preformed concrete steps

A friend of mine bought a house to fix and resell. The steps to the front porch were solid concrete and in poor shape, so I knocked them out and replaced it with preformed concrete steps. He now has a contract on the house and the people do not like the steps. Standard preformed are 48" across and when centered leave about an inch on each side of the porch. They do not like the gap on the sides so they want pre-treated lumber or red wood or whatever to cover the steps and the gaps. I don't see it the same way as they do. I think the steps look just fine, but since they don't I have to do something. My question is if any one has any suggestions? I can probably do something with wood, but my dilemna seems to be the "lip" on the preformed steps. I can't seem to picture how to work around those. Please don't be too technical because you'll lose me! Thanks for the help!

 

In a situation like this, you could either make a concession on the steps in the contract, or remove them and build steps out of the material they like. Covering the concrete steps would almost be an impossibility and still have a good looking staircase.

 

Thanks for answering Larry!