Concrete Porch and Step Repair in Hamilton
The small concrete jobs bigger outfits will not quote: a set of front steps, a whole porch with its staircase, a shed or hot tub pad, parging on a tired foundation wall. Each one priced in writing and built to last. Lumen Landscaping repairs and rebuilds porches and steps across Hamilton: call (905) 906-0671 or send the form for a free written quote.
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Steps, porches and pads
Small concrete jobs, done properly
Front steps are the first thing a visitor touches. A shed pad is the foundation under something you have already paid for. A crumbling porch is the one thing a buyer notices from the car. These are not big jobs, which is exactly why they are hard to get quoted: a concrete company set up for parking lots does not want them, and a handyman does not have the forms, the rebar or the finishing tools. We do.
Each kind of job below has its own section, in the words we use on the quote, so you know what you are comparing when you get another price. One rule runs through all of them: the base and the reinforcement are never skipped to make a small job cheaper. A porch gets rebar. A pad gets five inches of base and five of concrete. A set of steps gets a compacted base and a non slip brush finish.
Materials are billed at what they cost us. Call (905) 906-0671 or send the form for a free written quote.
Our Work
Steps and pads we have built
What we build, and what each one includes
Five jobs, each with the scope your quote will carry.
- Front porch replacement with stairs: Disconnect or support the awning as needed. Excavate and dispose of the existing porch. Install a new gravel base. Pour the new porch at least 4 inches thick throughout with rebar reinforcement and a non slip brush finish. Reinstall the awning and railings with all new hardware.
- Porch options: Bull noses on the steps for a rounded, finished edge. A front porch wall running the whole front of the porch down to below grade, built at least 6 inches thick with rebar and parged over the entire wall on completion.
- Shed and hot tub pads: Excavate and dispose of the soil, then install 5 inches of compacted aggregate base. Install wire mesh reinforcement and pour 5 inches of 32 MPa concrete with a brush finish. Cut stress joints, strip the forms and clean the concrete. Built heavier than a walkway, because a full hot tub or a loaded shed weighs more than a car.
- Steps and landings on a walkway: A raised step and landing formed with the walkway, with a bull nose detail on the step, on a 4 inch compacted aggregate base with 10 gauge wire mesh and 32 MPa concrete at 4 inches or more.
- Parging: Strip or grind the existing paint and loose parging as required, then clean and prep the surfaces. Apply concrete bonding adhesive. Parge with a polymer reinforced concrete parging mix for a durable, even finish. Disconnect and reconnect any lights as needed.
- Old concrete away: The old steps, porch or pad loaded, hauled and tipped at a licensed disposal site.
- An honest answer on repairs: If your steps or porch can be resurfaced, we say so. If they are too far gone we say that too, and quote a replacement.
Google reviews
What our customers say
“The crew at Lumen Landscaping did an amazing job pouring our concrete patio last September. The entire experience was positive from beginning to end. The owner was honest, professional, and clearly takes great pride in his work.”
“We recently hired Lumen Landscaping to build a stone patio in our backyard, a concrete pad for our shed. … The owner is professional and highly knowledgeable, providing great advice and solutions for a reasonable price.”
“They built a concrete slab for our new backyard shed and also cleaned up a side garden area that needed a refresh. … Prices are reasonable and results are great. He's our go to person for outdoor landscaping work.”
Step by step
How a porch replacement goes, step by step
The porch is the biggest of these jobs, so here is its order. Steps and pads follow the same path with less of it.
- The visit: We measure the porch and the stairs, count the risers, look at how the awning and the railings are fastened, check where the water goes now, and send a written quote with the scope above.
- The permit question: In Hamilton a porch or deck attached to the house needs a building permit, whatever its size. We tell you before we quote whether yours does and what the City will want on the drawing.
- Locates and demolition: Ontario One Call marks buried lines first. The awning is disconnected or supported, the old porch is broken out and hauled to a licensed disposal site.
- Base, forms and rebar: A new gravel base, forms built to the new rise and run, rebar tied and set in the pour, not laid on the ground.
- The pour and the finish: At least 4 inches of concrete throughout, placed and finished with a non slip brush finish; bull noses on the steps if you chose them.
- Railings, awning and the first days: Forms stripped, the awning and railings reinstalled with all new hardware, the site cleaned. We tell you when the steps can take foot traffic and when the railing is ready to lean on.
Why Hamilton homeowners choose Lumen for small concrete jobs
We quote the jobs others pass on, and we build them with the same base, mesh and rebar a driveway gets. You get a fast reply, a written quote with the scope on it, and one local crew from the first call to the last railing bolt.
- Materials at cost, no markup: You pay what the concrete, rebar, mesh and aggregate cost us; the contractor discount is passed straight to you.
- 1-year craftsmanship warranty: If something we built moves or fails within a year because of how we built it, we come back and make it right.
- Fully insured: Liability coverage on every job, so your home is protected while we work.
- Over 40 five-star Google reviews: Local homeowners rate us five stars, and you can read every review on Google.
Planning
What is not included, what changes the price, and permits
Not included. New railings, if yours cannot be reused, are quoted separately; reinstalling the ones you have, with new hardware, is in the porch scope. The electrical for a hot tub is a licensed electrician’s job; we build the pad and leave the conduit path you need. For parging we disconnect and reconnect your lights; new fixtures are not included. The shed itself, and any permit it needs as an accessory building, is yours; we tell you if the size you want triggers one.
