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So here's my newest situation. Our contractor is supposed to level out our concrete steps and small patio in both the front and back of the house. He suggested instead of mudjacking or rebuilding, that he could skim the top with a heavy layer of concrete (maybe 1") and get that to be level. THEN, he said with excitement in his voice, he could install black slate tile over the top for only $150 (materials only) and the labor would be pretty close to being what we budgeted for since it's an easy job to do. Oh, BTW, both the front and back porches are fairly small.
So here's my questions... does anybody have anything like this? Seen anything like this? What do you think of having black slate as your entrance tile??? I wonder how slick it would be in the rain, and also what the snow would do in the winter (can you salt the slate areas in the winter)?
I'm pretty hesitant at accepting his idea because of the unknowns, but it sure does sound a lot nicer than just plain concrete.
too slippery in the ran. Salt will destroy the patina on the slate and then destroy the cement holding the slate down. ( I guess you get snow and ice.) Slate is great for a roof, but you don;t walk on the roof or salt it.
Thanks for confirming my thoughts. I don't know much about slate, but thought it would be ugly in bad weather. And yes, here in Chicago we get lots of snow and ice. Followed by the 'yuck' that's left behind! LOL
Forget that for Chicago. The slate like brick will get water down into the layers and freezing will cause it to unbond for sure. Same for the thin one inch layer of concrete. Never going to completely bond, will crack off in the Chicago climate. BTW one inch of concrete is never a "Heavy Layer" anywhere in this man's World.
Slate is a horrible choice. The slate is made up of layers. Works in a roof, top layers are set to shed water. In a flat situation, water is going to tend to stand, want to soak into the slate. Slate layers after a few winters is going to want to break up themselves. As a type of flooring only suitable for indoor use. Probably what he has left over some some other job he did somewhere but indoors.
Even brick do not work in freezing climates, neither do most unitized type coverings for steps or porch type coverings. Never get much real working life out of anything where the bond / integral structure can be destroyed by the climate. If the freezing doesn't get you the salt sure will. Only solid type constructions for steps and porches in climates like Chicago.
Forget that for Chicago. The slate like brick will get water down into the layers and freezing will cause it to unbond for sure. ... Only solid type constructions for steps and porches in climates like Chicago.
So what are you saying, only new poured concrete is the only choice? What else would you suggest? I'm really at a loss of what to do with our porches. They look very worn, but we don't have a lot of money to fix them right. We're looking for the poor-mans solution that will a) look half way nice and b) last at least a few years without breaking our necks.
Yup, something more solid or designed to take freezing
Poured concrete slab or solid steps. You can get the steps as concrete as a prefab unit.
Wood works, any of the decking type subsitute materials. Some thing that either allows water to drain thru it or is a full integral unit like a slab.
Chicago is similar to Boston. Cheap is probably all wood. Better porches / steps are poured concrete. Winter is tough on all materials. Good quality concrete was the killer ap that had the better working life. Wood will be a lot more maintenance.
The new decking cement or vinyl products based work pretty good in porch or step applications. Lot less maintenance, higher initial costs.
I would avoid anything that is a unit type construction like brick, tile, slate, etc. Ok in the sunbelt, horrible in bad weather states.
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It will not stay there......................
