I have a small step right outside of the side entrance of my house. Its top side is constructed with a flat square-shaped concrete in the center, and pieces of stone in three sides of the concrete center. In other words, the entrance step has stones to form its three edges to have a finish look. It was fine until after last winter when it starts developing a slight gap between the concrete center and each of the stone. Moreover, the masonry in the butt-joint of two stones was completely crumpled. I need to find a way to stablize the situation.
I don't want to completely remove the stones and put them back. The reason is that the stones are still solidly attached to the step. I don't see them falling away any time soon. But I am afraid that the situation may get worse if I don't fix it; especially I am afraid that water will follow the gap into the under side of the stones, and will become ice up during the winter and loosen the stones. I need to find a way to seal the small gaps (like 1/16") between the concrete center and the stones, and the large gap (like 3/4") between stones.
I figure that I can clean up the large gap and fill the large gap with masonry. What kind of masonry is good for this? By the way my house was built in 1950's.
I don't have any good idea of filling up the small gap. The gap is so small that I doubt I can put any masonry into it. Should I try leveling compound? But leveling compound is very expensive (I get some left but it is for indoor use). Should I try a bottle of gap filler that is for concrete driveway?
Thanks in advance for any suggestion.
Jay Chan