Cracked, uneven or sinking sidewalk? We dig out, pack a firm base and pour new concrete that sits flat and sheds water.
Concrete sidewalk building in Portsmouth means breaking out the old walk if there is one, digging out and packing a firm base, and pouring a new walk that sits flat, sheds water and gives you a safe path to the door.
Most calls start with a walk that has cracked, tipped at a seam or begun holding water after rain. The first thing I look at is where the walk sits, because a sidewalk on city land along the street follows the city's standards, while a walk from your driveway to your door is planned around your house. We're based in Portsmouth and do this work in many of the cities around it.
The price mostly follows the size of the walk and what's under it, and the schedule turns on the weather, the cure and, on a street-side walk, the city's inspection. If your walk leads to the garage, we can look at the garage floor on the same visit, and I'll give you an estimate for your own job once I've seen it.
Please call (757) 731-7248 or use the form, and tell us where the walk is. We'll set a time that suits you for me to come and see it.
I look over the walk and the ground around it, ask how you'll use it and explain how I'd build it. Then I give you an estimate, so you can decide with the whole plan in front of you.
If you go ahead, we pull any permit the job needs and schedule the inspections ourselves. On a street-side walk, the city's Engineering Department inspects the old concrete before it comes out and decides how much gets replaced, and work on residential streets runs from 7 a.m. to dusk.
I run the work alongside our own crew, and the city generally expects a right-of-way repair to be finished within 14 calendar days of removal, so any gap in your walk is short. When it's done, I walk the finished sidewalk with you.
On a walk along the street, we follow the city's standards. A new walk there has to be at least 5 feet wide unless the city approves otherwise, and repairs must leave smooth, even edges that meet ADA accessibility standards, so a wheelchair or stroller rolls across without catching. The city also wants heavy boards under any equipment crossing a sidewalk, plus signs and barricades when one is closed, and we set those up before work begins.
Under any walk, the base matters most. We dig out and shape the subgrade, the ground the walk sits on, swap poor soil for good fill and pack it firm, then set the forms so water runs away from your house. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that tell the concrete where to crack, add a broom finish for grip when it's wet, and keep the new concrete damp while it cures, which national guidance says helps it harden and resist cracking.
What a sidewalk job includes:
If one slab has cracked and the slabs beside it still sit flat, replacing that slab back to its joints is usually enough. When several sections have sunk or tipped, the ground under them has usually moved or washed out, and new concrete poured on the same soil tends to go the same way. In that case I'd rather take out the run and rebuild the base, and on a street-side walk the city's inspection settles how much comes out.
Length and width set most of it, then how much old concrete we break out and haul away, whether poor soil has to be dug out and replaced, and how easily a truck can reach the spot. A broom finish costs less than color or stamping, the kind of work we do as decorative concrete. If the budget is tight, please keep the money in the base, because it's hidden on day one but decides whether the walk stays even.
I learned concrete on a municipal crew, pouring sidewalks, curbs and steps to city standards, and I started this business in 2013 to bring that same discipline to homes in Portsmouth. A sidewalk is close to where I began, so I plan the base, the slope and the joints before a truck is ever called.
We keep the work area tidy, keep your driveway open when we can and clean up before we leave. I'd rather explain something twice than have you surprised later, so please ask as many questions as you like, before and during the job. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
A quick call lets me check whether your walk sits on city land before I come out, so the visit is useful from the start.
Please share the walk's location, rough length and whether it meets the street. We reply within one business day, and I come out for a free estimate with no obligation.
Yes, a sidewalk in the city's right-of-way, the public strip along the street, has to be built to the City of Portsmouth's standards. Digging up or changing that strip also takes the city's permission, which we request for you along with the inspections.
No, a damaged sidewalk in the city's right-of-way can't be patched with a pre-bagged mix. It has to be replaced back to the nearest joint, the seam between slabs, matching the old concrete's material, color and finish. The city also requires air-entrained concrete, which holds tiny air bubbles that help it stand up to freezing, so it's fair to ask whether a quote includes it.
There isn't one number for every walk, because the price follows the size of the walk, the old concrete coming out and the work the base needs, as described above. A street-side walk also has to meet the city's standards, so the clearest way to know is to have me look at it and give you an estimate.
Under VDOT's sidewalk specification, foot traffic stays off a new sidewalk for the first 5 days and vehicles stay off for up to 14 days. That gives the concrete time to gain strength, so please plan another way into the house that week and keep cars off any part that crosses your driveway.
A contractor building on property owned by others should hold a license from Virginia's Board for Contractors, with a class that fits the contract's value and a specialty that fits the work. A Class C license covers single contracts over $1,000 but under $30,000, or up to $250,000 of work in any twelve-month period. We're licensed and insured.
Most cracking and sinking starts underneath, when a walk was poured on soil that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, or when water runs under it. Missing or late control joints and concrete that dried out too fast add to the trouble, which is why we spend our time on the base, the slope and the joints.
We're based in Portsmouth and build sidewalks in Norfolk, Chesapeake and many cities nearby. Please choose your area below, or give us a call if yours isn't listed.
