A landing is the flat area at the top or partway up a flight, and when it settles it does something a middle tread cannot: it changes the rise above and below it at the same time. That is why a dropped landing is usually the step people trip on, even though the rest of the flight has not moved at all.
Every other tread in a flight has one rise above it and one below, and if it settles by ten millimetres those two rises change by ten millimetres in opposite directions.
A landing does the same thing but it is also where people stop, turn, and shift their weight while opening a door with their hands full, which makes it the least forgiving place on a flight to have a mismatch.
Landings settle for the usual reason: they sit on backfill against the house, which consolidates for years, and they often have no drainage behind them so water sits and freezes.
The repair takes the landing up, rebuilds the base beneath to carry it, sets the finished height back against the door sill, and puts a slight fall across it so water leaves. Both rises get re-measured at the end.
The step up to the landing and the step off it are recorded, because a settled landing has changed both and both have to come back.
Check the sill
The finished landing height is set against the door sill, so water cannot back up over it and the top rise lands where it should.
Rebuild the base beneath
Compacted base goes in to carry the landing properly, rather than material packed into the void the settlement left behind.
Relay with fall
The surface goes back with a slight fall away from the door so water leaves instead of sitting and freezing on the one flat part of the flight.
Hands Full
Why the landing is the worst place for a mismatch
A landing is where people pause, turn and reach for a door, usually carrying something, and often in the dark. It is the one point on a flight where nobody is looking at their feet and everybody is shifting their weight.
A rise that is out by more than a few millimetres there catches people who have used that entrance for years. See how step rebuilding deals with rises across a whole flight, what loose risers mean for one course, and how pooling water collects on a flat landing.
Because the landing has settled. That drop adds to the rise below it and takes the same amount off the rise above, so one step feels wrong at both ends.
Usually yes, provided the flight itself still measures true. We check both rises around the landing before quoting so there are no surprises.
They typically sit on backfill against the house, which consolidates for years, and they often have no drainage behind them so water sits and freezes.
A slight one, away from the door. It is the only flat part of a flight, so without fall it is where water collects and where ice forms in winter.
Most run $500 to $1,500 depending on size and how much base has to be rebuilt underneath. It is usually a single day on site.
Deep enough to stand on with the door swinging toward you and not step back, which in practice is more than most existing ones. If yours is tight we say so, and whether making it right means moving more than the landing.
