Concrete Sidewalks

Narrow flatwork is priced by the run and by site access rather than by area alone. A straight front walk on open ground and a curved garden path requiring concrete to be barrowed through a side gate differ substantially at the same square footage.

Replacing existing sections adds saw cutting, demolition and haul-away. We walk the route with you and provide a written estimate at no charge.

In general use the terms are interchangeable and the work is identical. Where a distinction is drawn, a sidewalk refers to the public path along a street frontage and a walkway refers to a private path on the property, such as the run from the driveway to the front door.

The practical difference is ownership. Work within the public right of way may involve the city, and we will confirm whether the section you are asking about falls into that category.

Concrete shrinks as it cures and moves with temperature, and a long narrow slab has limited capacity to accommodate that movement. Control joints are grooves cut or tooled partway through the slab so that cracking occurs along a planned straight line rather than at random.

Expansion joints serve a different purpose. They are full-depth gaps filled with a compressible material, positioned where the walk abuts a rigid element such as a driveway, step, wall or the house, allowing the two to move independently. A path that has cracked at random was generally jointed too far apart, too shallow or too late.

The standard rule for flatwork is that control joint spacing in feet is approximately two to three times the slab thickness in inches, placing joints in a four-inch walk between eight and twelve feet apart. On a narrow run, panels are also kept approximately square rather than long and thin, which generally reduces the spacing below that maximum.

Depth is as important as spacing. A joint must extend approximately one quarter of the way through the slab to control where cracking occurs. A shallow decorative groove has the appearance of a joint without the function.

In most cases, yes, and it is the lower-cost option. A panel that has been lifted by a root or has settled can be saw cut out at the joints and replaced over a prepared base, leaving the remainder of the run in place.

The cause should be addressed at the same time, as a root that lifted the original panel will lift the replacement. For grinding, lifting and crack repair short of replacement, see concrete repair.