[Oakland] Concrete vs. Paver Steps

[Calvin Kwan]

I'm getting close to finishing up my Oakland renovation and want to replace the concrete steps leading up to property.  The steps are buckling and it seem they were not installed with rebar.  

I've gotten quotes from 3 concrete contractors and all have quoted me between $25-40K to replace, which was extremely surprising to me.  Is there a cheaper solution than concrete?  Would brick pavers be cheaper?  Here are some pics for reference (pre-renovation).

Appreciate any suggestions you can provide!

[Matt Devincenzo]

I don't see buckling in the photos...they are old but seem serviceable to me. Lack of rebar isn't necessarily an issue. Concrete is perfectly ok by itself it's just not great in tension...the colosseum is unreinforced and 2,000 years old. So rebar provides tensile strength, and often results in designs that use less concrete. Many City owned improvements like driveway aprons, curb, gutter, sidewalk and cross gutters are all poured without rebar because the rebar would create maintenance issues in order to remove the concrete etc.

So that said...can the damaged section of concrete be removed and replaced? As in if it's just a few treads demo and repour those few treads. Or look at the overall rise/run of the risers...could you demo the nose of the treads and then do an unbonded overlay on top of the stairs foundation themselves? The old stair would become the base that the new stairs were poured on top of...you'd just want to end up with enough thickness on your new concrete to allow it to be strong. 

Final thought would be if it's primarily aesthetic, look at mortaring thin pavers over the stairs. You may need to do a combination of the above in order to result in a strong base with the correct rise/run to allow for the pavers, but it would achieve what you'd like.