Repair Concrete Step

[Buck Turgidson]

I have a step to a door where a chunk chipped off the end. If I built a wood form and filled it in with concrete or straight portland cement, would it bond to the existing concrete?

[Joe]

Cement repairs bond fairly well, but you need to choose your material carefully. First, old chipped concrete is inherently dirty. Start your repair by chipping down to fresh unexposed concrete. Chisel a few grooves if you can to key the repair in place. Build a form. You should have a HIGH STRENGTH concrete patch or mortar mix on hand, which you bought at Menards, Home Depot or wherever. Mix what you need and follow directions on the bag precisely, not too dry, nor too wet. Dampen the chiseled area and pat it dry or use a bit of compressed air if you have it available. Trowel on your mortar and smooth off and work out the bubbles. Let it alone for a couple of days and take off the forms. A little work with a mason's mortar stone will smoooth off the little imperfections and you're good to go. HTH

Joe

[Colbyt]

Adding to the advice above I would install two or more anchor pins to help reinforce the patch. Depending on the size of the patch these pins would vary in size from large tapcon screws to 3/8" rebar.

No matter what you do it is not going to last forever.

Colbyt

[Buck Turgidson]

Are you suggesting that I drill some tapcons in first, and then pour concrete around them, thereby embedding the tapcons?

Thanks for the tip.

[hallerb]

yeah the tapcons help, wait about a month then seal the entire steps with a liberal covering of thompsons water seal.

if a collapse of this step would be very dangerous, like the top step of 10 making it a long fall or you are planning on selling the home your probably better off replacing the steps.

buyers, home inspectors and lawyers if someone falls will make your life miserable.

given all that i have fixed some successfully for over 10 years.

the trouble is the base material concrete you attach patch to weakens so futher failuire is guaranteed

[<aemeijers]

Yeah, just like a dentist putting a pin in a broken tooth, so the crown has something to hold on to. For a small chip or spalled area, tapcons. If the whole corner of the step is missing, rent a hammer drill, and epoxy a stud or loop of rebar in there. Make sure the stud doesn&#39;t stick out further than you want the patch to cover. Pay attention to what everyone said about breaking or grinding the surface, so the patch is bonding with a freshly exposed edge. If it is weathered, the patch will fail. The stud or loop is to hold the patch on, with only a hairline crack, if the old to new joint doesn&#39;t survive the first hard frost or 100-degree day.

How big is this step, anyway? If it is small, it might not be much more work to bust it out and pour a new one, and then it would never fail. Sakcrete is cheap.

aem sends...

aem sends...

[Colbyt]

Yes. The other posters have already responded. I confirm and agree with all they said.

If a small repair using tapcons buy one long enough to leave at least half of the new pour encased around the head.

Colbyt