Our stairs were falling apart, so we hired a nice guy with good references to re-pour them. Dumb me didn’t carefully read the contract (since we had verbally aligned) and they said they weren’t going to stamp or color the face of the stairs, just tops. Then they sealed with a wet seal.

Sooo now the top looks ok (not great) and the faces look like rust is running down the front. Is there anything I can do to improve the appearance? For example:

Applying mortar (or more concrete?) to the face and stamp it for the texture

Add interesting tiles to the face

Some kind of skim coating of the whole thing?

Thank you! Stairs were poured 2 days ago

by pivazena

37 Comments

  1. Glass_Covict

    I don’t care what the contract says, that’s really not a very professional looking final product.

  2. PublicWolf7234

    Beer, lots of beer and only go out at night.

  3. They could have at the very minimum colored it

  4. ConstructionRude757

    I’m by no means a concrete expert. But screw a contract, or the unfinished face. That work looks like shit. I wouldn’t pay the guy. Steps don’t look level and the corners don’t look like the concrete was mixed well.

  5. The_Jib

    I would not have concreted around that flexable downspout. They make pvc ones for that purpose

  6. fkenned1

    Not gonna lie, looks like a poorly cleaned up crime scene.

  7. JustWowinCA

    You might get concrete stain/sealer and stain the whole set a more cohesive color.

  8. Jessthinking

    Put a railing that turns and continues to the drive. Put up planters or other objects to direct a viewer’s eye upwards. Let it set for a year and see if you still think it is so disappointing.

  9. pschmit12

    I wonder if you could draw a grid on the face mimicking how it would look if they were stacked stone
    Minor grind out the “joint”
    Paint the joint black/grey
    A little faux approach

  10. 05041927

    If the contract says they won’t color the fronts of the steps, but now in the picture it shows they colored the front of the steps with shitty looking drips, I’d call the company back to fix it as per the contract and as they have clearly colored the fronts of od the steps.

  11. NotBatman81

    A professional should not recommend or offer something that is going to look bad without advising you first. Like if you were being cheap and asked him to cut a corner. If they just did this by default…man that’s bad business.

  12. Mycatistheboss88

    Iagree that they don’t look great but don’t know how to fix that.

    The job is poorly done so I wanted to warn you those get slippery as heck if not textured properly.

    Sometimes they make them really smooth and it’s easy to slip as soon as they get wet. They need to have a grippy texture added on top. 

  13. Suspicious_Party8490

    To everyone saying that they don’t care what the contract says, if/when OP doesn’t pay and the Contractor takes them to court, the contract will become the single most important piece of evidence, and my guess is the contractor will prevail. OP have you shared your “not thrilled” sentiment w/ the contractor yet and asked them for ideas / help? maybe you’ll find out they are indeed a nice guy and one that feels customer satisfaction is important. good luck!

  14. uiuc2008

    The worse part to me is that downspout. If you are going to do this, why use the crushable corrugated plastic that detiorates and frequently clogs? And it just outlets into a ditch next to the driveway?

    Should be 4″ solid schedule 40. I’ve done many of these. A long sweep 90 elbow at the house, a 2′ vertical schedule 40, 3′ of plastic accordian section, then your aluminum downspout. Super easy to clean out or bypass just my moving accordian piece

    End should be at least 10′ from house. A pop up emitter is the clean option, I typically use a wye fitting turned vertical over a drywall (a big hole with a bunch of rocks, surrounded by filter fabric). And then pop up emitter over that. Then water doesn’t sit in your pipe.

  15. You need to call Victory Outdoor Services!

  16. Kawawaymog

    Maybe some cedar or other wood trim on the fronts? 

  17. Purple-Bath-Pig

    Combine above suggestions from EastCoastGXing (Armor Foundation …) and maybe_lately (edging). I don’t think it is bad, just needs some greenery around it more than anything else.

  18. Reasonable-Ad-4778

    Crucially- what did you pay?

  19. hotttsauce84

    OP, not a concrete expert but my biggest issue with the aesthetic (and depending on where you live, possibly a code violation), is that they used cheap flex pipe for the gutter downspout when they should have used PVC pipe. That’s just plain lazy and screams unprofessional. The fact that it’s clearly not level and the potential code violation should be more than enough to catch them in breach of contract and have them cover the removal or repairs by a competent contractor. If you’re not concerned with opening that can of worms, then a simple flower bed in front of the stairs with small shrubs or ground cover plants would address your concerns. I also like the idea of interesting tile but I don’t think it would fit the clean aesthetic of the rest of your home. I would personally steer clear of more mortar and stamping as that’ll probably look like a bandaid.

    Also I want to note that your gutter just to the right of your downspout should not be positioned that way. It’s causing all the water to backfill and not drain properly which will cause future rot issues and is a hotbed for mosquito breeding. You’ll want to address that.

  20. SGT_Kilo

    That stain looks atrocious. You can restain them to a better color, but it will have to be darker than original if memory serves me correct. (Used to sell concrete stain in my store long ago)

  21. Garden_gnome1609

    It’s not even level. It’s a really bad job. Honestly, I think the only fix is a layer of bricks over the whole thing.

  22. Unlimitedoutput

    Paint the risers to match the garage door

  23. Niko120

    I don’t mind it. What in the world is going on in the top left? Is your roof collapsing, or did your gutter get hit by something?

  24. Stanlymwalker

    Yeah that’s a tough one, especially only a couple days old. You could do a skim coat or resurface the faces once it’s fully cured, but it might not match perfect. Tile on the risers could actually look really sharp though and save you the hassle of trying to fake a stamp. I’d give it some time to cure, then decide which way you want to go.

  25. irishdrunkwanderlust

    Do you live in an area where it freezes? I only ask because when it snows on stamped concrete patio ice forms within the lower parts of the stamps.

  26. MaxwellSmart07

    Thank him. Opens up a great opportunity to find a beautiful tile to put on the face. Great DIY project. It will look unique and brilliant.

  27. Thinyser

    Ok so I don’t think there are any “great” ways to fix this, so I would fist try the easiest way, which IMO is to paint the vertical surfaces. You can either paint them a light grey to match what concrete should look like. Or you could paint the vertical surfaces green to match your siding and garage door. OR if you wanted to get crafty you could do a trompe l’oeil of brick to try and (at least from 10+ feet away) mimic the brick well enough to fool the eye.

    The second thing I would do if you couldn’t get it to look the way you want with paint would be to buy a concrete griding attachment for an angle grinder and grind the vertical surfaces clean of all paint and stain leaving them again as raw (but surface-ground) concrete. If you don’t like the surface-ground-concrete look you now at least have a paint free-stain free surface to skim coat which would be my 3rd and final option.

  28. SuspiciousHold3672

    I’d be more upset about that gutter on the left side…

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