Levelling Step

[Hootsmon]

Hi Guys,
I have a ramp leading up to my front door. Its been sloped at the door level to allow rain to run off and not into my house. Problem is the brick work underneath has sunk slightly over exaggeratuint the slop. SWMBO has decided its now unsafe and wants me to do something about it. I thought of concreting it a bit more level. Any other suggestions. I also want to get rid of the ramp and put in some steps. Also a railing around the top section to provide a bit more safety when I come home drunk late at night. All help gratefully received.

[silentC]

Why don't you demolish the whole thing and build a landing with steps from hardwood or treated pine? Unless you're handy with the bricks, in which case you could build yourself a new set of steps. If you go with timber, you can extend the posts up to give you somewhere to fix your railing.

[Hootsmon]

Hmm,

Not a bad idea with the timber. I prefer the look of bricks though.

[Termite]

Well if the brickwork has sunk it suggests faulty footings, so anything you do to the existing will keep right on sunking. So either way you go, timber or brick, I think it's a ripout and start from scratch.

[Hootsmon]

Ah,

Hadn't thought of that I just assumed the bricks have sunk. I might have to have a closer look. The rest of the house is sound no sinkage. Perhaps its an optical illusion

[ozwinner]

Its all to do with the prolonged dry spell we are having.
The ground underneath has dryed, and shrunk.

Al

[bitingmidge]

Its all to do with the prolonged dry spell we are having.

Hasn't it rained this afternoon??

P

[journeyman Mick]

what prolonged dry spell? We've just had almost half a metre of rain this last week! (Just a little thing called a cyclone hanging around )

Mick

[Hootsmon]

I had thought about that. There is a **** off big tree just over the fence line with some of the root system lifting up some of my driveway pavers. I reckon I'm gonna have to chop them out anyway before I do the steps.

[jackiew]

be aware that that big ****** of a tree will have been sucking up water for years and should your root surgery cause it to expire then you can expect the surrounding land ( and maybe your new steps) to rise up in the air.

just thought I'd share that happy possibility with you.

[namtrak]

How much do you use the driveway? Maybe just build a big ruddy deck over the top of it, and across the driveway?

We mulch heavily around our house (front and back) to reduce expansion and shrinkage with the weather. Seems to have the desired effect. The neighbours all lose about 4 to 5 cm each dry season between the gutter and their nature strip each summer. Although the tree would have a pretty serious impact also. Our neighbours liquid amber lifted our driveway about 6 inches!! And it was only a small tree!!

Other than that, could be a start from scratch job plus root guards?

[ozwinner]

Other than that, could be a start from scratch job plus root guards?

If I put in a root guard, I wont see your posts.

Al

[namtrak]

If I put in a root guard, I wont see your posts.

Al

And if I put in a smart **** guard I wont see your posts!!

[Hootsmon]

I use the drive a fair bit getting my bike in and out. I want to have a go at the roots just to show it who is boss. No one lifts my pavers and gets away with it. The surgery wouldnt be extensive just the one under the main concrete paver allowing it to sit back down. Still doesnt answer the question about the step though. I still think demolish the ramp put steps in and improve level with concrete leaving slight incline for runnoff.

[namtrak]

Okay, I would be inclined to dig the root out, put some sort of root guard in, demolish the existing brickwork and replace with a timber ramp.

With the root guard, you can run a trench between your house and the offending tree and then place a sheet of tree guard type material on the side of the trench furtherest from the tree. This then encourages the tree roots to run along the path of least resistance before it gets to the tree guard.

The timber ramp gives you a bit more room for creativity and will look sweet once you render those walls!!

Cheers