Concrete Walkways and Sidewalks in Stickney

Walks around here take a pounding. Frost lifts the panels. Salt eats the surface. Tree roots in the parkway push up the edges. And in a lot of Stickney homes, the walk down the gangway is the only way to the back door, squeezed between two houses with nowhere for water to go. When a panel lifts half an inch, somebody catches a toe on it. We replace walks so that does not happen again. The old concrete comes up and goes away. We dig past the soft stuff, put down stone and compact it so every panel sits on the same firm footing. A typical walk is poured about four inches thick, more where it crosses a driveway or takes heavy wheels. The slope gets set so water runs off to the side, toward the grass or a drain, and never back toward the foundation. That matters most in a gangway, where a walk pitched the wrong way can push water straight at the basement wall. Heights get matched at the porch, the drive and the public walk so there is no lip. Edges get rounded, the surface gets a broom texture for winter grip, and joints get cut at even spacing. Then the forms come out, dirt goes back along the edges, and the crew cleans up before leaving.