Stoop Repair
Dear Brownstoners, Please bear with this longish story about my stoop repair. Any comments and/or recommendations would be highly appreciated. I have a brownstone stoop, which is a two sets of stairs connected by a 6X6 landing. There were a number of cracks in the landing, on the side of the landing and the bottom…
Dear Brownstoners, Please bear with this longish story about my stoop repair.
Any comments and/or recommendations would be highly appreciated.
I have a brownstone stoop, which is a two sets of stairs connected by a 6X6 landing.
There were a number of cracks in the landing, on the side of the landing and the bottom stairs which got worse this winter. I hired a guy who had done some repairs to other stoops in the neighborhood.. He did this as a sideline to a construction job he is part of on my block. The work he did on those stoops seemed OK – he was charging a few hundred dollars and I thought that would solve my immediate problem of not making the stoop worse over the winter, though I did not want to rebuild the stoop. Well, he chipped away at the cracks as part of the repair process and it turns out this is a pretty big job now and there are tunnels and grooves all over the landing and its side, as well as on the bottom steps.. The guy himself seems to have no clue on how to match the colors (though we picked out a color and some tinted sand). Now I have a stoop with deep tunnels and grooves chipped into it where the cement was cracked or crumbly.
The longer term good solution is to redo the stoop (and redo the surface of the brownstone as well) but my near term goal is to repair the stoop and match the color of
the brownstone roughly. The top set of stairs is fine; it is the landing and the last few steps which are in rough (now rougher shape).
I am feeling very annoyed at myself for going with this “pickup†worker, and not bidding out the job and learning beforehand what was going on with the stoop.. This guy seems to have experience with masonry repairs and cement but is not a “brownstoning†pro and I am quite frankly pretty nervous now that it appears that the stoop is in rough shape.
I was speaking with Sal this am (an owner of Pintchik) about this problem which began yesterday and he was discussing a great brownstone masonry company owner when the guy walked into the store. He came to see the job and said that a patch job was inadequate for the longer term, and gave me a price of 1800 for doing the repairs
alone (the first guy chipped away A LOT of the landing). He recommended the use of a pre-mixed cement (he had a sample which matched perfectly) which he told me he could give me details on where to get it for my worker if I decided to do that. Another bid was 4,000 dollars for the repair alone (total flim flam jerk also working in the neighborhood).
Any feedback on how to solve this problem from a structural and aesthetic perspective without totally breaking the bank would be appreciated. Recommendations on companies or repair people would be appreciated. I will completely rebuild the steps as part of a total brownstone job at some point, but not now.
Thanks for your kind help.
oh and Pete thanks for the offer to show me the work he did at your place.
Minard, you are correct about the fact that the damaged part is concrete. The “landing” is cement and an add-on, the original steps are really basically ok. If you are still following this, I got a solid company to repair/rebuild and redo the entire thing
And Pete, it has got to be a different guy because the person I met was smarmy and creepy. Nice and gentle he was not, so definately different guy.
can’t be the same Shahab (common name). He is too nice and gentle to have someone say that about him.
Very honest (keeps set of keys for my house for years) and when I’m away goes to my house for emergencies (heat out, tenant problems).
Oh Pete, you use Shabab? I met him yesterday. Sorry, buddy, I did NOT like that guy. I wanted to take a shower after meeting him. Ah, well, if you found a way to work with him, good. The guy I got was Dave’s person. But thanks, Pete.
Thank you Legion and Minard very much. Legion you obviously have a lot of experience with thanks for the detailed recipe. The 1800 guy was actually not enthusiastic about the job and it was just to Patch!! The original guy was a real mistake and actually removed so much material, I was freaked. I realized that a patch job was pretty much impossible to do without recurring issues and a total stoop repair was going to be necessary. I got Dave’s guy who is a brownstone mason and who did a great job on his facade and steps. He also gave me a very good price and he will chip away at the cement, lay a new coat of cement, then cover it with colored brownstone material. He will do the two sets of stairs, landing and sides. I wasn’t planning on doing this but I had been watching those cracks over the last two winters and not liking the way they looked and this was one part of my brownstone “renovation” I never did. At least I will get the job done right. I hope. But he did a great job for Dave and others.
Thanks and JW, aren’t you off from school now? Stay away from the construction biz anyway.
you can try my guy who I have used for many years for all my masonry work. shahab – at cell#646 523-7155.
He is honest…maybe not the cheapest. Tell him Peter from Baltic street sent him.
welcome to look at work he has done for me…sidewalk, masonry walls, stucco over brick on garden level (streetside).
If doing fix – don’t get too overfixated on exact color matching…as age and dirt blend it all in.
hi donatella,
ok here’s the short term fix, although I have to agree that if a pro can fix it with a guarantee for $1800, that may be the best way to go before the complete demo.
short term fix:
-use the premixed cement that was recommended by Pintchek.
and don’t worry about the exact color match. Make sure that the cracks and holes are patched flush all around.
-next, bring a sample of the chipped away brownstone steps
(a good sized piece) to the HomeDepot to have it computer scanned for a color match.
-Homedepot has a Masonry Stain (yes, it sounds crazy but it’s for masonry and is stainable and breathes).
You will have to go with the “opaque” stain as the color is dark for brownstones
-once the color is matched properly they will tint the opaque stain properly.
-have the workers paint the stairs properly for a brand new look, they can add mixing sand to the opaque tint for a granular finish.
Good luck.
$1,800 sounds like a bargain. A full stoop rebuild can easily cost $8k. Which doesn’t mean you won’t get a good job but I would check his references carefully.
Nice job on that stoop DIBS.