How to repair porch slab that has bricks embedded inside it

Question

I have a cracked front porch slab at the front corners where it supports two decorative columns that support a small roof covering the entry door. I discovered that the pillars are on a stack of bricks which, after freeze/thaw cycles, are crumbling and shedding, and cracking the corner off the slab under the posts.

How should I go about fixing this?

my Thoughts:

1. Support roof with beam and jack posts
2. remove existing posts
3. break up areas of concrete slab containing bricks, and completely remove brick
4. drill good concrete and place rebar extending into void areas formerly occupied by brick
5. place forms to be able to pour concrete. Pour concrete
6. put posts back in place and remove forms
7. skim-coat the whole slab for uniform appearance

What would you do?

Answer 1

I'd shim a board neatly underneath the cement and brick overhang. Use cinder blocks or bricks to jam a piece of pine somewhat longer than the break up against the solid cement, and pour fresh concrete into the resulting mold. Hit that brick with a steel brush on a drill before starting. It looks like it's going bad. You'll want to erode it down to a solid surface. Wear a dust mask. Once the concrete has set, remove the wood and use an angle grinder disk to match the bevel of the rest of the cement. Angle grinder is best, but you can get away with a drill, and any number of grinding bits. Again, a dusk mask is essential. Paint the new cement after a month or so, so everything matches.