How to Repair a Cement Porch

Cement porches tend to get damaged over time. Extreme weather may cause your porch to shift, crack and lose chips, leaving ugly depressions. Time and heavy use can wear away the edges. Even the salt that you sprinkle on your icy steps in winter can corrode the concrete and make it look older than it is. It's expensive to hire a professional to make simple fixes to your porch, but you can patch small areas for little money.

Things You'll Need

• Safety goggles
• Cold chisel
• Hammer
• Broom
• Hose
• Paint brush
• Cement bonding agent
• Scrap wood, at least 2 inches wide
• Duplex head nails
• Form release oil
• Shovel
• Cement patch
• Small tamp, float and finishing trowel
• Plastic tarps
• Spray bottle

Instructions

1. Chip away any crumbling or loose cement around the damaged area of the porch with a hammer and cold chisel. Carve a V-shaped indentation with a hammer and chisel beneath any vertical areas, such as the fronts or sides of steps, that you plan to repair. This will prevent the cement patching mix from sliding out of these areas when it's applied.

2. Sweep away any large pieces of cement. Hose down the porch to remove cement dust and small pieces, as well as any surface dirt that might keep your patch from adhering.

3. Dip a clean paint brush in your cement bonding agent and paint an even coat over the areas that you will be patching.

4. Create wooden frames to fit around the patch areas using scrap wood and duplex head nails. Apply a layer of form release oil with your fingers onto each frame and then set all the frames in place around the damaged areas. Hammer duplex head nails through the sides of the frames, being careful not to intrude into the interior of the frame, if additional weight is required to level them and create a reliable seal around the bottom.

5. Mix cement patch material with water in a bucket according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Pour a thin layer of the cement patch in to each frame, ensuring that it is packed well. Tamp the cement down and level it with a small float. Trowel the surface of the cement using a small finishing trowel. Leave the cement to cure for 10 to 30 minutes.

6. Cover all the frames with a plastic tarp. Leave the tarp in place for one week to aid in curing. Fold back the tarp and use a fine-mist spray bottle to spray the patched areas with water once a day. Pull the tarps back over after you have sprayed the patches.

7. Remove the tarps and the frames at the end of the week. If the frames do not easily lift away, remove the nails with the claw of your hammer and disassemble them.

References

• On the House: Repairing Concrete Steps