You might be able to repair the cracked or missing concrete with concrete patch material. A wooden form will be necessary if there is a large repair to do. The nice thing about concrete is that it has natural anti-skid properties, even when wet.

Yes, I would prefer to just cover it. the Concrete is ugly and makes our entrance sad. Plus I would like a more permanent solution as concrete patch does not work so well in our area (lots of freezing and thawing!)
-renee

Can't see why you could not cover it... what goes with your house?.. brick look?? rock? slate??? Seems you could set them in a thin-set base ( there is a way to get it to hold to old concrete.. it's escapes me right now).. but sure there really is not reason you could not face them...

Maddiemom

We were thinking of slate or rock. There is a place near us that sells slate and "slate look-a-like concrete pavers"
I think we will look there. I wasn't sure if anyone has done this and if they have pictures.
-renee

Too bad no pix because I have this exact question too.

I can't work on curb appeal until next year, but my concrete steps are cracked and "sad" too. I have a friend who built wooden steps right over their concrete. They look great, but of course higher maintenance than concrete or stone.

As a kid I remember my dad covering over our concrete steps with brick. He had to use a form to make everything even and then he faced the hole thing with bricks. It held up for at least the next 15 yrs. which was for as long as we were there. The only draw back is brick is very slippery when wet and since we lived in the northeast we had many days when mom would tell us to use the garage entrance rather than risk the brick steps.

I thought brick would have been less slippery than concrete. We were pondering using some sort of stone and using liquid nails or something like that to glue to the concrete (instead of using mortor) and then using some sort of grout in between. We haven't found any stone or anything yet that we think would last outside. we are still looking for that.
Does anyone have thoughts on this method? do you think it would hold up to rain and snow and ice???
We are also in the northeast.
-renee

scryn-
Using anything but mortar or thinset is a recipe for early failure, particularly with something that will be subject to freeze/thaw cycles, water, and foot traffic. It might not even make it through the first winter. Your plan to attach new brick is sound; using glue isn't.