[jon1123]

My entire WIDE, front entrance stairway is pulling away from the surrounding walls and sinking. Some of the stairs' stone work is separating from its morter on one side and looking pretty sad. When we first bought the house I noticed the settling so I mixed some morter, plugged the cracks and hoped that it would stop--but it hasn't. This is a large staircase covered with stonework. Am I going to have to tear it out and start over or can I just cover the stairway with a new, staggered deck, attaching the ledger boards to the walls and not the stairway. A new stairway would rise from the walkway at the bottom of the stairs up to the deck.

 

[DexterII]

This is a case where pictures would definitely help a lot.

 

[Ron6519]

The staircase is sinking because the base was inadequately prepared.
Do you want to just bury this structure under another one of wood?
Is this something you really want to do? Sounds ill advised to me.

 

[rollinastang]

without pics i dont know if my advice will help you or not. my friend had a similar problem with his front stoop. he hired a contractor that dug a channel under the existing stoop then they jacked it up and then pumped concrete under it and it raised up the stoop to a flush setting... i dont know how big ur porch is or if this will work for u in your predicament or not ...maybe have someone check it out and give u some advice also add some pics and im sure someone on here will give u a better answer.

 

[AfterDinner]

without pics i dont know if my advice will help you or not. my friend had a similar problem with his front stoop. he hired a contractor that dug a channel under the existing stoop then they jacked it up and then pumped concrete under it and it raised up the stoop to a flush setting... i dont know how big ur porch is or if this will work for u in your predicament or not ...maybe have someone check it out and give u some advice also add some pics and im sure someone on here will give u a better answer.

Pumping concrete can help in a lot of cases especially if it is settlement. Are any gutters or roof overhangs draining in this area? In many cases, the problem is settlement, but caused by a drainage problem. If it is a drainage problem, simply pumping concrete does not "fix" the problem. You would want to install a underdrain or possibly a gravel layer prior to pumping concrete to fix the drainage.

If the dirt under the concrete washes away, the porch will settle again.

-Dan