Concrete steps construction in Medford MA - a solid way in and out of your house

Most calls about steps start with a crack, a wobble or a gap opening at the door. The price turns on precast or poured, how many steps and how wide, how they're held up, and how much old concrete and settled dirt has to come out. The schedule turns on the weather, since fresh concrete can't be left to freeze, and on whether the city wants a permit first. After I see the job, you get a written estimate with your price and what's included and what isn't.

I start by going over precast and poured steps with you, what each costs and what you give up, and then I work out how your steps will be held up, whether they rest on the ground, tie into a landing or the foundation, or span as a stair, before I price anything. Our crew takes out the old steps and digs past the loose dirt to pack the subgrade, the ground the steps sit on, because a base that's only raked level settles and drags the steps away from the door. On poured steps we set the forms, place rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together, then pour, give the treads a broom finish, a light texture that helps shoes grip, and let them cure, which is the wait while the concrete gains strength before you use them. Precast units go onto the same packed base, pitched so water runs away from the house, and we clean up before we leave. If the budget's tight, I'd put the money into the base over a fancier finish, because nobody sees the base on day one but it's what decides whether the steps stay level.

Steps usually meet the house, so the job often connects to the concrete behind them. If you're adding a room or building new, we can plan the steps with your slab foundation building or foundation installation project, so the heights and drainage are settled once instead of patched later.

Medford's building official issues permits to build or repair a structure, and the city's list of work that doesn't need one names things like sheds, retaining walls and ordinary repairs but not concrete steps, so whether your steps need a permit is the building official's call. We check with the Building Department before the job goes on the schedule, and if a permit is needed, we handle the application and tell you up front that we're the ones pulling it. Historic districts add a step. If your house is in the Hillside Avenue or Marm Simonds district, Medford's Historic District Commission reviews exterior changes once an application is filed, and the department won't issue a permit for work that affects architectural features until you have the Commission's certificate. The Old Ship Street district is a national historic district outside the Commission's review, and the city's by-law lists some exceptions to the certificate rule, so tell me at the estimate if you're in a district and we'll sort out the order before anything is scheduled.

A lot of the houses we work on around here are older, with front steps that have been through decades of freeze and thaw and fill underneath that's settled. We find the same thing on jobs in Somerville and Malden, so we expect to dig out more than the old steps show before the new base goes in.