# Concrete Steps have settled towards house



## papakevin (Oct 22, 2011)

Purchase a very distressed house to fix up and have more or less figured out how to address most of the items except for one - settling concrete steps and top landing that slopes towards the house. I have looked into having someone do the injection thing to raise it,  the foundation of the house doesn't lend itself to raising the steps.   

I'm more concerned about the water which gets dumped towards the foundation vs anything else, so I'm wondering if I can pour a new top to level it away from the house.  Any advice is appreciated. The crawl space has some moisture issues so I'm trying to dry it out as much as possible.


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## papakevin (Nov 6, 2011)

Adding photos so you can see what I'm attempting to describe.  Thanks.


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## joecaption (Nov 6, 2011)

Personaly I would not waiste the time to pay someone to try and jack it. I'd jack hammer it out and dig out under it this time to remove the top soil, back fill with #57 stone then repore a new stoop or make a pressure treat one.
If you do not have working gutters, regrade around that house and get rid of that pored to low and no slope patio, you will alway have water in the crawl space. I'd also bet the crawl space is lower then the outside grade. It needs to be back filled to get it higher or you will continue to have a pond under there.
Also is there at least a 6 mil. plastic vaper barrier under the house?


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## BridgeMan (Nov 7, 2011)

If you enjoy dong things the long, hard way, follow joecaption's advice.  But a more practical alternative is to place a thin-bonded concrete overlay--probably requires half the time, and about one-third of the materials.  And you won't have to figure out how to get rid of all of the leftover concrete chunks (many landfills charge you dearly, requiring payment based on weight).


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## East_Texas (Dec 8, 2011)

If you want something that is basically guaranteed to last for as long as you own the house, then do it right and do not patch it with any overlay, which by the way is quite likely to crack and or continue to sink with the old  stuff or come loose after a few cold winters of freezing water seeping into any cracks.   Remove the old porch / stoop completely and put in a good solid base that you are sure will not keep sinking like it is doing now.  Then pour a new porch or build one out of ptw.


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