Nobody in Springfield thinks about their front steps until they're hauling groceries up them in February and the top one shifts under their boot like a loose tooth.
That's most of what we do. We build and replace concrete steps for houses all over Springfield, from the tidy stoops off Sumner Avenue to the tall old flights in Forest Park and Sixteen Acres, plus Chicopee, West Springfield and Agawam. Some jobs are a straight tear-out and pour. Some are a concrete landing for deck stairs out back, or a proper concrete landing for stairs where somebody once poured a slab three inches thick and called it a day. The Springfield Concrete Company crews dig real footings below frost, because our winters find every shortcut by April.
Here's what you get from us: we call you back, we turn up when we said we would, we don't talk to you like you're stupid, and we take the broken old stoop with us instead of leaving it on your lawn until spring.
Keep reading and you'll see how the pour actually goes, what changes the number, and the questions people ask before they book. Or just ring me at (417) 464-6822 and I'll come measure.
Precast Concrete Steps
Precast concrete steps come off a truck already cured, get set on a prepared base, and you're walking on them the same afternoon. That's the appeal. The catch is the base. A precast unit weighs a couple thousand pounds, and if it's dropped on loose dirt it will tip toward the house by the second spring, leaving you with a gap at the threshold and a first riser that's suddenly two inches taller than the rest. We dig out, put down a foot of compacted process stone, and level it before the boom truck ever swings.
We'll also set a precast landing for deck stairs where a poured one doesn't make sense.
If you want something shaped to an odd opening, poured concrete stairs are the better call, and at The Springfield Concrete Company we'll tell you which way to go.
Paved Steps
Paved steps are what people ask for when they want the look of bluestone or clay pavers without the gray slab staring back at them, and the trick is that the pretty part is only the top inch. Underneath, we still pour proper concrete stairs on a footing set below the frost line, because Springfield winters will heave anything we cheap out on. Then the treads go down on a mortar bed, joints swept and locked, with the concrete landing for stairs sized so you're not doing a little two step at the top with an armful of groceries.
Where it goes wrong is sand set treads. Two winters of plow salt and the joints wash out, and now you've got a wobbly tread on step three.
At The Springfield Concrete Company, we set them tight.
Cinder Block Steps
Cinder block steps are everywhere in the older neighborhoods here, Forest Park, Hungry Hill, Indian Orchard, and the ones I get called out to look at all tell the same story. The parge coat is flaking off in sheets, the top course is loose, and there's a gap you can slide a quarter into. That's water. Cores that were never grouted fill up, freeze solid in January, and split the wall from the inside out.
When we rebuild a set at The Springfield Concrete Company, we dig a footing below the frost line, run rebar down through the block, grout the cores solid, and cap it all with poured treads. The concrete landing for stairs gets pitched a quarter inch per foot away from your door so rain leaves instead of sitting there.
Two to three days on site for most concrete stairs, plus cure time. How much old block comes out, and how far down the footing has to go, is what moves the number.
What the job involves
What the job involves starts with tearing out whatever is failing now, whether that's crumbling concrete stairs or a set that's pitched back toward your door. We dig footings below the frost line, which around here means going deep enough that February can't lift them, then pack a compacted gravel base under the whole thing. Forms, rebar, and an air-entrained mix go in next, because plain concrete and road salt is a fight the concrete loses by April. Risers stay even, close to seven inches, since your foot notices half an inch even when your eyes don't. A concrete landing for stairs gets tied into that same footing rather than floated on backfill, and a concrete landing for deck stairs is no different.
At The Springfield Concrete Company, forming and pouring concrete steps usually runs a day or two, then we strip forms slow and let it cure.
What it costs
What it costs to build a set of concrete steps depends mostly on how far you're climbing and what's underneath. Three risers off a side door is a different animal from seven concrete stairs up to a porch with a concrete landing for stairs wide enough to set the groceries down and still swing the storm door open. Footings go below our frost line, four feet down, or the whole set lifts and cracks by the second February. Ripping out crumbling cinder block steps, pouring a concrete landing for deck stairs, railing anchors, a tight side yard in Forest Park with no truck access, all of that moves the number. Call The Springfield Concrete Company at (417) 464-6822 and we'll measure the rise and give you a real figure instead of guessing off a phone picture. Forming and pouring usually runs a day or two, then we ask you to stay off them for about a week while the mix comes up to strength.
Why choose us for this
You're choosing somebody to tear out the concrete steps you walk up every day with the groceries, and you'd like to do it once. Not supervise it. Not think about it again until the kids are grown.
So here's what I won't do.
Quote low, then grow it: the number I give you covers the footings and the tear-out, not just the pretty part.
Vanish mid-job: we don't start your neighbor's patio before your concrete stairs are finished and cured.
Push you to sign today: no discount that expires at 5pm.
Leave your yard a dump: busted cinder block steps and old rebar go in our truck, not behind your garage.
I'm not the cheapest bid you'll get. Digging below frost and pouring a proper concrete landing for stairs takes a day some crews skip, and a Springfield February finds every one of those skipped days.
Having The Springfield Concrete Company out to look costs you nothing and books nothing.
Frequently asked questions
How soon can I use my new steps?
Poured concrete steps take about 24 to 48 hours before you can walk on them, and a full week before you're hauling furniture up. Precast concrete steps are quicker, since we set them on a compacted base and you're using them the same afternoon. Either way, skip the rock salt that first winter. Salt on green concrete pits the surface, and a spring in Springfield is hard enough on the nose already.
Can you repair my steps instead of replacing them?
Sometimes. If the treads are spalling but the footing is sound, we can resurface and rebuild the noses. If the whole stack has tipped away from the house, or the cinder block steps have opened at the joints, patching is throwing good money after bad and we'll rebuild, including the concrete landing for stairs at the top.
How do we get started?
Call The Springfield Concrete Company at (417) 464-6822 and we'll come look, measure the rise and run, and tell you honestly whether you need repair or new concrete stairs.