Straight answers about front steps.

For a typical Ottawa entrance, precast concrete runs about $1,800–$4,500 (installed incl. removal, before railing) and poured concrete about $2,500–$6,000 (installed, before railing). Wood and composite span about $800–$6,000. Width, risers, a landing and truck access move the number most. Price your own layout in the estimator. Ottawa market ballpark before HST — not a quote. Your final price is confirmed in writing after a free on-site assessment of access, soil, height, demolition and finish.

No — railings are priced separately, per linear foot installed on the stairs: aluminum about $90–$180, wood about $35–$70, steel or wrought iron about $110–$240, and glass about $160–$350. See railings. Ottawa market ballpark before HST — not a quote. Your final price is confirmed in writing after a free on-site assessment of access, soil, height, demolition and finish.

Per-step figures leave out the parts every job needs: removal and disposal (about $300–$900 per entrance), excavation and base, the support the Code requires, a landing, railings and access for the truck. Small concrete orders also carry a ready-mix short-load fee of about $175–$400 per truck, small orders. Ottawa market ballpark before HST — not a quote. Your final price is confirmed in writing after a free on-site assessment of access, soil, height, demolition and finish.

Roughly: broom-finished driveways $10–$20 per sq ft, walkways $12–$30 per sq ft (small jobs higher), and patios or backyard pads $10–$25 per sq ft. Stamped concrete is about $18–$45 per sq ft. Removal of old concrete adds about $3–$5 per sq ft. See the concrete cost guide. Ottawa market ballpark before HST — not a quote. Your final price is confirmed in writing after a free on-site assessment of access, soil, height, demolition and finish.

No. The site visit and written quote are free. We measure the rise to your door sill, check the base, drainage and access, then put the scope, materials and terms in writing. All prices on this site are before HST, and your written quote is the number that counts. Book a visit.

Yes. Send a photo of your front step and your vision, and we'll generate your design preview at no charge and with no obligation. You only pay when you decide to build, starting with a deposit on a written quote.

One clear photo of your front entrance, taken straight-on in daylight if you can, and a few words about what you want — a material, a style, a budget, or a photo of steps you like. We'll handle the rest.

Yes — that's the point. Poured concrete can be formed to almost any shape, and the preview lets you try widths, landings, porch combinations, railings and finishes on your own house before committing.

The preview is the design we quote and build to. Final dimensions and structure are confirmed at the site measure, and natural materials like concrete and stone vary slightly from any image — but the entrance you approve is the entrance we build.

Neither wins on the label alone. Both are concrete; how long they last comes down to the base and support underneath, drainage, the mix and first-winter care. Precast is cured at the plant and set in one visit; poured fits any shape and is built to the C-2 spec of 32 MPa, 5–8 % air and a 0.45 water-cement ratio. Compare them in precast vs poured.

Not if it's built and maintained properly. Wood must not touch the ground unless it's preservative-treated, footings must go below frost depth, and it needs washing yearly and a stain or sealer every 1–3 years. One Ontario hardscaper reports timber steps often needing replacement within about 8–15 years. See wood steps.

Lower-maintenance, not zero. Composite needs no staining — wash it with soap and water and skip the pressure washer. It needs much tighter stringer spacing than wood, often 305 mm (12 in) or less, and its smooth surface can hold meltwater that refreezes, so slope and traction matter in winter. See wood and composite steps.

Usually the base. Manufacturers say never build on topsoil: dig to firm subsoil, lay geotextile, and compact crushed stone in 100 mm (4 in) lifts, building from the bottom up. Coping must be glued so each step acts as one unit. Ottawa installers typically use a compacted base about 250–300 mm (10–12 in) deep. See interlock steps.

A broom finish is the standard for grip in wet and icy weather. Exposed aggregate is grippy and hides wear. Integral colour runs pigment through the whole mix. A quartz system adds coloured quartz under a UV-stable topcoat. We avoid steel-trowelled smooth finishes on exterior treads — they're slippery when wet and weaken frost and salt resistance. See concrete steps.

