 Since we bought the house, I've wanted to replace the steps that lead down to our front door. They were wood resting on dirt -- never a good idea. To add insult to potential injury, the top of the stairs were actually railroad ties that were loose, as was the railing next to them. The ties made a 90 degree turn to the wooden steps which made it extremely difficult to carry large items, like refrigerators and couches, down them. While we may not purchase those types of items very often, it's made me fear for the safety of delivery men and women whenever we've received a heavy item. Plus, I was fearful for our visitors' safety.  Today I'm as giddy as can be because we have new, gorgeous, permanent stairs. Locals, American Concrete Pumping did them, and they're wonderful! John King had so many great ideas for how to make the steps more functional. He added landings and softened the curve up the slope. Plus, the stairs now are further out, so I'll have a lot more garden space come spring. My Charles and I did the demo work, as you can see in the slide show below. It was a pretty easy demo job. It took about two hours. The only issue was the scorpion (!) that we encountered when digging out the last of the ties and first of the wooden steps. All in all, I'm ecstatic. The new stairs are pretty, more functional, safer, will be easier to climb in the snow, and I love the gray. When we paint the house gray this next year, it will tie in beautifully. Yay concrete stairs! . |