Front stoop/entry needs to be redone. Need help!

10 years ago

Our home was built 20 years ago and is in need of some major repairs...the first being the front steps. Because our house was built with a high exterior elevation, we needed more steps to the front door than our original plan called for. The brick stoop that you see in the pictures is actually solid concrete (yes solid) with faux brick overlay. I must say that it survived Nebraska winters and hot summers quite well given the 20 years its been in place. The faux is now chipping, as you can also see, and the stoop is pulling away from the house. Another issue is that if the top step extended wider, under the windows as in a porch, it would be only 19" below the window. I'm not interested in "faux" again. Any suggestions?

Featured Answer

libradesigneye

10 years ago

The shape is beautiful and classic, just needs new cladding. Have them tear off the brick, and add bluestone or slate cut to the curves.

Comments (16)

Susan Lange
Original Author
10 years ago
I don't know much about masonry. Is it possible to lay bluestone or slate over cement and have it adhere well? This is an idea we had not thought of. Thought we were going to have to tear the whole stoop out! What about the faux brick edging on the sidewalk? Can that be "sanded" off?
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PRO
Ana Monssao Design
10 years ago
Yes, you should be able to clean out the brick portion only and install some nice bluestone - it would look gorgeous! Also, I am just wondering, although the shape is lovely, the steps feel so narrow, I wonder if this would be a good time to widen them a bit as well. Best of luck!
monika2024
10 years ago
I second the idea of adding more space- I would feel unsafe with such a tiny area to stand on to get into the house. But that is just me- I like platforms rather then steps when stepping out the front/back doors.
Susan Lange
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you all for your comments!
PRO
Revolutionary Gardens
10 years ago
If the stoop is pulling away from the house, it's not going to get better, 20 years is a pretty good service life, no shame in starting with something new. While you could veneer it with brick or stone, it looks like you don't have much clearance between the threshold and the top step. Plus, unless you also veneered the walk, your last step would end up at least 1.5" taller than the rest - not good.

I'm not a huge fan of wedding cake steps, and the walk seems a little awkward. You have an opportunity to revitalize the front of your home - I say go for it, and have a local landscape designer redesign the steps and walkway.
Susan Lange
Original Author
10 years ago
@revoluntionary gardens. I, too, wondered about laying stone over the original faux brick. It would end up higher than the rest. Any suggestions of shape since you are not fond of the wedding cake look? One problem I foresee is the closeness of the windows to the door and how low they would be if we did a wider porch type front that would extend under the closest windows to the door.
PRO
JMKA | architects
10 years ago
you can put on thin-set stone- real stone that is cut to approx 2" thickness- attached some images of a before and after front entry stoop
Dar Eckert
10 years ago
Glad that you are replacing the steps although they are cute you need a larger top step about 4 x 6 feet would be Much better as people need a place to stand when you swing the door open. Also consider a portico over the entry.
PRO
Revolutionary Gardens
10 years ago
slange, there are two directions you could go - either square off the landing, going no farther than the edges of the shutters to either side (you'd already be gaining a lot of room vs the arc) or if a portico was a future plan, you could certainly get away with an even wider stoop. A local designer is definitely your best bet.
PRO
Crimson Design & Construction
10 years ago
Here is an idea of what one of our clients did. Good luck!!
Susan Lange
Original Author
10 years ago
I like Crimson design's idea, but our grade is too steep for a single step. That is what I had in mind when we built, but didn't realize the house was set up so high.

I do think a rectangle/square porch extending to the shutters is good. Then we would need some steps coming down. Should the steps be as wide as the top porch? We may have to cut the bushes back.
Susan Lange
Original Author
10 years ago
The main reason we went with the graduated steps is because if we only extend the top to the shutters, it looks a bit house heavy, and step poor.
PRO
Revolutionary Gardens
10 years ago
I get that, but keep in mind that there are other ways of balancing the mass of the house besides just the steps. On this project we created a small courtyard feel that changed the whole entry:
Vienna Redesign · More Info
handymam
10 years ago
Wow, Revolutionary, that is really nice and would actually work for slange's situation!
Susan Lange
Original Author
10 years ago
Beautiful! I'm hoping we could do something like this!