It's the minimum compressive strength the concrete must reach at 28 days — about 4,640 psi. It's the CSA C-2 and Ontario Building Code figure for exterior steps, flatwork and garage floors, paired with 5–8 % entrained air and a water-cement ratio no higher than 0.45. See concrete strength explained.

We can't say with a number. The Ottawa precast makers we checked don't publish a strength figure for residential steps. They do state that their concrete is air-entrained for freeze-thaw and reinforced with rebar and mesh. Our 32 MPa figure applies to concrete we pour on site. See precast steps.

For any poured exterior work — steps, landings, walkways, driveways, garage floors — look for CSA exposure class C-2: at least 32 MPa (about 4,640 psi) at 28 days, 5–8 % air and a maximum 0.45 water-cement ratio. Also ask for base depth and slab thickness in writing, since the Code doesn't set them for flatwork. See hiring a step contractor.

Entrained air leaves microscopic voids in the concrete that give freezing water somewhere to expand. Without them, freeze-thaw cycles and de-icing salt break the surface apart — the flaking called scaling. The Ontario Building Code requires 5–8 % air for site-batched exterior flatwork and garage floors. See why Ottawa concrete scales.

CSA's F-1 class (freeze-thaw, no chlorides) lists patios at 30 MPa (about 4,350 psi). But the Ontario Building Code sets 32 MPa for all exterior flatwork, and Concrete Ontario puts patios in C-2. We recommend C-2 for every pad, especially near doors where salt gets tracked. See patios and pads.

With precast, usually one visit once the base is ready — the steps are cured at the plant, so the entrance is typically usable the same day. Poured steps take 2–4 working days on site, then curing, with light foot traffic typically after 24–48 hours. We give you the schedule with the quote. See our process.

Locates are part of every step job we do. A public locate is required by law before any digging, even by hand, and it's free through Ontario One Call (now Ontario Dig Authority). Allow at least 5 business days for a single address. Private lines, like a gas line to a barbecue, need a separate paid locator. See our process.

It's possible, but the rules tighten. Below 5 °C (41 °F), the Ontario Building Code requires concrete to be placed between 10 °C and 25 °C (50–77 °F) and kept at 10 °C (50 °F) or more for 72 hours. Late pours also miss the 30-day air-drying window before salt season, so plan on no salt that winter. See first-winter care.

Concrete gains roughly 70 % of its strength in about 7 days and keeps gaining after that. Its specified strength is measured at 28 days — that's a test age, not a finish line. A minimum of 7 days of curing is commonly recommended, and driveways should stay free of vehicles for at least 7 days. See how concrete is poured.

We measure the total rise to your door sill, the width and landing, and look at the foundation wall, drainage, soil, access for a boom or ready-mix truck, and railing needs. We also flag any permit or right-of-way questions. You get a written quote with scope, materials and terms. Book a visit.

For stairs serving a house: rise between 125 mm and 200 mm (about 4.9–7.9 in) and run between 255 mm and 355 mm (about 10–14 in). Risers must stay within 5 mm (about 3/16 in) of each other and 10 mm (about 3/8 in) across the flight. See the step building code guide.

No. For a house, exterior stairs need a handrail only when they have more than 3 risers — then one side is enough, at 865–1070 mm (about 34–42 in) above the nosings. A guard is a separate rule: it's needed where the walking surface is more than 600 mm (about 24 in) above the ground nearby. See railings.

Not over the steps themselves. Where a door swings toward a stair, the full arc of the swing must be over a landing. A landing is required at the top of a flight serving a main entrance, at least as wide as the stair, and sloped no more than 1 in 50. See front porches.

Often not for low, like-for-like replacements, but steps and landings that give access to the house can need one — for example, a main-entrance deck or a walking surface more than 600 mm (24 in) above grade. Heritage properties aren't exempt. We check every job; you can also ask the City through 3-1-1. See permits.

Yes. Since March 1, 2026, Ottawa requires a Hardscaping Contractor Licence for work like steps, driveways, walkways and patios on private property. Licensed contractors must carry $2 million general liability and $2 million auto liability insurance and give you the City's Landscaping Education Guide. Ask every contractor, including us, to show the licence. See hiring a step contractor.

