I have tried painting them, but it always eventually flakes off and looks terrible again. We don't have a lot of extra money right now so I'm looking for inexpensive ideas. {I have thought about bricking over them but not sure how costly that would be.}
Ideas welcome!!!!!
This is the house, there is a porch on the side that leads into the kitchen, then one on the front too.
Ugly porch number ONE ...
Ugly porch number TWO ...
Chipping paint ...
Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!
~~~Kathy
15 comments:
I'm not sure if you'd be able to get all the paint off, but stained concrete holds up well and hides a lot of imperfections. They're are quite a few different colors you can use!
This was just my quick thought when looking at your porches. When I lived in Vegas, I had a neighbor who was very artsy (being an artist was her actual job) and when she moved in, she stained her driveway. I thought she was a little nuts when I first saw her doing it (it was brand new houses with brand new cement driveways). She didn't stain it a solid color (which would be very hard to make it look even on porous and a somewhat uneven surface)....she more swirled the stain on so it had a very subtle pattern. The color was hard to describe...taupe/umber is about the best color description I can come up with. Anyway, when she was done, it did look really good. For the two years we lived there, I walked past it every day and the color never faded (and that's huge when thinking about Vegas heat and continuous sun). Just a thought for you. I am sure there are you tube videos to watch on the staining swirling technique and it should be relatively inexpensive.
Well if it's any consolation, I have never seen your stairs look so ugly as in these pics! LOL! Anytime I have pulled up I have seen beautiful flowers, a well manicured lawn and I haven't even noticed the stairs! Don't you usually have cute things on them too? Because they look pretty bare in these pics. I always find your yard inviting and beautiful! Never ever noticed those stairs!
{But I would just paint them every year if they bug you. They are small enough!}
Hi Kathy
Joining you from Kelly's SUYL. I would use brick pavers. It shouldn't be too expensive because of the size. If also might repaint the railing a black color and add a planter for interest. I'd love to be able to have a cute side porch for neighbors. Not too many of those in Florida. Thanks for sharing your project.
I second the idea of staining the concrete. It's easy and fairly inexpensive. Materials are available at most hardware stores. They can also give you suggestions about sealing which will help it last.
I would saw off the railing and cover the concrete with composite decking. Sicne your door is much higher, you can totally do this easy.
Hi Kathy,
When you painted them did you use concrete porch paint? We have rental property with the same stairs and painted them a pretty brown several years back with this paint and it still looks great! It's from Home Depot. Also I would add planters in a fun bright color by the front door with some green plants (maybe tall ones?). On the back porch maybe replace the old rail with a new wooden one painted black? Love your house and good luck!
Hi Kathy,
When you painted them did you use concrete porch paint? We have rental property with the same stairs and painted them a pretty brown several years back with this paint and it still looks great! It's from Home Depot. Also I would add planters in a fun bright color by the front door with some green plants (maybe tall ones?). On the back porch maybe replace the old rail with a new wooden one painted black?
One option is to cover the entire step (first take off the iron rails) with wood. In other words, build a new step on top. My husband did that at our house....he had a similar front step and he built on top of it. I think it would depend on how much space you had on top, etc., but it's an idea!
You can see what our front step looks like now by going to my blog (it's not a close up picture but I think you'll get the idea).
http://danandjenstymiest.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-first-two-weeks.html
You also wouldn't have as much space as he did but a wood step with painted white rails would look great on your house!
By the way, your landscaping looks really nice!!
I would use concrete stain or the stuff the Shanty 2 Chic girls used on their garage floors. Also, some flowers of some sort would help.
We just restored our concrete porch with Rustoleum Restore. I think you should look into it for your steps!!
Your house is adorable. Looks like you got some good suggestions with the stain & flowers. I hope you'll post a follow-up if/when you change things. :)
Check out ohdeardrea's blog. She just did something adorable with her steps that were very similar to these!
Acid wash the concrete. You can pretty much getting any color you want. My aunt did this to all her concrete floors in her lake home and it looks awesome.
I am coming over from the link up. I have to agree with a few of the comments above. I think staining them would be very pretty. We looked into staining our patio and it wasn't that expensive. We were just waiting on appropriate weather to do it in. Maybe add some smaller pots of flowers. You could even repaint the railing in the front a color to match. I love the landscaping you have around the house though! Also if you decided to paint them, Lowes sales an outdoor paint or even there is a paint we used to paint our garage floors that is highly durable and doesn't chip!
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