[owenpga]

Hello, Trying to get a feel for how best to approach my dilemma. Im trying to square up a paver foundation which butts against uneven cement walk and stairwell ( see photos).

1. My initial thought would be to somehow cut the cement back at end of walk to match up with first step of stairwell.

2. The first step is broken away slightly and dropped about and 1” or so. The hard way IMO of fixing this would be to break out the first step and I guess creat some kind of mold to re-pour first step level with end of walk.
Not sure what the easy way would be. As a DIY’er im certainly open to suggestions. thanks

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[Spyder]

I'm not a professional, just spitballing

1) how tall is the rise on the first step? compared to other steps? it looks short compared to others. if so, what about putting pavers on top of the first step at the level of the concrete and have that be your paver level

2) you could break out the concrete and replace with pavers.

 

[SPS-1]

I agree that you want to have the rise of all the steps equal, including the top step.

From here, it looks like top step is short. How much concrete would you have to pour to get the rise of the top step equal to the others ?

 

[owenpga]

Thanks for the responses. I thought they would come up in my email. I just happen to go back in to TT and saw your responses.

The difference b/t the right step and left step is less than 2”. If added paver on top step of basement steps , it would be a 10” drop The second step which wouldn’t work. My latest though would be to install the pavers

and cut back 12-18” on walkway and
re-pour small section to slope down to meet pavers. I don’t want to redo the walkway at this point. Your thoughts?


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[SPS-1]

I am not picturing everything you are saying. But I think you want to try very hard to get the rise on all the steps equal. That is code because that's what it takes to make it safe.

 

[ront02769]

Thanks for the responses. I thought they would come up in my email. I just happen to go back in to TT and saw your responses.

The difference b/t the right step and left step is less than 2”. If added paver on top step of basement steps , it would be a 10” drop The second step which wouldn’t work. My latest though would be to install the pavers

and cut back 12-18” on walkway and
re-pour small section to slope down to meet pavers. I don’t want to redo the walkway at this point. Your thoughts?


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So you are thinking of installing the paver slush with the steps going down....and then doing a mini ramp up to a cut back walkway? Sounds like a plan to me. You could also cut back a bit further on the walkway and just run pavers up the slope.

 

[owenpga]

Thanks for your comment. It like your idea but it might start to look a little to segmented if i run the pavers up as the right side of the walk is actually tapered up to the railing, so I’d have to leave that section intact. I think ive found my solution and now I just need to wait for the weather to dry things up. Which might not be anytime soon this time of year. Thanks again for your help.


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[owenpga]

I am not picturing everything you are saying. But I think you want to try very hard to get the rise on all the steps equal. That is code because that's what it takes to make it safe.

I agree. the only way to make steps even is to lower the left side (walkway) by creating a slope down to pavers. If i bring up the top step on the right side ill have a 10” first step
which won’t work. Thanks for your response.


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[SPS-1]

I think you have the top step low. Which means that has to be brought up --- probably pouring a cap over it only way. The landing at top of stairs should be level with the top step, so that height is already defined for you too. I would cut away part of that sidewalk and slope it as required. If the difference in height is 1", removing about 18" of sidewalk should make the change in height hard to notice. Really, I would pour all that -- but pavers work too if that is your preference

 

[owenpga]

I think you have the top step low. Which means that has to be brought up --- probably pouring a cap over it only way. The landing at top of stairs should be level with the top step, so that height is already defined for you too. I would cut away part of that sidewalk and slope it as required. If the difference in height is 1", removing about 18" of sidewalk should make the change in height hard to notice. Really, I would pour all that -- but pavers work too if that is your preference

Like I mentioned in my last response adding more cement to the top step to basement is going to make the step more than 8 inches to the second step. I don’t want to have a nine or 10 inch first step down. over the years the foundation has shifted creating this unevenness. Like i also mentioned in previous post cutting back the existing walk and sloping it down to pavers seems like a logical solution. There is no need to bring up the other step if the solution to the problem is sloping the walkway downward. Thanks for your input.



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