Yes — widening a driveway access needs a City access permit under By-law 2026-139. The fee is $208 (2026 City fee) and it takes about 6–8 weeks, including the contractor's road cut permit. Resurfacing in the same footprint doesn't need one. City fees sit outside the ballpark prices in our cost guides.

Sand, not salt. Concrete Ontario recommends no de-icer of any type on new concrete in its first winter, because young concrete's air voids can still be saturated and salt causes scaling. Clear snow and ice promptly so meltwater doesn't soak in. See first-winter care.

No — the reverse. All de-icing salts can cause distress over time, but plain rock salt (sodium chloride) is much less severe on concrete than calcium or magnesium chloride. It works to about −10 °C (14 °F). Never use products with ammonium, sulphates or nitrates, which are common in fertilizers. See safe de-icers.

Concrete Ontario recommends routine sealing of residential flatwork, typically every 1–2 years depending on exposure and product, and especially where salt is used. On new concrete, wait for at least 30 days of air drying before the first coat. See first-winter care.

Salt is the main risk. Ask your snow-removal service not to salt new concrete in its first winter and not to push salty street snow onto it — salty meltwater standing on the surface greatly increases scaling. Salt dripping off cars can scale a new driveway or garage slab too. See driveways.

That's scaling, and the usual suspects are salt in the first winter, too little entrained air, too much water in the mix, finishing with bleed water on the surface, or poor curing. Poor drainage that leaves salty water sitting makes it worse. See why Ottawa concrete scales.

Often, if they're level, firmly supported and sound underneath. Edges and nosings can be rebuilt, cracks filled and worn treads resurfaced; typical repair jobs run about $300–$1,500. Sinking, tilting, hollow-sounding or widely rusting steps usually need replacement. Try the repair-or-replace quiz. Ottawa market ballpark before HST — not a quote. Your final price is confirmed in writing after a free on-site assessment of access, soil, height, demolition and finish.

No. Quartz needs clean, sound, properly profiled concrete. No coating makes crumbling, delaminated or moving concrete sound, and it can't stop water from bad drainage or active cracks. Hollow areas found with a tap test have to come off first. If the base is failing, replacement comes before any finish. See quartz coating.

Not with the right system. Standard epoxies are aromatic and amber in sunlight, and some epoxy quartz products are labelled interior-only. Outdoors, the system should use a UV-stable resin with an aliphatic polyaspartic or polyurethane topcoat — a clear UV-stable topcoat can't protect a non-UV-stable layer under it. See quartz coating.

About $15–$25 per sq ft (minimums apply) on exterior steps and porches. Jobs typically take 2–3 days including cure, with light foot traffic usually the next day and full cure over several days, longer in cool weather. See quartz coating. Ottawa market ballpark before HST — not a quote. Your final price is confirmed in writing after a free on-site assessment of access, soil, height, demolition and finish.

Sometimes. A precast unit in good shape can sometimes be lifted, the base rebuilt and compacted, and the unit reset. Poured steps that have settled usually need replacing with proper support — walls or piers to frost depth, or anchoring to a foundation wall at least 200 mm (8 in) thick. Ottawa's Leda clay can keep settling for years. See repair or replace.

Capital Steps is an independent company founded in Ottawa. We work across the city, including Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Nepean, Orléans, Manotick, Richmond, Carp, Riverside South, Findlay Creek and Greely. See service areas.

Our own in-house crew. Front entrances are our specialty — concrete, wood, composite and interlock steps, porches, railings, quartz and repair — along with residential concrete. Learn more about us.

Call 343-997-9955, email inquire@capitalsteps.ca or use the contact form. We aim to reply within one business day. Photos of your steps from the front and both sides, plus a rough count of risers, help us give you a useful first answer before the free site visit.

We put the scope, materials and terms of every job in the written quote. Ask us about workmanship coverage at your site visit. Because it's all in writing before work starts, you can compare quotes line by line. See hiring a step contractor.

Ask every contractor you're comparing — including us — for proof of insurance and their City of Ottawa hardscaping licence number. Since March 1, 2026, the City has required a licence for hardscaping work such as steps, driveways and walkways. See hiring a step contractor.