My question is similar to the recent one about a small porch. But we have a concrete patio so no posts could be used. We have two wood steps outside our patio door (about the same width as the doors) leading to a concrete patio with a glass block basement window under the steps.

It is now freestanding, not hooked onto the house at all. We have the window well covered and the steps are pretty enclosed but my husband always moves the steps away each fall to clean everything up. Since the steps are basically a box it sometimes moves away from the house a few inches then I just shove it back. The patio also slopes away from the house which it should and also a little from left to right for water runoff. The steps are level and the bottom base (maybe the rise?) is a little higher on one side than the other. Make sense?

Do you think by having the window under it that it makes sense to have this freestanding? Each fall my husband moves it away and cleans out what leaves and junk may have gotten in there. I know if it were anchored to the house he wouldn’t be able to do that but if it were tightly enclosed the stuff wouldn’t get in there in the first place.

Let me know if you have any ideas on this. Would you permanently attach it to the house or can you think of a way to have it freestanding but not move? How could it be enclosed so nothing would get in, leaves or chipmunks? We are not in great need to repair this right now but it would be nice to have some ideas I could present to my husband about it.

You could put the steps flush to the doorway and use metal brackets that you would attach with wood screws to both sides of the porch and then attach the same way to the house. Also use a bracket on top step and then attach to the house. There won’t be anything getting in or under the steps that way as you have sealed it off.

Maybe you could use two large gate hooks that consist of a hook [screw into stairs] and a screw eye [screw into house] to snug the assembly so it does not move. I enclosed some stairs once and it made a perfect home for the critters. Turned out to be more problems than it was worth.

Thanks for the ideas. I think the gate hooks would be the type of thing I’m looking for. Sounds like common sense to me but it never came to mind. This month might be the time to install them as very soon the leaves will be on the ground and it will be time to clean up that space. After doing that we could attach the hooks.

I would build a ‘frame’ around it (out of pressure treated lumber or whatever) and then drop the steps into the frame. In this way, they could be removed when required (very handy) but wouldn’t be able to move away. It’s not difficult to anchor things to concrete – You need a hammer drill with an appropriate bit (which you can rent at Home Depot or whatever) and some anchor bolts, again available at HD.

I would use a fence gate hook on each side of the stairs. One piece mounts on the stairs and it a large ‘hook’ and the other piece mounts on the house and is a screw in ‘eye’. I would, from experience, not enclose the stairs as animals will find it a great home. I tried to post this answer yesterday so if it appears twice I apologize.

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