Sandstone Stair Repair

A common repair, especially in older homes in the Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights area, is concrete stair repair. For this task, I had a client contact me about sandstone stairs that were loose and unsafe. Their building department issued a warning to get them repaired. That’s where a handyman comes in.

Repairing Sandstone Stairs

Sandstone is very soft. So, when you have a repair that requires old concrete to be removed, extra care must be taken to not damage or crack the stairs. Oftentimes, homeowners unknowingly (or other repair people, ignorantly) use concrete to repair or touch up their sandstone stairs when mortar is the correct approach.

For this repair, I used a hammer and chisel to remove all loose concrete. If the concrete wouldn’t come off, I didn’t force it. The mortar surrounding that area would hold. Although it does happen, it’s important not to crack or damage the sandstone stairs if at all possible.

Sandstone stairs in disrepair

Damage on the Base

Typically, if sandstone stairs are loose it’s caused by a crumbling base, which was the case with these stairs. The brick base that the steps sat on were loose. The house is almost 100 years old so this is not unusual. So, the first thing was to repair the base. The base doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing but it does have to be functionally sound and it has to level.

As you can see, I left the top stair on and didn’t remove it. It was very solid and didn’t move at all, plus it was anchored with a steel anchor pin. While it’s typical and much easier to work top down, it makes no sense to remove a stair that is firm and functionally sound.

Placing the Stair

Once the base was fixed, I placed the step, being certain that is was sound. I use a technique that I’ve developed to make the mortar joints aesthetically consistent with all the other joints in the home. I don’t want my work to stick out or even be noticed. Finally, a day later I returned for a final clean up, which included a thorough power washing. This extra step ensures that the area is cleaner than when I started.