The short walk, done right
Front walks, side yard paths and the strip to the trash cans. Narrow pours that a big crew will not schedule and we will.
Sidewalks and paths
A path is the concrete you use most and think about least. It is the walk from the driveway to the front door, the route the trash cans take every week, the way to the back gate without crossing rock in sandals. When it is missing, you notice daily. When it is cracked or lifted, somebody eventually catches a toe on it. Either way it is a small pour that changes how the whole yard works.
A thirty foot side path uses a little over one yard of concrete. That is about a tenth of a truck, and no large crew plans a day around it. The work is mostly forms, a long narrow run with curves and grade changes, and very little pour. We group paths with other small jobs on the same town day, so the short load gets shared instead of making the job impossible to schedule.
Common sizes
- Trash can strip, 3 by 15
- A short run beside the garage so the cans roll on concrete instead of gravel.
- Side yard path, 3 by 30
- Connects the driveway to the back gate along the side of the house.
- Front walk, 4 by 20
- Wide enough for two people side by side, from the driveway or the street to the front door.
- Stepping pads
- Separate square pads set in the rock, for a route that does not need to be one continuous walk.
How the job goes
- 1
Walk the line
We lay the route out with string or paint and adjust it with you. That covers the curves, where it meets the driveway and how it passes the gate and the sprinkler valves. Moving a line is easy at this stage.
- 2
Dig and form
We dig a shallow trench, compact gravel in the bottom and set forms on both sides. Curves are made with thin boards that bend. The forms are set so the walk drains to one side instead of holding water.
- 3
Pour and finish
Paths are often poured by wheelbarrow, since the truck cannot reach a side yard. We screed between the forms, float the surface, tool the edges and broom across the walk so the texture runs crosswise to your feet.
- 4
Joints and cleanup
Joints go in every few feet, tooled or cut, so the walk is divided into short panels. Forms come off the next day, we backfill the edges with your rock or soil, and the walk is ready for feet.
What makes it last
Concrete fails from the bottom up. These are the parts you will never see once the job is done, and they decide how the slab holds up.
- Four inch thickness
- Foot traffic, trash cans and a loaded wheelbarrow are light duty. Four inches is typical for a walk. Where a path crosses a spot that vehicles use, we thicken that section.
- Close joint spacing
- A long thin strip of concrete wants to crack across its width. We space joints about as far apart as the walk is wide, or a little more, so a crack is more likely to follow a joint than wander across a panel.
- Cross slope
- A walk that is dead level holds puddles, and in the high country, ice. We tilt it slightly to one side, about one eighth to one quarter inch per foot, and away from the house wherever it runs along a wall.
- Flush transitions
- Most trips happen where a walk meets something else. We set the new concrete flush with the driveway, the patio and the porch, with an expansion strip between, to avoid leaving a lip that catches a shoe.
Start with a photo.
435·220·5536Text us a photo of the spot and rough measurements. We will tell you what we can from the photo, or come out and take a look. Rather type it out? Use the form.
Sidewalks and paths: straight answers
How wide should a sidewalk be?
Three feet works for a side yard and for trash cans. Four feet lets two people walk together and suits a front entry. Go wider at a gate or a door so there is room to stand while it opens. We can mark it out before you decide.
Can a path curve?
Yes. Curves are formed with flexible boards and add some layout time, not much else. Long sweeping curves look better and finish cleaner than tight ones. Very tight bends are hard to broom and joint neatly, so we will say so if a curve should be opened up.
Can you replace just one cracked or lifted panel?
Yes. We saw cut at the joints, break out the bad panel, fix whatever is under it and pour a new one. The new panel will be lighter in color than its neighbors for a few years. If a tree root lifted it, the root has to be dealt with first.
Is the walk by the street mine to fix?
That depends on your city. The public sidewalk along the street may have its own rules about who repairs it and how, so check with your city before any work there. Walks inside your lot, from the driveway to the door or around the house, are yours.