Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton, Indiana

A lot of people think a crumbling porch step just needs a patch on the face. We hear that often on older houses in Chesterton. But a thin coat over a broken tread doesn’t last the next winter. Because the old concrete under it already split, that coat has nothing solid to hold. When the nosing is gone, we break the steps out before we pour. Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton handle that break-out on older flights.

After a few winters the damage shows up in the same places. The front edge of the bottom step rounds off. Then a crack opens at the side where the step meets the walk. So the step rocks a little under your weight. People call us when pieces start falling off the step onto the walk.

Chesterton, Indiana gets wet snow and long cold spells in winter. Water sits in a hairline crack. When that water freezes, the crack grows wider. After the thaw, more water gets in. Salt from the walk speeds the scaling on the face. We’ve pulled up porch steps where the top inch had turned to gravel. The core was still one piece. It had come loose at the joint.

Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton Check Older Porch Steps

On older houses in Chesterton, crews often poured the porch steps as one unit with the stoop. Sometimes they poured them tight against the foundation. So when one tread fails, the crack usually runs into the step below it. Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton check the landing and the walk joint too. A loose joint there means the break-out starts farther back than the broken step.

You can see finished steps and tear-outs in our photo gallery. For example, we look for a crack that runs through the tread. After we tap the step and see how it moves, we say if a small concrete repair will hold. When the step rocks, the old concrete comes out.

People call about a bottom step that has lost its corner. They also call about a flight that has settled to one side. We’ve seen mesh showing where the face scaled off. When the steel is rusting and the concrete around it is loose, we take the whole flight out. We load the broken pieces and get them off the property.

Breaking Out Old Steps with Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton

Decades of freeze and thaw crack the concrete steps on older houses in Chesterton until the steps turn unsafe. So we break those steps out before we pour new ones. We start at the walk joint and work up toward the porch. Then we saw or chip a clean line so the new pour has a firm edge to meet. After the old concrete comes out, we haul it off. We form the new flight to match the door height.

That tear-out is a regular job for Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton on a porch like this. The same visit can cover the service walk if it broke at the joint. A short run of slab beside the steps can come out then too. We handle concrete removal and the replacement pour together when both are ready. The break-out and the pour both sit under our concrete demolition companies work.

Our family has run Cabe’s Concrete since 2006, and we still work across northwest Indiana. We set wood forms for each riser and check them against the door sill. We keep the top landing just under the threshold. Then we place the concrete and give the treads a broom finish.

Because yards in Chesterton can be tight along the side of the house, we plan the haul path first. Concrete Demolition Companies in Chesterton do that before we start breaking concrete. We pitch the treads a little so water runs off the front, away from the door.

New steps can tie into residential concrete already on the lot. We’ve replaced porch steps and then poured a small landing with them.

We keep foot traffic off the new steps until the concrete can take it. In cold weather that wait runs longer. We tell you the timing when we set the forms.