i recently moved into a rented property, it has a few bits wrong with it that doesn't concern me but the back door step does, somebody had put solid concrete blocks down and kind of cemented them, only there about 2 weeks ago the step started to fall apart, two people have already misplaced there footing and nearly did damage to there ankles, i contacted my leasing angency and they sent out a guy to have a look at it, he told me he was a carpenter and he was told to put in wood, he chose to bring in decking wood!! I'm no builder but this was not what i wanted, i told him to leave, i rang the leasing agency again only to be told there is not enough money there to repair this step, i'm sure if i broke my ankle they would soon change there mind, i told them i'll do it myself if i'm refunded the money i spend, they agreed happy days

What i need is somebody to help me with info on how to do this, hardcore? cement gravel mix? step height? this is a double step also so any help in how to do that aswell would be greatly appreciated

The photos i attached show the step with the solid blocks on it and when i removed them and the debris

 

Welcome to the forum.

From the pictures, it looks to be a fairly easy fix. Before I get into details, I will mention you did state it was a rental, so clear what you are going to do with the landlord (in writing preferably) before proceeding.

I'm not 100% sure on how to address the siding/flashing below the door. For the step, you could quickly frame it off with 8-10" planks, add some concrete anckers into the existing conrete for the new stuff to grap, then fill with concrete and smooth out.

 

Welcome to the forums Mark!

Wow, you got to remember it's not your house or your money paying for the repairs. I'm a little surprised the carpenter didn't just do what he was hired to do regardless of your opinion. I doubt a lawsuit would gain much traction since you run off the repairman. You might be the one getting sued instead

What is behind/under the hole beneath the sill? To fix it the way you want you'd form up the stoop and pour concrete. This could be a diy job using ready mix bags of concrete - just be sure to get the landlord to sign off on the work first!

 

I honestly have the landlords permission, he is a friend of mine, the leasing agency is who i have to deal with and they said yes just this morning, i am also doing a word document report for them and any info i use on this site will be recorded too, that doesn't mean any of you guys will get in trouble, i promise to edit out names and avatars.

There is a very large gap behind what is left of the step, should i take the rest of the step out first? it looks like someone had screwed up a piece of thin wood to stop the concrete going in to far, should i do this too?

 

It's not a good idea to cover wood up with concrete. Concrete tends to hold moisture and will rot out the wood, metal or plastic flashing would be better.

 

no no, i mean to stop the concrete from going under the house, i think there's a big gap under it, if you look at the 3rd and 2nd last photo you'll see there are screws in the bottom of the door frame, this is where the old piece of wood was attached, i think it was used to stop the flow of concrete going further under

 

I'd clean up the edges if required box off the step and poor in some ready mix. I wouldn't remove all of what is there as that is a lot more work for no gain.

 

cool, would it be cheaper to buy a ready mix or buy 3 bags of gravel and a bag of cement (a friend said this amount would do both the bottom and top part of the step), how would i go about anchoring it to the ground??

 

I'd use the ready mix bags. Much easier.
I'm not sure about local costs, but a bag of finishing readymix here was ~$5 at a big orange store.

I wouldn't worry about anchoring to the ground. It's not going to move.
Personally, I'd run a couple concrete anchores into the existing concrete, frame and poor.
Shouldn't take too many beer to complete.

 

Unless I'm totally misunderstanding, if you attach a piece of wood and the pour the concrete won't the wood be covered by the concrete?
I'd also use the ready mix bags instead of portland, gravel and sand. If there is any cost savings - it wouldn't be worth the added effort.

 

Pre-packaged bags of concrete mix are the way to go. With maybe a sack of Portland cement to "sweeten" each batch, making them stronger and more durable. Fill the gap with a wood (stay-in-place) form, then nail a piece of preformed bituminous joint filler to the wood form. It will provide some "give" and prevent the concrete from spalling/cracking if it wants to move with respect to the wood form.

If you've never poured steps before, they can be tricky (and unforgiving!). Risers should be about 7" (175 mm) high, and equal in height. Build the forms stoutly, out of 2x material (thick wood), such that you can beat on the faces with a stout hammer to consolidate the mix behind them and minimize air pockets. Mix the concrete "stiff" (not fluid), and fill the bottom step first, then pause a bit to allow that concrete to gain some set before filling in the higher step. Not doing so will result in the concrete flowing out at the bottom and creating all kinds of problems. Strip the forms when you can push your thumb into the finished surface without making an impression, then dress up the exposed vertical faces with a cement-sand slurry to close up any exposed holes. Don't forget some cure, and you're done.