concrete stoop repair- will this work?
I’ve attached a sketch, since that can explain better than my words. BUT, basically this is the deal:
I have a stone slab stoop on the front of my 1920 house; the slab is busted due to the stoop canopy that is now stored in the garage. The support ‘curbs’ for the stoop are poured in place concrete, I dug out as much of the backfill as I could this weekend and discovered a hunk of concrete that I assume was an original step into the house- I don’t really think I need to take this out.
So, I am thinking of pouring a new curb that surrounds the existing on three sides, incorporating a brick ledge so I can put a soldier course as the riser of the stoop (only one step up), and replacing the stone slab with a new one. Ideally, I’ll be able to dig below frost, but I may not be able to since it is right up against the house and is surrounded by huge trees. If I can’t get deep enough, I will drive some rebar down into the dirt, and pour on top of it- almost creating piles…
I’ve never worked with poured in place concrete like this- I did countertops in my kitchen, but this is diferent. Please look at my sketch, and tell me if I’m on the right track. Thanks.
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Have you considered drilling into the exist walls and bending the vert rebar at the top (right below the brick ledge) to go into the holes. Since the entire mass of the existing porch will probably not settle much, why not use it a spart of your "footing".
IMO you will get more support from this than you ever will with the rebar "pilings" you mentioned. Pilings work like footings on columns, they need a lot of surface area to stop sinking. 1/2 in or 5/8 in dia pilings will sink faster than you can pour conc on them, and probably cause your new wall to slide down, leaving a gap at the new slab which will still be sitting securely on top of the solid exist porch.
I'm wondering if all you really need is to set a steel angle as a brick ledge, and tapcon/expansion anchor that to the existing stoop. Might be significantly easier than a new-poured "surround."
If you run a sailor course (wide flat side out), it will be much narrower than a soldier course--2 5/8 versus 3 5/8 deep. So you might need a narrower angle than you might otherwise.
Thank you for your responses. I ended up digging a trench all the way around the existing stoop, which I expected to be a pain. What I didn't expect was to run into old clay tile footings used to hold up brick piers (long gone). So, I used those as footings on the short returns and dug down 36 inches along the front edge. I then used steel rebar to turn the outside corners to hold the whole darn thing together. Let the top come over the existing curb, vibrated the mix and called it a day.
It took an amazing 27 bags of ready-mix. Thankfully, I rented a small mixer. So my spine is still somewhat intact.
I didn't use the rebar piles as I too, came to the conclusion they'd be pointless, especially since I am bearing on an old-school footings.