Resurfacing instead of rebuilding. A porch or a set of steps that is sound underneath but flaking, pitted or chipped on top can be resurfaced rather than replaced: the loose surface comes off, the concrete is cleaned, a bonding agent goes on and a new finish is applied, with a non slip brush finish on the treads. A porch front wall that is crumbling gets parging: old paint and loose parging stripped or ground off, a concrete bonding adhesive, then a polymer reinforced parging mix for an even finish. Where the concrete is crumbling through or the steps have pulled away from the house, resurfacing would only hide it for a season, and we quote a replacement instead.
What affects the price.
- Porch size, the number of steps and whether there is a wall below grade
- How much old concrete has to be broken out and hauled
- Rebar and mesh, which we never leave out
- Awning and railing work
- Pad size and thickness: a hot tub pad is sized for the tub you are buying
- Parging by the face foot, and how much old paint has to come off first
Permits. The City of Hamilton requires a building permit for any porch or deck attached to the house, and for a detached one over 10 square metres that sits more than 200 mm above grade. A shed pad on its own does not need one; a large shed can. Before any digging, Ontario One Call marks the buried lines; the locate is free. We tell you before we quote what applies to your job.
The season. Spring to fall, when the ground and the air are warm enough for concrete to cure. Most of these jobs are one pour with a day or two of preparation before it.
Service Areas
Where we build steps, porches and pads
Hamilton is home: Hamilton (see our Hamilton concrete page), Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek, Waterdown, Mount Hope, Binbrook and Glanbrook and Flamborough. The Old Town in Stoney Creek and the older streets of the lower city are full of homes built with a poured front porch, and that is where porch replacement comes up most. We also work in Burlington, Grimsby, Oakville, Mississauga, Cambridge and Guelph, wherever the work is. See all our service areas.
Related
Problems this fixes, and related pages
If something is wrong with what you have, read cracked or crumbling concrete steps and a cracked or sunken concrete walkway. Related: concrete, concrete driveways and walkways and front entrances.
FAQs
Steps, porch and pad questions
No. There is no minimum, and a set of front steps, a small landing or a shed pad gets the same base, the same reinforcement and the same written quote as a driveway. A lot of the time we can quote small jobs over the phone, by text or by email from a few photos and measurements, and we come out when the job needs a look.
Sometimes. Steps and porches that are sound underneath can be resurfaced, and a loose tread or a chipped edge can be patched. Once the concrete is crumbling through or the steps have pulled away from the house, replacement is the honest answer, and we say so. Read cracked concrete steps.
Usually that the ground under them has settled. Front steps usually sit on backfill against the foundation, and when it settles or washes out the steps drop and tip away from the wall, opening a gap that lets water in. Patching the gap does not stop it, so steps that have pulled away are replaced on a new compacted base; read cracked or crumbling concrete steps.
Parging is the coat of mortar over the exposed foundation. It protects and tidies the block or concrete behind it. We strip or grind the loose parging and old paint, apply a bonding adhesive and parge with a polymer reinforced mix. It does not fix a foundation that is moving; that is a different trade, and we tell you if we see signs of it.
Yes. Parging is quoted as its own job, by the area of wall, whether or not the steps are being replaced, and any lights on the wall are disconnected and put back. It is best done from spring to fall, when the wall and the air are warm enough for the mix to cure.
Five inches of compacted aggregate base, wire mesh, and five inches of 32 MPa concrete with a brush finish and stress joints. That is heavier than a walkway because a filled hot tub, or a shed with a mower and a winter's worth of stuff in it, weighs more than a car.
Yes, once you have chosen the tub. The pad is sized for the tub you are buying, so send us the model or its measurements, and the path for the electrician's conduit is left where you need it. A new pad has to cure before a filled tub sits on it, and we tell you the date it is ready.
Yes. The awning is disconnected or supported before the old porch comes out and reinstalled with all new hardware afterward, along with your railings. If the railings cannot be reused we tell you when we quote and price new ones separately.
Most porches are one pour with a day or two of preparation before it: the old porch broken out and hauled, then the base, the forms and the rebar. The forms come off and the railings and awning go back once the concrete has set, and your written quote gives the dates. If the weather moves a day, we try to give a heads-up on any delays and let you know when we are coming, with as much notice as possible.
You can walk on them within a day or so, and we tell you the exact time before we leave. Give the concrete its first week before anything heavy sits on it. Keep de-icing salt off it in the first winter and use sand for grip.
It is worth doing. Concrete Ontario's guidance is to let new concrete air dry for at least 30 days before it is sealed, and a breathable sealer then slows the water and salt that cause flaking. Sealing is not in the base scope, and we can quote it with the steps.
If the porch is attached to the house, yes, whatever its size; that is the City of Hamilton's rule for porches and decks. A detached one needs a permit when it is over 10 square metres and more than 200 mm above grade. We tell you before we quote and say what the drawing has to show.
How it works
Getting started is easy
- 1
Call or send the form
Tell us what you have in mind. We reply fast, usually within the hour.
- 2
Get your free quote
We look at your project and send you a clear, written quote quickly.
- 3
We build it
We start quickly and back our craftsmanship with a 1-year warranty.
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Get a Free Quote for Steps, a Porch or a Pad
Tell us what you need built and send a photo. We will measure, tell you whether a permit applies, and get back to you fast with a free written quote.