Rainwater collects in little puddles on several of the steps leading up to our front porch. Ideally these old worn treads should be replaced, but that’s a lot of work. As an interim measure, before I put down the second coat of paint, I was thinking to drill a few small holes to allow drainage. I just hope that doesn’t create some bigger problem.
It will. Water then will get inside the boards and cause rot.
We have the same problem on our new steps…am trying to get it fixed today.
I concur with Howie, although it’s possible to then paint the holes to keep it from seeping in.
Also, you don’t know where that water is going to flow once it flows under the stairs. If it’s possible, I would pour water down from that stair – from the side, i guess – and see where it flows once it hits the ground, just as a sanity check before you do anything.
Is this something your handyman could do?
These steps are actually about four or five feet above a concrete slab. I’m pretty sure water draining through holes would just run off the slab. It’s nice to have a dry slab right now, of course, but I think I’d rather have dry steps.
The plan would definitely be to drill first and then paint to limit seepage. The boards are already in pretty bad shape so I’m not sure if rot is really something to worry about.
Unfortunately our “handyman” (and I used the term cautiously) is me.
Maybe add a small shim under the front of the board so it has a slight angle backwards to drain, or flip that board so instead of being concave it’d be convex.
…or just sweep the water off.