricket to prevent snow/ice accumulation on stoop.

My sister has a house with the same poor design. When installing new roof, they filled it in and it looks and works so much better, also cured the downspout draining to sidewalk-it gets cold here.