Are you worried about your broken down porch or want some tips for repairing the steps, the following are a few things which beginners must keep in mind to make the project much easier.
When it comes to repairing concrete there are tools which can help make things much easier. However it is important that you have all the supplies which are required in order to repair the concrete steps or any other concrete structure.
You would need a concrete bonding adhesive along with quick setting cement and a set of protective clothes along with a flat hammer and hammer drill. The hammer drills will help you drill through the Concrete; also if you have to buy a new one then you may want to get SDS drill. These are pretty much efficient and can help speed up the project.
The first thing that you need to do is to prepare the broken concrete in order to be repaired. You must inspect the concrete for other cracks and imperfections as well. First you need to remove the paint or any debris which might interfere with the bonding of the new material. Then you need to apply the adhesive to the concrete and make sure that you follow through this step otherwise the concrete patch would end up broken again.
Make use of the hammer drills to drill through the concrete, however if possible make sure that you invest in a diamond drill and even though these are expensive they are pretty fast and can drive through even the hardest of concrete. You should start by drilling several holes into the concrete where you want to repair the patch then you should place the tap on to serve as anchors for the new cement. Clean the area again to get rid of dust from the concrete bonding adhesive and then quickly mix up quick setting cement. This can help speed up the project because it hardens in less than 20 minutes and also allows the cement to become solid in a single day only. You may need to make the slurry with one part water to five parts of cement and you would need a small bucket to make that happen. Keep in mind that you should only mix a certain amount of cement which can be used within 10 minutes only. Once you have laid down the cement you may need to use sponge to shape it into place.
Once the job is completed you have to make sure that nothing stands on the concrete patch for at least the first 24 to 48 hours. However if you have not done any drilling in the past or do not have the right kind of equipment to do the job then it is better that you call a professional to handle it for you. They are concrete cutting specialists who know all about the job. Concrete drilling is something which should only be done if you have enough experience in handling a concrete drill.