Sidewalks & Steps in Athens, GA

Sidewalks and steps are where worn concrete turns into a tripping hazard. A walk panel lifted by a tree root catches toes. A stoop that has settled pulls away from the house and lets water run toward the foundation. Steps with uneven risers throw people off stride, especially carrying groceries in the rain. Because Athens sits on hills, many homes have a walk that climbs from the street or driveway and at least a few steps to the door, so this work comes up on a large share of the houses we see.

Signs a walk or steps need work

• A lip where one panel sits higher than the next
• Panels tilted toward the house or the lawn
• A stoop separating from the foundation wall
• Chipped or crumbling step edges
• Risers of different heights
• Water that stands on the walk after rain

Roots and old walks

About 40 percent of Athens homes were built between 1960 and 1989 and 5.5 percent before 1940, according to Point2Homes' summary of Census data. Front walks from those years have had decades of trees growing beside them. When roots lift a walk, we look at the options before pouring: moving the walk line, bridging the root zone with a thicker reinforced section, or, where an arborist agrees, pruning roots. Pouring a new walk over the same roots without a plan just means it lifts again.

Rebuilding a walk

The old panels come out, soft soil and roots are removed and a stone base is compacted. HomeGuide's sidewalk guide notes most walkways are 4 to 6 inches thick, with heavier traffic calling for more. Forms get a slight cross-slope so rain runs into the lawn rather than down the walk, and on steep runs we can add a textured broom finish or break the walk with landings and steps. Joints are tooled at regular spacing to control cracking.

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Stoops and poured steps

Poured steps are formed in place to fit your door threshold and landing. HomeGuide's steps guide describes a standard rise of about 7 inches and steps at least 3 feet wide, and the number of steps follows from the total height. Every riser should match and every tread should be the same depth, or people misstep. The top landing needs room to stand while a storm door swings out. A heavy stoop resting on loose fill tilts and drops, so we check what is under the old steps and build on firm, compacted ground or footings.

Historic homes

Athens-Clarke County has 16 local historic districts and 44 local landmarks, and exterior changes to those properties need a Certificate of Appropriateness. The county's design guidelines treat resurfacing damaged concrete in kind as ordinary repair, but changing the material or layout of a walk is a different matter. Some districts have distinctive walks, such as the brick sidewalks the guidelines note on Reese Street. If your home is in a district, we flag it at the estimate so you can check with the Planning Department first.

Handrails

Steps with more than a couple of risers are safer with a rail, and on a wet or icy morning even more so. When we pour new steps, we can set anchors in the fresh concrete so a rail mounts solidly instead of being drilled into a thin edge later.

Public sidewalks

Walks along the street are in the public right-of-way. Work that closes or crosses a public sidewalk in Athens-Clarke County goes through Transportation and Public Works, which issues right-of-way encroachment and sidewalk closure permits. The walks and steps on your own lot are the work we quote.