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My front steps concrete caps were destroyed from all the ice and snow that we had last winter. The steps were about 20 yrs old and the step caps and landing cracked in a number of places. I'm having the steps recapped and putting in a new landing. My contractor can install heating rods under each step and the landing with a switch to turn them on and off.
Does anyone have any experience with this and do ice melting rods in a stoop work well? Any suggestions appreciated.
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No experience, but it sounds like a good idea to me. I know a guy who has a heated driveway. Don't know how that actually works in practice, but I envy him greatly.
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Sounds great until you forget to turn it on (or it simply fails). You (and others) expect the steps not to be icy and then, whoops!
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On a long term basis I would expect some problems other than increased electrical costs. Here at work we have the front sidewalk heated in the winter. They embedded pipe in the concrete when they poured it, and circulate heated water / antifreeze through it. It works amazingly well.
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My neighbors have this on their front step and sidewalk leading up to it. It is on a temp sensor. It works great and I covet it.
I say do it.
JPK
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Thanks for the input, everyone. It will add around $1600. to the job mostly for a licensed electrician but if it works well and doesn't break down (which the contractor claims isn't a problem with them. He says there's nothing to break) it seems to be worth it so we and our mailman don't fall, which has happened to both myself and my wife. I'm having a portico built over the landing to alleviate the ice as well as redoing the roof so I'm hoping this will be the last year of ice dams leaking freezing water over the stoop.
Any other insight or suggestions greatly appreciated!
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Maybe just a little rethinking is in order- Why have Concrete Caps at all?
What are they capping, and why?
Concrete is pretty cheap- a couple of bucks worth of Portland cement, a few cents worth of sand or gravel.
And to protect this, a lot of money spent on "protection" and ongoing energy bills.
I would need more information to suggest an alternative for this particular case, but there are always alternatives.
Eustace
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eustacetilley wrote:
Maybe just a little rethinking is in order- Why have Concrete Caps at all?
What are they capping, and why?
Concrete is pretty cheap- a couple of bucks worth of Portland cement, a few cents worth of sand or gravel.
And to protect this, a lot of money spent on "protection" and ongoing energy bills.
I would need more information to suggest an alternative for this particular case, but there are always alternatives.
Eustace
The concrete now has multiple cracks throughout especially near the ends of the steps, where the steps will break off probably this winter. The brick foundation is fine. (EDIT: There are three steps instead of two as in the photo) The stoop looks pretty much like this:
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Speedy wrote:
[quote=eustacetilley]
Maybe just a little rethinking is in order- Why have Concrete Caps at all?
What are they capping, and why?
Concrete is pretty cheap- a couple of bucks worth of Portland cement, a few cents worth of sand or gravel.
And to protect this, a lot of money spent on "protection" and ongoing energy bills.
I would need more information to suggest an alternative for this particular case, but there are always alternatives.
Eustace
Sand and salt need to be cleaned up, usually after you have entered your residence. Gets messy quickly. A handrail maybe? $1600 is cheap compared to a broken body. We stop using our front entrance in the winter and use only the garage as an entry. Even last night we answered the front door by going through the garage due to a gnat cloud hanging around the entry.
I agree with you, We have handrails but they might not save you if you tumble.
