Concrete Steps & Stairs
Precast steps come in set sizes. Poured steps are formed to your door height, your width and your grade, and they can curve. We form and pour new entry steps, replace crumbling or sinking ones, and build landings, rails and walkout stairs.
Long stair forms built down a slope beside a new cedar-clad house. Bowen Island.
Each riser is set so the stairs land exactly at your door. Under the BC Building Code, steps with more than 2 risers sit on their own foundation at full footing depth, which is below frost on most soils; 1 or 2 risers may sit on the ground.
Source: BC Building Code, 9.12.2.2 (depth of foundations)
Front and back entry steps in depth →Surface damage can sometimes be covered. Steps that are sinking or pulling away from the house have a failed base, so they come out and the footing is redone. Rebuilt steps have to meet today's rail and guard rules.
Source: BC Building Code, Section 9.8 (stairs, ramps, handrails and guards)
A landing at least as long as the stairs are wide, with a guard where the drop is more than 600 mm. A roofed porch doesn't get the code's small-deck footing exception, so its posts need full-depth footings.
Source: BC Building Code, Section 9.8 (stairs, ramps, handrails and guards); BC Building Code, 9.12.2.2 (depth of foundations)
Under the BC Building Code, exterior house stairs with more than 3 risers need a handrail. With new steps the rail posts are planned into the pour; on old steps they're anchored into sound concrete.
Source: BC Building Code, Section 9.8 (stairs, ramps, handrails and guards)
An outside stair down to a basement door or suite entrance. The walls hold back soil, so the height can bring in permits and an engineer, and the landing needs a drain tied into the lot drainage or it floods.
For a house, the BC Building Code keeps each riser between 125 and 200 mm, so your door height sets the number of steps. More than 3 risers on an exterior stair means a handrail. A drop of more than 600 mm beside the stairs or landing means a guard, at least 900 mm high for a single house where the walking surface is no more than 1.8 m up.
Steps with more than 2 risers need a foundation at the code's full footing depth, which is below frost on most soils. That's why poured steps last where steps set on a gravel bed sink.
Source: BC Building Code, Section 9.8 (stairs, ramps, handrails and guards); BC Building Code, 9.12.2.2 (depth of foundations)
Crumbling front steps are one of the first things a buyer and their inspector notice, and a missing handrail shows up on the inspection report. If your agent has flagged the steps, send us a photo. We'll tell you whether a repair will pass or whether they need replacing, and how fast we can get it done before listing.
Real jobs, including the forms before the pour, which is the part you can't see once the concrete is in.
Precast is quicker if a stock size fits your door height and width. Poured steps fit odd heights, wide doors, curves and landings, and sit on a proper foundation instead of a gravel bed.
Only if the old steps are sound and not moving, and the new layer doesn't throw the riser heights out. If they're sinking or cracked through, the base has failed and a topping will crack the same way.
Under the BC Building Code, exterior stairs at a house with more than 3 risers need a handrail, and any open side with a drop of more than 600 mm needs a guard.
Source: BC Building Code, Section 9.8 (stairs, ramps, handrails and guards)
Decades, when they sit on a foundation below frost and shed water. Steps fail early when they're set on a shallow base, which is why they sink and pull away from the house.
We don't estimate blind, because size, access, digging, steel and finish move the number more than the concrete does. Send a photo and rough measurements with the booking form and John will tell you what drives the price on your job, then give you a written estimate after the site visit.
Four steps, and nothing is ordered or dug until you sign off.
Call John, or tap Book now and send a photo of the spot with rough measurements if you have them.
John comes out, walks the site, checks access, slope and drainage, and tells you which permits and inspections the job needs.
You get a clear plan, the design and a written scope and estimate. Finishes are chosen and the build date is locked in before anything is ordered or any ground is broken.
Forms are set, inspected and poured. You get updates as we go and a clean site at the end.
Rather talk it through? Call John at (778) 200-8030 · All services
Builder or GC? Call John to talk through the project, or email the details and drawings to john@bedrockandcedar.com. How it works for builders