It is desirable to make restoration and repair of the concrete steps outdoors or inside the house upon the detection of any damages. They don’t just look unaesthetic but also are hazardous to health. If this is the entrance to the business center or company, the unkempt look of the steps will immediately damage the business reputation of the owner. You can make a repair of the monolithic staircase in the private house or hallway without the involvement of experts.
Restoration of the step angle
Restoration of the step angle
Corners of the concrete steps are often prone to chipping, especially on the porch, where the water always penetrates into the concrete. To avoid the spread of damage, you need to make a simple repair.
To install the missing elements, you should clear the place of chipping with a brush. Then, using the brush, you should prime the surface of the fallen piece of concrete and damaged step. After that, using the trowel, you should apply the building mortar over the primer and to the chip and press the angle restored. Using the binding, studs, or other methods, you should bond both parts until their complete drying.
For better grip of concrete, it is recommended to process the edges of chips and potholes with PVA glue or tile adhesive.
Repair of the edge of step
Repair of the edge of steps
The main load usually falls on the edge of the steps. Therefore, this part of the staircase breaks down first. These damages are especially noticeable on the stairs of the hallways and on the porch due to the high passability of these areas. It is very easy to make a repair of the staircase with your own hands. For that, you need to carry out the following stages of work:
- At first, using a circular saw, make cuts around the damage, at an angle, and inside the step.
- Remove concrete, using sledgehammer and chisels.
- To get the pointed edge, you should mount a formwork. Preliminarily grease the board with oil. The height of the repaired step and width of the board must be equal. Put it to the vertical edge of the step, fix it with a prop in the form of a pin on the repaired area.
- Using the brush, apply the primer.
- Fill the voids using the trowel with building mortar.
- Remove the board and, using the stepped surface gauge, round off the rib.
That’s it! You made a repair of the step with your own hands. If you need to repair the porch, you should use water-resistant mixtures. To reduce the wear and tear of the steps, you should face a staircase with tile or porcelain stoneware.
Increasing the strength of the staircase
Increasing the strength of the staircase
Reinforcement is used to increase the strength and firmness of concrete stair flights to avoid destructions and frequent repair in the future. If you decided to do it with your own hands, keep in mind that the reinforcement of the staircase should be made in compliance with the building regulations, as in any other monolithic works. You should use the tapping screws as fastening elements of the formwork because it is too difficult to pull out the common nails. To mount the formwork, you will also need perforated corners and other special elements.
The distance between the frame and the edge of concrete (as well as under the mesh) must be at least 2.5 cm. At the first sign of visible deformations, you have to stop pouring concrete and reinforce the formwork to prevent it from tearing.
Concrete should be vibrated with a special device to avoid the formation of holes in the concrete staircase due to the air content in the mixture. The type of reinforcement depends on the structure of the staircase. This is because you’ll have to reinforce the structure of the areas with increased tensile stress.
Facing the stairs
To increase the wear resistance of steps and hide the small defects of the porch, you should make a repair facing the stairs with different materials. For external stairs, people mostly use ceramic tile finishing. Its choice depends directly on the location of the staircase. To face the monolithic staircases, you can take a common tile, while for the outdoor stairs, you should use an anti-slip coating to make the movement on the stairs safe even in the ice. You can face the staircases with your own hands. The main thing is to start finishing with the lower steps. Use the moisture-resistant materials and special tile adhesive.
Facing the stairs
Facing the staircase with laminate
To face the staircases in the private house or apartment, people always use laminate. Due to the increased load on the steps, you should choose the panels with a wear resistance class of < 32. Before laying laminate, you need to measure all concrete steps and adjust them all to the highest one with the help of a self-leveling compound. If the difference in the measurements is small, the mixture should be applied to the step so that the concrete surface is maximally even and high-quality.
You can apply special guides to the steps for the installation of the laminate to make a face edging accurate. Apply the glue to the concrete surface for better fixation with laminate. The profile of the metal guide must overlap with the riser. Before that, the surface must also be processed with wood. Then press the laminate to the concrete with your hands. Before fastening the panel to the guide, you should put the glue into the grooves. For the lateral surface of the monolithic staircase, you can also make laminate finishing. With such facing of the vertical, you should use the brass angle for framing by fixing it with the same adhesive solution. That’s all, the finishing of the monolithic staircase is ready. It is much cheaper to face the staircase with laminate than to use natural wood.
Installation of plywood between the concrete surface of the step and laminate will protect the panels from moisture and cracks. This simple device can extend the service life of your staircase.
Now you know how to make a repair with your own hands and finish the concrete staircases with wood in the house, tile in the street, etc. What materials will you need for the installation and finishing of the porch? Your opinion is very important to us. Leave the comments and tell us how you did the renovations.
