Grinder, cup wheel, face and respiration protection. I'd like a windy day.

Rob, you should show a clear picture of the condition so we can understand the degree and all be on the same page. As mentioned by JC, a grinder could take care of the lip, but if you've got 20 steps to take care of that could be a pain. If you can get a diamond grinding cup, they're much more aggressive. And, as mentioned, the installer should correct the condition. It's possible the treads could be popped from the mortar joint and reset but what a pain for the homeowner to do when they're paying for installation.

having steps that are 'slippery when wet' pitched away is pretty exciting too.... i hope you have a great hand rail

I would reset the treads before I would even consider grinding.

Grinding seems like way more work to me....

it's not just the amount of work, it's the uncertainty of the result. At least here in VA, most step treads are thermal treated. If you grind down the front it's going to be super obvious unless you bring out a sponge, a bucket of water, and an oxy-acetylene torch and re-thermal them in the field. And now that you've added stress to the stone by leaning on it with a grinder, you've increased the odds of a fissure popping and splitting when you torch the stone.

What does thermal treating entail, and what does it do for you? :). You torch it so that it....

I have never used bluestone, obviously!

Someone requested photos. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the stairs with water on them yet. But I will try to get that at some point. Thank you.

These were installed a few years ago, and I have suffered with them for that long. It was a complete rebuild of the stairs and walkway. Mostly suffering during winter conditions. But I have noticed people splashing themselves during summer rain too. The contractor is long gone, I don't even know who did the work. When I get the level out, they treads seem very level (not a good thing probably). But that includes this lip closest to the person. Which means there is a very small valley where water can accumulate.

What REALLY makes this worse, is that I have some water dripping down the wall to the left of my front door... typically only seen during the winter because ice builds up there. And then when it melts during the day, it gets stuck on the stairs, and then refreezes at night. And then the stairs are slippery and my mailman and visitors hate me. So one problems exasperates the secondary problem on the stairs. During this coming winter I will take photos of the wall problem and see if anyone has a solution for that. I imagine it has to do with gutters, flashing, ice dams, and fun stuff like that.

Being a home owner is often painful (under statement of the year). But all you guys on Houzz have been AMAZING. This is my first post and request for information. And I could not be more happy and thankful for your help.

So far I believe I should probably have someone come and pick up the treads and place them on correctly. But I have a feeling the bluestone itself may need to be replaced with something FLAT and without a LIP on it that confuses the level and keeps water on the tread.

Thanks again everyone!!

if there isnt a handrail, add one. its nice to be able to hold onto something!

If I were you, I'd be concerned about the potential for a slip-and-fall lawsuit, especially since you already know that the stairs are slippery. If you have the funds, a complete re-do would likely be your best bet aesthetically, longer lasting, and for safety for all.

Get some quotes for having the bluestone reset. By far the best solution. Trying to grind it and get a consistent slope etc. would be a major pain. Might want to check your local building codes - around here, anything over 23" above grade has to have a railing. A railing fastened to the wall would do the trick - but check code requirements for that too. If you're lifting the bluestone and need to install a railing anchored to the landing and steps, now would be the time to do it.

If you're getting ice running down the wall to the left of the door, have you checked to see if your gutters/eavestroughs are free of leaves etc.? That should be done every fall after the leaves have dropped. You have a downspout there - I suspect it's either clogged at the top or somewhere in the downspout itself, or gets clogged when it's cold and then the water overflows the gutter and runs down the wall.

Thanks again guys! There is a handrail, all the way to the left, just outside the photo area. The right side does not have a handrail, which has been a pain for some people. I will have someone come and redo the treads! It just got below freezing here in Boston and we may not be able to do cement work until the spring (?). Or maybe a quick and dirty cement work, with some covering of some kind, and somehow warm up the area (?) at night, could work I guess?

Also, thanks for the advice about the wet wall. I always have the leafs cleared before the winter. And actually had gutter guards put on, and CHECK ON THEM to make sure it is clean. However, the full gutter does fill up with water every winter, and completely freezes. And then you are right, it probably drips over and down the wall. But why down THIS wall and not all around my whole house. There is probably some solution, but so far no one that has seen it in person had an answer. Again, once I have a PHOTO of it, I will post it as a new question/request for help.

Thanks again to every one of you. I am shocked what great advice I have received and how caring the community on Houzz is. I hope to somehow pay it forward and help someone else out in some area that I may have expertise in.

Where does this drainpipe lead? Take a hose and shoot some water up into the gutter, and see where it drains out. If it doesn't drain properly, then the gutter above it will fill with water and freeze. It should drain somewhere that you can see the water running out of it all year long. The gutter should also be properly sloped so that there is no water standing in the gutter after a rain.

i'm outside of boston, too. our first frost today, and it was a crazy 25 in mid afternoon with the sun out. be careful out there!

Oh man, I thought you were going to offer to come do my stairs for me ;)

Resetting existing treads - yes. Grinding - Yikes, I don't think so.

Your treads appear to be in good condition and should be salvageable. However, they are long treads, which might make removal a bit trickier with regards to not cracking one of the treads.

Also, you can ask the contractor about cleaning the bluestone with a muriatic acid solution to rejuvenate the treads and the landing. It's amazing how effective the acid washing can be.

K&D: Yes, even a power washing would take the green off them. I powerwashed the ones in the back of my home and they came out nice. I didn't get a chance to clean the ones in the front of my home this summer. But come spring... it is on my honey do list. Muriatic acid may happen too, TBD. If I lose the treads I wont be too disappointed, as long as new ones are put in correctly.

Partim: The drain pipe goes from my gutter to the city.

Thanks,

R

Weak bleach solution removes algae and moss, too.

The drain pipe goes from my gutter to the city.

It's probably blocked or partly blocked, and water is backing up to the gutter and overflowing.

My son has the same set-up as you in the home he just bought. It's a bad design because over the years leaves and roof asphalt bits plugged it up, below the ground level. It wasn't possible to get his to drain properly. He disconnected the part going into the ground and rerouted the water to drain onto his lawn.

Toronto has disallowed downspouts connected to the sewage system - mostly because it's still a (largely) combined storm/sanitary sewer system, so when there are storms the system gets overloaded. But this thread reminds me why a downspout connected to the sewer, or even a subsurface drainage system isn't a great idea because of the difficulty of cleaning out any blockage that occurs below the gutters.

Toronto has required that everyone disconnect their downspouts from the sewer system. It's easy enough to do - definitely a DIY project; cut through the bottom of the downspout, get an elbow, connect the elbow and the length of pipe (either more metal downspout material or one of those flexible plastic things, depending on your desired look, location etc.) and direct the end of the pipe away from the foundation of the house and any walkways. Cap the top of the pipe going into the subsurface system. Of course, in some instances, especially in urban situations with paving all over, it can be darned difficult to find a spot to put the water that isn't problematic or not terribly attractive, which is the only real downside to this.

Until you can get them fixed maybe add some non slip mats or traction tape?

http://www.heatedmats.net/heated-cubes-premium-snow-melting-stair-mats.html

http://www.heatedmats.net/heated-cubes-premium-snow-melting-stair-mats.html

We can't see the gutter, downspout and surrounding area, but likely it could be reconfigured without much difficulty so as not to go into the stoop. As someone said, it IS bad design.