Gary Indiana Concrete Steps Built for Winter Salt

By late winter the salt has sat on the treads for months. Then the thaw shows what the season did. Older bungalows in Gary often have a raised front porch. They’re the way down to the walk. Concrete Steps in Gary take that salt and ice every year, right where boots land.

We’ve pulled up porch steps where the nosing had chipped off. The top of the tread had scaled down to gravel. People have called us after they spent another winter kicking loose pieces aside. Because the steps stay wet under the salt, the surface breaks up. After more winters the bottom step often rocks where it meets the walk.

Salt Wear on Concrete Steps in Gary, Indiana Porches

So we check the treads before we talk about a patch. We’ve come back to jobs where a skim coat had already popped off. Because the nosing was gone, we replaced the whole set. We’ve redone steps where a bag-mix patch on dust failed after one more freeze.

The lower treads on these porches often sat out past the roof. So they took the snow that blows in off Lake Michigan. Boots track salt from the sidewalk onto the steps. People throw more salt on after a storm so nobody slips. We pitch new treads so water runs off toward the walk.

We measure the rise from the porch floor down to the walk before we form anything. Each riser should match the others so nobody trips on a short one. When an old set had one short riser, people told us they caught a toe on it. So we set the new risers even before the concrete goes in.

Concrete Steps in Gary, Indiana Poured With the Front Walk

Raised front steps on Gary bungalows sit in salt and ice all winter. So rebuilding Concrete Steps in Gary is a direct job for the crew that pours walks and drives. When the bottom step fails, the walk under it usually fails too. Then we tear both out and pour them so the last tread lands on new concrete.

The tear out is concrete removal. We break the old steps up and haul the pieces off. Then we pull the broken walk back far enough to reach solid ground. After that we set forms for the rise and the run. Each tread gets enough depth for a boot, and the nosing lines up with the one above it.

We finish the treads while it’s still workable. Then we keep the pour covered while it cures. Finished walks and steps from other jobs sit in our photo gallery. Cabe’s Concrete is family owned. Our about us page covers the years since 2006. We’ve poured in Northwest Indiana since then, so the same people set the forms and do the finish.

Walk Replacement Next to Concrete Steps in Gary, Indiana

Old concrete comes out in chunks. We haul it off, then we check the soil under the landing. We’ve found soft spots under landings on older Gary houses. When that ground is soft, we dig the bad material out and put a firm base back. So the new steps sit on a firm base we put back ourselves.

People have asked us about Concrete Steps in Gary after a skim coat failed on the nosing. We replaced the set from the porch down to the walk in one pour. After the forms came off, the treads drained toward the walk. That short front path is often part of the same job, as a service walk or an upper walk.

When the sidewalk side of the path breaks up, concrete replacement on that run goes in the same visit. We tear out and replace that joint so the new step lands on new concrete. On our concrete steps work, the crew can also pour a drive if that slab is in the plan. We handle that residential concrete on Gary houses where the front path and the drive both need work.