Concrete porch needs help?

Question

Our small back porch is in bad shape. It doesn't appear to be connected to the house anymore, if it ever was, and chuncks are missing. It is leaning away from the house.

What should I do with it?

About removing the porch and putting in a new one...

If the existing porch is leaning and sinking, wouldn't a new porch in the same spot end up doing the same thing?

I might have used some regional terminology. Where I grew up, we said "porch." But really, they're just three steps going from the ground to the door.

Answer 1

Okay, it sounds like your back steps are in bad shape. More than likely, it was poured separately and was never connected to the house. That's a heavy chunk of concrete and they often pull away and begin to sink over time.
As you probably already know, uneven stairs are dangerous. And if chunks are missing, your best choice is to have someone break it up and replace it. You could go have one poured in or repace it with wood steps or a pre-fab unit.

Answer 2

If the edge of the porch concrete (next to the house) is jagged or uneven ... AND the edge of the house concrete in the same area is jagged or uneven ... then the proch was probably originally attached. If the edges don't appear to match, they probably weren't attached. Most modern (post-1970) porches of this type are not normally attached directly to the foundation, if the proch is at or near ground level. Instead, they'd use a little 'crack filler' and close up the seam between a precast porch block and the house foundation proper.

If the porch surface is leaning away from house (more than the normal slope required to drain water AWAY from the foundation), then you've had some settling problems with the foundation of the porch itself. To correct this will require removal of the old porch, or at least exposing the foundation down at the bottom of the porch material.

If the porch is in bad shape (cracked, broken, etc) like you say it is, then - depending on actual size - it might be easier to tear it up and pitch it ... or to refurbish it. To my mind, a 'small' porch (less than 100 square feet) would be a junker, while a 'large' one (over 200 square feet) would be a fixer-upper.

If the porch is also covered (you didn't mention this, so I'm recommending something that may not apply) - check where the roof of the proch connects (or used to connect) to the house, to make sure you haven't done damage to the siding or structural members. These will need to be fixed as part of the porch repair, too!

And if the original wasn't covered, I'd suggest you at least look at a way to do so for the new one ... it will make the transition from outdoors to indoors easier on your home, and will certainly help to protect the new porch from future problems (assuming the covering is done correctly).

Answer 3

Sounds to me that you need a new porch , pick up the yellow pages and start calling builders up and have them come to your home to give you an estimate , get as many as you can and also let them know that you are getting estimates from other builders so you can the get the best price possible .

Good Luck ,
P.S. make sure they have a License !

Answer 4

If you want to fix it yourself, I suggest boarding around the porch and mix some quik-crete to fill up along sides and fill in missing chunks. If this isn't possible, you'll have to tear it out or hire someone to fix it. Or if you want a cover up try trimming it out with lawn timbers or decorative brick.

Answer 5

Have the house moved till it connects with the porch again.

Answer 6

Hopefully it wasn't attached to your house. If it wasn't thats a good thing. Tear it out and pour another. Hire a good contractor to do the work.

Answer 7

Have it busted out and replaced with another seems simple enough don't you think?