Stoop-Less

Yea!  The stoop came out!  We're all Aleve-ed up.... it was backbreaking.  SWL was at Home Depot bright and early to rent the jack hammer (first come first serve).  By the time I arrived, he'd almost removed the whole stoop!  We loaded concrete and wire mesh into the Suburban and made our first trip to the dump.
The bigger challenge was the deep concrete pad adjacent.... it was sitting on wire mesh so was a hammer, crowbar, sawzall, and load operation.  Mid afternoon we made the second dump run!  The removal uncovered several water issues.  Apparently the stoop had sloped toward the house.... leaving the frame under the door rotted, as well as two big spots of standing water against the foundation.  We've had a TON
of rain lately, so we'll see how it dries out now.  Plan: dry a bit, excavate a bit, concrete patch, and seal.  Then we'll fill and plant to slope away from the foundation wall.  Seems like our design to remove the back door was unbeknownst a good plan!