Residential concrete
Concrete Sidewalks in Eagan, MN
A raised panel on the front walk is a trip hazard you are responsible for, and grinding it down only buys a season. We replace concrete sidewalks and walkways at Eagan homes, from a single lifted panel to the full run from the curb to the door. Roots get dealt with, the base gets rebuilt, and the new walk drains instead of holding ice.
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What Sidewalk Replacement Involves
Most walkway jobs are partial. We saw cut clean lines at the control joints on either side of the bad panels, break them out, and deal with whatever caused the problem before anything new goes down. If a tree root did the lifting, that root gets cut back and the new panel is poured with a bit more depth and reinforcement so it resists the next push.
Base rock gets replaced and compacted, forms go in at the correct elevation to meet the panels on either side, and the pour is finished with a broom texture running across the walk rather than along it. That direction matters in winter, because crossways broom lines give a boot something to grab. A residential walk is normally four inches thick. Where it crosses a driveway it goes thicker, since vehicles will be on it.
When a Walkway Has to Be Replaced
- A vertical edge between panels. Anything you can feel with a shoe is a trip hazard, and a half inch is enough to catch someone.
- Ice that forms in the same spot every winter. The walk has settled and now holds water where it used to shed it.
- Panels rocking under weight. The base has washed out from under them.
- Surface scaling. Flaking that has exposed aggregate makes a walk rough, ugly, and slower to shed water.
- A crack running diagonally across a panel. That is settlement rather than shrinkage, and it will keep opening.
- Grass growing through a joint that has spread open. The panels have drifted apart and water is getting into the base.
Why Walkways Lift and Settle in Eagan
Tree roots
This is the number one cause here. Silver maple, boxelder, and the big oaks that shade so many of the older streets all run surface roots, and a four inch walk panel offers almost no resistance. A root does not need to be thick to lift a panel an inch over ten years.
Frost in a poorly drained base
A walk laid on clay with no rock under it will heave every winter. Some panels come back down in the same spot and some do not, which is how a walk that was flat in 1990 turns into a staircase.
Downspouts and irrigation
Water discharging next to a walk saturates the soil beside and beneath it. Saturated soil heaves more in frost and washes out faster in a thaw. Moving a downspout six feet solves problems people spend thousands on.
Salt on a thin slab
A walkway is the thinnest concrete on the property and it usually gets salted first. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency points out that most salt stops working below about 15 degrees, so on a truly cold night the extra you spread does nothing for traction and everything to the surface of your walk. Sand works at any temperature.
What Affects Sidewalk Cost
- Linear feet and width. A three foot walk and a five foot walk to the same door are very different volumes.
- Partial versus full replacement. Swapping three panels costs far less than the whole run, but mobilization is the same either way, so small jobs cost more per foot.
- Root removal. Cutting and treating large roots takes time, and occasionally the route of the walk should shift to avoid a tree worth keeping.
- Steps or grade changes. A walk climbing a slope may need a landing or a low retaining edge.
- Curves and flares. A straight run forms up fast. A curved walk with a flared entry takes more labor.
- Thickness at crossings. Anywhere the walk crosses the drive, it gets poured heavier.
Grinding, Lifting, or Replacing?
Grinding a raised edge down flat removes the immediate trip hazard for very little money. It is a reasonable stopgap, but the panel is still high and it will keep rising.
Slab lifting, where material is pumped underneath to raise a settled panel back to level, works well when the panel itself is in good shape and it simply dropped. It does not help with a panel that was pushed up by a root, and it does nothing for scaling.
Replacement is the right answer when panels are broken, when roots are the cause, or when the surface is coming apart. At that point the base and the root need attention, and neither is reachable without taking the concrete out. If the driveway slab alongside is showing the same age, doing both at once saves a second mobilization, and the same is true for a patio slab out back.
Sidewalk Questions From Homeowners
Who is responsible for the sidewalk in front of my house?
In most Minnesota cities the adjoining property owner carries responsibility for maintenance and winter clearing even when the walk sits in the public right of way. Since rules and permit requirements differ by location and by which walk you mean, we confirm the specifics with the city before we quote anything in the right of way.
Can you replace just one panel?
Yes. Saw cutting at the joints gives a clean edge and the new panel ties in at the correct elevation. Expect a color difference for the first year or two while the new concrete cures and weathers.
Will cutting the root kill my tree?
Not usually, if it is one root and it is cut cleanly at a reasonable distance from the trunk. A rule of thumb is to stay outside a distance of about five times the trunk diameter. If the walk runs right up against a mature trunk, rerouting the walk is often the better answer than cutting.
How soon can I walk on it?
Twenty four hours for foot traffic in normal summer weather, longer if it is cool. We will leave it barricaded and tell you exactly when it is ready.
Can you match the broom finish on my existing walk?
Yes, direction and coarseness are both matched to what is already there. Color will differ at first, as it does with any new pour, and it evens out over time.
Got a raised edge somebody has already tripped on? Call (651) 427-1250 and we will take a look this week.