Dad said yes to fixing the front steps. Good. That is permission for a defined repair, not permission to let a crew redesign the entrance while he watches from behind a sheet of plywood.
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The job has four parts: find the failure, settle the legal boundary, write the exact repair, and keep the entrance usable until the concrete is ready. Skip one and the new steps can look respectable while preserving the old problem underneath.
Start with the movement, not the crack
Walk the steps with Dad before calling contractors. Ask him which edge rocks, where water sits, and whether the damage changed after a freeze, plumbing repair, downspout problem, or utility excavation. Photograph every tread, riser, landing, railing post, joint against the house, and patch. Put a ruler or tape in close photographs so the size is visible.
Then press each corner with your foot. Do not jump on it or pry anything loose. You are looking for movement, hollow areas, loose caps, open joints, and rail posts that shift when pulled by hand. Check where the downspout empties and whether soil has washed away beside the steps.
A cosmetic patch, a replacement tread, and a complete demolition are different jobs. Make each bidder say which one is proposed and what evidence supports it. If the steps have moved away from the house, settled unevenly, or carry part of a porch, require the bidder to explain what supports them before discussing finishes.
Find the legal line before the demolition line
St. Louis metro addresses do not share one permit desk. A mailing address that says St. Louis may sit in the City of St. Louis, unincorporated St. Louis County, or a separate municipality. Call the building authority for the property address and describe the work plainly: repair or replacement, attached or freestanding, within the property line or extending toward the public sidewalk.
Inside the City of St. Louis, ordinary repairs and exterior steps that are on grade, unattached to the structure, and within the property lines are listed among work that usually does not require a residential building permit. Structural work, foundation work, porches, decks, and other major alterations are treated differently (City of St. Louis, When a Residential Building Permit Is Needed). Do not turn that distinction into a guess. Ask the permit desk to classify Dad's actual job and save the reply or case number.
If any stair, landing, footing, barricade, or equipment reaches the public right of way, ask about public improvement and street permits before signing. The city identifies stairs, retaining systems, sidewalks, and other work in the right of way as permit subjects, with review that can include drainage, utilities, accessibility, and public safety (City of St. Louis, Apply for a Public Improvement Permit). Work involving a city sidewalk has its own permit process and barricade requirements (City of St. Louis, Apply for a Sidewalk Permit).
Also ask whether the house is in a local historic district. In the city, historic district standards can require review even when the ordinary building permit list would not catch the exterior work (City of St. Louis Cultural Resources Office, CRO Review FAQs).
If the repair involves digging for a footing or removing soil, make utility marking part of the schedule. Missouri One Call directs excavators to request underground utility locations before excavation (Missouri One Call, Excavator Manual). The contractor should identify who submits the request, who meets the locator, and what happens if markings cross the work area.
Make every bidder price the same repair
Give each bidder the same photographs and ask for a written scope that answers these questions:
What will be removed? Will the crew remove only loose material, one step, the landing, or the entire assembly? Where will demolition stop? Who protects the door, siding, foundation, sidewalk, landscaping, and buried lines?
What will support the replacement? The scope should describe the base, footing, reinforcement, attachment to the house if any, and treatment of the joint against the structure. Do not accept “as needed” for the part that keeps the steps from moving again. If conditions cannot be known until demolition, require a stated inspection point and written approval before added work begins.
What dimensions will remain? Have the bidder record the finished tread depths, riser heights, landing size, door clearance, and railing locations. Ask which adopted code or approved plan controls those dimensions. Federal accessibility standards are not a substitute for the residential code that applies to Dad's house, but they illustrate why rail height, continuity, clearance, and gripping surface must be treated as measured parts of a route, not decoration (United States Department of Justice, ADA Standards for Accessible Design).
Where will water go? The finished landing and surrounding grade should send water away without creating a new pond, ice strip, or discharge onto a neighbor's property. The City of St. Louis expressly conditions its permit exception for private sidewalks and driveways on drainage not harming adjacent property or creating a nuisance (City of St. Louis, When a Residential Building Permit Is Needed).
How will the finish be matched? Name the surface texture, edge profile, color expectation, and treatment of adjoining concrete. “Match existing” needs a limit because new and old concrete rarely leave the truck looking like twins.
Who handles permits, inspections, debris, and damage? Put the responsible party beside each task. Ask for the contractor's legal business name, insurance certificate, and any license or registration required by the authority for that address. Verify those items with the issuing office, not a logo on the estimate.
Give Dad a door while the steps are gone
Before work begins, choose the temporary entrance with Dad. Walk it in daylight and after dark. Check every threshold, stair, lock, light, handhold, and gate along the route. If the alternate door depends on a garage opener, confirm that the door can still be opened during a power loss.
The contract should state when the front door becomes unavailable, how long the closure is expected to last, and who restores a safe passage at the end of each workday. A plank laid across wet work is not an access plan. If Dad cannot use the alternate route, the job needs a different sequence or a properly designed temporary installation.
Move deliveries, visitors, and routine services to the alternate entrance. Put a simple notice at the front approach so nobody walks into an open excavation. Do not advertise that Dad is alone or identify where a spare key is kept.
Stay for the hold points
Be present, or have Dad's chosen representative present, after demolition and before concealed work is covered. Compare what is exposed with the contractor's diagnosis. Look for unexpected voids, rotted framing, damaged foundation material, disconnected drainage, or a different support arrangement than the estimate assumed.
If the scope must change, stop there. Get the proposed change, added work, and effect on access in writing. Dad approves work on his property unless a valid legal authority says otherwise. Being the son, emergency contact, or person paying the deposit does not by itself transfer ownership control.
Take photographs after excavation, after the base and reinforcement are placed, and before concrete covers them. Record any required inspection approval. These photographs are not a construction credential. They are the record Dad will need if the surface later moves and everyone remembers the hidden work differently.
Do not call it finished when the truck leaves
Ask the contractor to put the protection and cure instructions in writing: when the surface may be touched, when Dad may walk on it, when railings may be loaded, and what weather protection remains the contractor's job. Keep the barricade and alternate route in place until the contractor releases the steps for their intended use.
At closeout, walk the entire approach with Dad. Check that each step feels solid, the door clears the landing, rails do not move, edges are visible, water has a route away, joints are sealed as specified, and debris, fasteners, forms, and temporary barriers are gone. Compare the result with the written dimensions and approved scope. Collect the permit closeout or inspection record if one was required, the final invoice, photographs, care instructions, and written workmanship terms.
Do not hold the final conversation from the driveway. Have Dad use the route the way he normally does while the contractor is still there. The point is not to grade Dad's walking. It is to see whether the installed entrance matches the job everyone agreed to build.
Your next move tonight
Take six photographs: the full entrance, both sides of the steps, the landing at the door, the joint against the house, and the ground or sidewalk below. Write down whether the steps are attached to the house and whether any part appears to cross the property line. Then call the permit authority for the exact address and ask one question: “If we repair or replace these front steps, what approval must be issued before demolition?” Save the answer. That is the first line of the scope.