Concrete sidewalk building in Alabaster AL - a walk that stays level underfoot

Most calls come from a walk that has heaved over a root or dropped into a dip, or from a house that never had a walk and has a path worn through the grass. The price and the schedule come down to what I find along the route, how much old concrete and dirt has to come out, whether the walk crosses your driveway, the permit check we do for your address and the weather on pour day, and the estimate I write lists exactly what's included.

I start by walking the route, because where a walk runs matters as much as what goes into it, and a big tree close to the line or a low spot that holds water will move a slab no matter how good the concrete is. Once the line is set, we dig out the topsoil and roots, pack the subgrade, which is the dirt the walk sits on, and set forms so the walk slopes away from the house. We pour, give it a broom finish, the light ridged texture that keeps your feet from sliding when it's wet, and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the concrete a straight place to crack instead of a random one. After that it has to cure, sitting undisturbed while it hardens, before anybody uses it. When a budget gets tight, people want to cut the base because nobody sees it after the first day, and that's the one place I won't skimp, because a nice surface on loose dirt settles right along with the dirt.

A new walk often leads to other concrete that needs attention. If it ends at a garage whose floor is cracked or sinking, we can price garage floor concrete in the same estimate, and if you'd rather have color, a pattern or a border than plain gray, our decorative concrete work can run the length of the walk.

In Alabaster, the city's building official issues a permit to any owner or contractor who wants to build, alter, repair or tear out a building or structure. Whether your walk needs one isn't something I'd guess at, so before we set a date we check with the permit office over your address, since which office handles it depends on where you live. If a permit is needed, we take care of the paperwork, or walk you through it if you're acting as your own contractor. In that case you'd start at the city's Building and Engineering Services page, which points you to the online permit system where you set up an account.

The ground is the other local factor. An older Shelby County soil survey describes some soils in the county that shrink and swell and don't carry much weight, and notes that sinkholes are possible and worth checking before you build. That's background, not a reading of your yard, so I look at what's under the route at the estimate and we take out soft or wet spots before we pack the base, the same as we do on jobs in Pelham and Helena.