We have had bad walkways on our property since we bought property 40 years ago.So we finally decided to go ahead a have the walks repaced.This man had replaced my garage floor ten years ago.
We hired him to install walks for the city,which the city is suppose to pay for, and and walks from street up to house.He dd ok but I went out to ask about the height of the steps from street to the house. We talked about these steps months ago about I wanted the steps done.When I went to ask about the step height there were two people on site and I said these steps aren't right.They said the boss will be right back and the cement will be here in 30 minutes. When I talked to the boss 10 minutes later when he showed up he said one of the guys I informed about the step height had rode to the site with him.That didn't work for me because the boss wasn't there when I told the two workers about the step height. Evidently the boss had left after dropping off the guy that he said rode with him..
Any way the truck was coming and they poured the walks the way they were with both one step steps 9 inches high.
He had a discussion about this and he said he could drill into the cement 9 inch step and intall rerod and add another short step.
When this man did my garage floor he said he would install rerod around th outside to attach the new cement floor the the fringe around the outside of the garage that he had cut a foot from the wall so he could remove the old garage floor that was cracked.
Your opinions on how the tall one-step steps can be made better.Nowhere in the area are step that height at the most 7 inches In my opinion the cemen truck should not have been ordered intill he talked to me.I am paying the bill. Thanks for your time and opinion.

 

Steps with 9" risers are too high, in my opinion. I strongly suspect the local building department (city or county) has standard specifications for exterior concrete construction that require risers to be no taller than 7-3/4", which is the IRC residential maximum value for interior steps. Your steps should be replaced to conform to the local code.

Don't pay the bill until the job is done correctly. If the steps are allowed to remain in place, you may be required to have them built correctly when it comes time to sell your property if the buyer's inspector is on the ball and points out the tripping hazard.

 

It's always been my understanding that the minimum tread depth is 10" and the maximum riser height is 8" Any steps that have a shorter tread or higher rise won't meet code, not to mention being awkward to use. I agree with BridgeMan - don't cut the final check until it's right!

 

Also don't allow him to drill in rebar and add to the height of the existing steps so he can put in an additional step to reduce the height of each one. That certainly isn't a good solution and won't hold up in the long run. The steps need to be demolished in redone correctly!

 

Does a cement contractor have to use the load of cement if he orders it and finds out the owner of property being poured had a different idea and he forgot or whatever.This contractor bid the city walk and that is all so far.No itemized list at all.The only thing he talks about is he has to be on his next job by tomorrow.
I am going to city hall tomorrow to find out the regulations of city step height.I realize the city just pays half of main walk price at least that's the way it is in this town.The contractor ask me if I wanted him to tear it out and I didn't reply then which was late that night the truck had come and sidewalk and steps poured.The next day which was this sat.he was just starting to drill for rerod and I told him I wasn't sold on this idea of rerod and he said i'd like to know why not.I didn't say anything and he kept on drilling and the cement truck came in about an hour yesterday.He isn't very happy with me but I' paying the bill.Now my wife not happy with me because she thinks i'm trying to make trouble.The contractor told me he had to start another job tomorrow and I said you mean this job doesn't matter.He walked away and never said a word.The next day I called to see if it was ok to seed and water in other places he said yes and hung up. If I were a trouble maker I wouldn't be asking these questions because I wouldn't care.

 

Basically once the concrete is mixed and left the plant - it has to be paid for. If the contractor thinks he needs 6 yards and the job only takes 5 - he still pays for 6 yards. Normally those costs get passed onto the customer. On rare occasions, the contractor might have a small job around the corner where he can use that extra concrete and reduce your cost .... but that is rare, they generally know how much concrete any particular job will take.

Probably your best bet is getting the city involved. Steps always have a code that needs to be followed. I suspect the more he strayed from those specs, the less they will like it.

 

Basically the walks and steps look pretty good.I am just concerned as to how long the add-on steps will last.I realize concrete will probably eventually start cracking at least that is what he told me which is pretty reassuring! This a pretty small town and some builders and city people tend to scratch each others back.I just don't want this to bite me I the fairly near future.I checked on the progress about 3-4 times a day mainly just to answer questions.Apparently that wasn't enough. Thank you very much for your thoughts on this. Its really something how you try to help the city more attractive and it ends up being tougher than it should be.

 

I went to city hall and zoning office and they said the main problem was the steps were not all close to 7and 3/4 inches which is suppose to be code. The zoning guy said he would stop by and look at them.So far I haven't seen him and its getting close to when the crew should be here.The zoning guy said he could make him fix them.

 

The only thing that I found out was as long as the city gets their money they could care less about what you want.My steps are now 3 1/2,5 1/2, next step 3 1/2,and 6 inches.The city man drove by and then called the contractor and told him they were fine. All in all the steps are better than 9 inches.The contractor may not be back. He's paid and case closed hopfully.