Concrete Steps Construction in Montrose CO - an entry built on solid ground

Most calls about steps start the same way, with a crack that keeps getting wider or a top step that's pulled away from the door. The first questions are what it'll cost, how long you'll be without your entry and whether the new steps will crack like the old ones. The price moves with how many steps you need, how wide they are, whether there's a landing, whether you go precast or poured, and how much work the old steps and the ground under them take. The schedule turns mostly on that same precast or poured choice, because poured steps need curing, the days the concrete needs to harden before it takes weight, and on whether the office for your address asks for anything first. If the walk out to the driveway is in the same shape, we can look at a new sidewalk on the same visit. When I come out, I'll explain what I see and what we'd do before you decide anything.

I start by going over precast and poured with you, because the right pick depends on your budget, the size of your entry and how soon you need your front door back. Then our crew takes out the old steps and I look closely at what they were sitting on, since that's usually why they failed. We dig out loose fill and pack the subgrade, the ground the new steps rest on, so they don't settle with the dirt. Precast steps get set on that base and secured in place. For poured steps we build wooden forms, tie in rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together if it cracks, pour early in the day so the heat doesn't leave a weak, dusty top, and give the treads a broom finish, a light texture so they aren't slick when wet. We also make sure water runs off the steps and away from the house, not back toward your door. If the budget gets tight, I'd cut back on the finish before I'd cut back on the base, because nobody sees the base on pour day but it decides whether your steps are still level years from now. Does that make sense?

Steps often have to meet other concrete. On a house that's still going up, we plan the steps alongside the slab foundation building or foundation installation, so the entry ties into the same solid support as the house instead of being added onto loose fill later.

I won't guess about permits. In Montrose, the city's Building Services office issues building permits and handles plan checks and inspections, but the work it lists is things like structural, plumbing and drywall, and concrete steps aren't named, so that list doesn't settle it for your job. Before we schedule, we check with the city or county office that covers your address and walk you through what it asks for, and if a permit is needed, we help you with the paperwork and keep you posted.

The ground is the bigger local issue for steps. Montrose County posts maps of collapsible, swelling and corrosive soil you can look up for your area, and collapsible soil, ground that can give way when moisture builds up below the surface, is still one of the main things damaging home foundations in western Colorado. Those maps describe the area, not your lot, so I look at what's under the old steps once they're out and plan the support from there. Watering, leaky water lines and blocked drainage cause most soil collapse, so I'll also talk with you about keeping sprinklers and downspouts off the new steps. We see the same kinds of ground on jobs in Montrose and Delta, and we handle it the same way in both.