Front Steps and Stoops in Eagan
The City describes Eagan's landscape as rolling hills, and the watershed plan describes a moraine with relatively steep hills. Where the ground climbs like that, the house can sit well above its driveway, and the way in is then a flight of steps, sometimes with a landing partway up, more than a stoop at the door. The same plan describes deep depressions between the hills that hold wetlands and ponds, so a lot can rise from the street to the house and then fall away behind it toward water.
10 Years
Workmanship warranty, in writing
When the Front Door Sits Up a Slope
A flight is more entry to deal with. Every riser and landing is concrete, brick, or stone and may need repair, rebuilding, or replacement, and the entry's history can vary from step to step. A flight rebuild starts from the same band as a stoop, and the number of steps moves the figure.
Where a concrete flight is sound, natural stone can be laid over it, and on a flight that means every step from the bottom to the top.
What Has Been Done to the Entry Since
A stoop poured when the house went up in the 1970s or 1980s may since have been mudjacked, patched, skimmed with fresh concrete, faced in brick or taken out and replaced, and each of those changes the job.
A stoop that was mudjacked has moved before, and lifting it again is not work we do. A skim coat or a brick face over the old concrete leaves two things to judge: the face and the core under it. An entry rebuilt with interlocking pavers is outside what we take on.
Repair, Rebuild or Replace in Stone
Repair what is there
Where a poured stoop has cracked but stopped moving, and the base under it is sound, a repair may be all it needs.
Rebuild it in the same material
We leave most concrete work to others, but front entries are the exception: a rebuild takes the old entry out and puts it back in what it is now, concrete or brick. Under a brick rebuild, the old footings are reused if they are sound and replaced if they are not.
Replace it with natural stone
Any new steps we build are made of natural stone, so swapping a concrete or brick stoop for stone steps changes the material and fixes the problem. The stone yard is where to see the options before Sam prices one.
Entry Apron or Driveway Apron
Some owners call the landing at the front door, at the top of the steps, the entry apron, and that landing is ours to repair or rebuild along with the rest of the entry. A flat slab at the door with no steps up to it is a slab like any other, and we don't pour or repair slabs, though we will lay brick or stone over a sound one. The driveway apron, where the drive meets the street or the garage floor, is flatwork like sidewalks and patio slabs, and we do not take it on.
Garden Steps Down the Back Slope
The City's page for homeowners with a pond out back starts from the way people talk about it: "You call it your pond because it's near your home." Many of those ponds, the City explains, may be among the hundreds of stormwater basins that land developers were required to build, so the yard behind a house can drop toward water that entered the neighborhood.
A run of garden steps down that slope is work we take on, built in natural stone like any new steps of ours. Fieldstone can go on the treads if that is the look you want, or a flat-cut stone where you would rather have an even surface underfoot.
Which Entry Jobs Carry a Price
A front step rebuild typically runs $7,500 to $11,500, and a concrete or brick rebuild is priced against that band.
Before you call
Every figure on this page depends on square footage and on what we find when we look. They are rough guides to help you decide whether to call, not quotes. The exact number comes after the visit, and the visit is free.
What Customers Say
What appears below is our live Google feed rather than testimonials we picked out, so it shows whatever is genuinely on it.
Your Eagan Entry's History
For the estimate, send:
- A photograph of the entry from the side, so Sam can see any lean
- What the entry is made of, if you can tell: plain concrete, brick over concrete, or stone
- Any earlier repairs to it, if known
- How many steps run from the driveway to the door
- Whether you would like garden steps down the back slope priced as well
Questions About Your Front Entry
The inspection report from our purchase mentioned the front stoop. Does that change the estimate?+
On its own, no. The report records what someone observed on the day of the inspection, and the visit shows Sam where the entry currently stands.