The front steps to my student rental need repair, and my mason will be repairing/refinishing all the surfaces of the staircase including the sides of the staircase.

Can you suggest anything I can direct my mason to do, to improve the look of the staircase? I posted two pictures of the front of the house.

There’s a language barrier with my trusted Hungarian mason, but I think he said he's going to use wire mesh and concrete on the sides of the stair case and the risers.

Any thoughts on what to do with the concrete steps to improve the curb appeal? And, if you've looked at the photos of the house, any ideas to improve other aspects of the house's curb appeal? BTW, I always show the house in the winter.

Thanks - Bill

Aww! What a nice place! :) Congrats. You take good care of it.

Usually, if I'm worried about stains on plain concrete, I'll periodically give them a good power wash.

Likewise, I have a few concrete porches that I have painted with porch paint. It has a bit of grit/texture that helps against slipping.

But I think the plain concrete looks just fine.

How do I see the pictures?

A couple options, although both cost more. Keep in mind I suggest these without seeing photos so they may not be appropriate.

1) Brick edge the perimeter

2) Put a border of colored concrete (easy to color, mix in pigment...but they'd have to do in two steps after main section dries)

Hi,

I recommend sandblasting vs power washing to guarantee superior bonding strength and non slumping of the troweling and finish resurfacing procedure.

Bill Wilso can't see them from here too bad I didn't know sooner my daughter and family were on their way to Virginia Beach yesterday,stopping in Baltimore to catch yesterdays game.Grellan is a plasterer might have been able to give you s few ideas,did their own with flagstone last fall.The guy from Hungary should be able to do a decent job,just use the same techniques on the top as on the steps Worked in Scotland with people from Hungzary Italy Poland and several other European countries away back None of us knew what the others were talking about,but it didn't really seem to matter,they had the same problem with us

we all got along good,2000 Day shift and the same number on the night shift.I have also used pressure treated 5/4" x. 6" over the concrete with using TapCons.no problem so far........

Hoosier, You can see the pictures by scrolling to the top of this page and click on "PICTURES" in the box "POST YOUR PICTURES..." I've been going to this site for years and I just figured out how to see the pictures.

I think you'll see from the pictures, that a brick edge wouldn't go with the house but a pigment in an interesting thought. We're not doing the treads and the landing so perhaps pigmentation the rest of the stairway might look good.

If you can see the pictures, please let me know what you think.

Thanks for the compliment, Deanna. I never get tired of hearing those :-) I've had this house for over 10 years and never washed them. Some times I marvel how often I miss the obvious. However, I'm having the mason do work to repair all the cracks and he plans to finish everything except the surfaces you walk on. And regarding similar stairs, I do love to drive/walk around to get ideas. I feel like my large concrete stair case in the front of the house is unique, but I won't know until I try. Thanks.

Thanks Sisco. Replacing the fasteners with SS makes good sense. My mason will be refinishing(?) the risers. I'd bleach the treads, but some of them have been replaced and I wonder if bleaching will accentuate the difference in the treads?

Robert, I'm on it. Thanks. I really like the thumbs up and down ratings, to see if what's being told is solid info.

Thanks Nolan. Interesting. Now I just need to figure out how and get the guts to talk with my Hungarian mason about the techniques and materials used. We usually only discuss the areas that need to be repaired, but not how he's going to do it.

Charlie, I guess it would look better if my guy used "the same techniques on the top as on the steps" Especially as some of the steps have been replaced and don't all look the same. I don't understand the 5/4 x 6" pressure treated, though.

Wow, that must that must of been something to work with those people around the world. I've never experienced anything like that.

Small potatoes, thanks for sharing the techniques. Again, I need to figure out how to communicate with my mason who's English is not so good. His wife's English is better, so maybe I can text her.

Thanks AllyM. Yes, they are a lot of stairs. Perhaps I should advertise: "stay at my house and stay in shape". And maybe I should just trust in what my nice Hungarian mason does.

Thank you all!

Ok BillW, I am able to see pics thank you! Yes bricks would not look good. Another option is painting and using an anti-slip coating on the treads to ensure not slippery.

I looked at many stairs on-line, and it seems the color of portland cement is the hip color these days, so I'm leaning towards that. And since some of the treads have been replaced and are not all matching, I'm thinking of asking my mason to finish all the surfaces, so the color will be the same on everything. I think my biggest challenge, considering the language barrier with my Hungarian mason, it to be sure the job is done in a way that will "stand the test of time".

And I'm glad you asked and found the pictures. It was literally years I'd go on the site and think "Hmm..what pictures are they talking about? How do you see these pictures"

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