Should I replace brick steps with stone steps in Orleans?

Brick or stone, replacing steps has too few published prices to quote a range, so the comparison starts with getting two or three written quotes for each option.

A mason looking at them will want to know how many risers there are, whether the current base is sound, and whether the steps provide access to the building's main entrance. That last point matters because the City of Ottawa's advisory on landscaping materials notes that steps providing access to a building, or where there is more than 600 mm difference in elevation between adjacent surfaces, can trigger a building permit. The Building Code also requires that foundations for exterior steps go to a depth that accounts for frost; ask any mason you meet how the base will be supported below grade. These are questions to put to the City as well, before work starts.

On the City hardscaping licence: steps are a named feature under the City's hardscaping contractor licence by-law. Ask each contractor whether the job requires that licence, and ask the City whether a repair of your scale counts as a minor repair, which the by-law excludes. We found no definition of minor repair in the by-law.

A written quote for steps, in either material, should spell out: the number of risers and treads being replaced or rebuilt, what happens to the existing base, where the replacement material comes from and how it is matched to the house, how mortar joints will be cut or removed and how dust will be controlled on site, cleanup and disposal of old material, and who is responsible for asking the City about permits.

If the property is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act or sits within a heritage conservation district, any alteration to the steps may need heritage approval before work begins; confirm that with the City before choosing a material.

The most useful next step is to have two masons come out and look at the existing steps in person, so each quote is based on what is actually there rather than a description.