Hi,
I'm new to the forum and need a bit of advice on some issues with the steps on my flat.
I live in a garden/basement flat in a Victorian townhouse. My entrance is below the steps to the above flats and they're causing some real problems. They are the original steps made of rendered brickwork with slate stone steps.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd...._=1422889010_5d09dd75359f30a875ecec14456d9a16
I can't seem to insert the image but the above link is the steps from the front (you go down to the right of the steps and into my door beneath).
There is a lot of damp coming in to the hall above my front door and I even had water pouring in at one point during a heavy storm.
The render is cracking and falling to bits, the slate is completely shot (there have been a couple of quick-fixes with steel angles fixed across underneath to stop the steps collapsing).
When it rains water pours through the steps. This is a real issue, as it is where the electric and gas comes in to the building and where all the meters are. The power has tripped a couple of times and I came back from holiday to find a defrosted fridge-freezer. Now the gas meters are below garden level and the electricity meters are fixed to removable boards, so there is no problem with them having to mess around with that when they're replaced.
The steps need tearing down and replacing, for sure. Now this is difficult in itself, as there are 2 other flats in the building and neither are really affected by it nor want to shell out for the replacement.
I had a few builders come round to look at replacing them a couple of months ago but only one got back to me (with a price of nearly £10,000!). The others ignored me and never came back with a price. They quoted to take down the steps and bin them and replace with rendered blockwork and cast concrete steps. I would have thought this would be £4-£5 grand but my jaw hit the floor when they said nearly £10. That seems very steep to me; I would have thought maybe 2 weeks maximum work + materials.
One thing I'd like a bit of help on (as well as advice on the price), is what to replace them with. I was only initially looking at replacing them like-for-like but have been thinking recently about iron steps.
The thing that I find attractive about them is that they will last longer with less maintenance and won't crack, fall apart and look rubbish like rendered steps will. They will also surely reduce the chances of future similar damp problems as they wouldn't be a solid entity resting against the building as such. I also think a nice set of painted detailed iron steps look really good.
How would the cost of iron steps compare with the cost of block & concrete? I was thinking something with a bit of a feature (rather than something that looks like a fire-escape) like this:
There are also selfish reasons in that it wouldn't block out as much light as concrete and would leave my entrance more visible and less likely to be attractive to burglars.
Now the cost comparison is the main thing, as I have no idea what the difference would be. Obviously my building neighbors will want to go for the cheapest option.
The downside with these types of steps being that there would need to be some kind of housing built underneath to keep the meters dry and stop the rain filling up my entrance area (as there is no drainage).
Any help/advice/tips would be great!
I'm in Bristol by the way.
Thanks
I'm new to the forum and need a bit of advice on some issues with the steps on my flat.
I live in a garden/basement flat in a Victorian townhouse. My entrance is below the steps to the above flats and they're causing some real problems. They are the original steps made of rendered brickwork with slate stone steps.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd...._=1422889010_5d09dd75359f30a875ecec14456d9a16
I can't seem to insert the image but the above link is the steps from the front (you go down to the right of the steps and into my door beneath).
There is a lot of damp coming in to the hall above my front door and I even had water pouring in at one point during a heavy storm.
The render is cracking and falling to bits, the slate is completely shot (there have been a couple of quick-fixes with steel angles fixed across underneath to stop the steps collapsing).
When it rains water pours through the steps. This is a real issue, as it is where the electric and gas comes in to the building and where all the meters are. The power has tripped a couple of times and I came back from holiday to find a defrosted fridge-freezer. Now the gas meters are below garden level and the electricity meters are fixed to removable boards, so there is no problem with them having to mess around with that when they're replaced.
The steps need tearing down and replacing, for sure. Now this is difficult in itself, as there are 2 other flats in the building and neither are really affected by it nor want to shell out for the replacement.
I had a few builders come round to look at replacing them a couple of months ago but only one got back to me (with a price of nearly £10,000!). The others ignored me and never came back with a price. They quoted to take down the steps and bin them and replace with rendered blockwork and cast concrete steps. I would have thought this would be £4-£5 grand but my jaw hit the floor when they said nearly £10. That seems very steep to me; I would have thought maybe 2 weeks maximum work + materials.
One thing I'd like a bit of help on (as well as advice on the price), is what to replace them with. I was only initially looking at replacing them like-for-like but have been thinking recently about iron steps.
The thing that I find attractive about them is that they will last longer with less maintenance and won't crack, fall apart and look rubbish like rendered steps will. They will also surely reduce the chances of future similar damp problems as they wouldn't be a solid entity resting against the building as such. I also think a nice set of painted detailed iron steps look really good.
How would the cost of iron steps compare with the cost of block & concrete? I was thinking something with a bit of a feature (rather than something that looks like a fire-escape) like this:
There are also selfish reasons in that it wouldn't block out as much light as concrete and would leave my entrance more visible and less likely to be attractive to burglars.
Now the cost comparison is the main thing, as I have no idea what the difference would be. Obviously my building neighbors will want to go for the cheapest option.
The downside with these types of steps being that there would need to be some kind of housing built underneath to keep the meters dry and stop the rain filling up my entrance area (as there is no drainage).
Any help/advice/tips would be great!
I'm in Bristol by the way.
Thanks
