Need Advice for Concrete Walkway/Driveway Upgrade
I have a property in Tacoma, WA with two houses separated by fencing. Parking for the second house is behind the garage and is not enclosed by a fence (see photo). The pathway from the second house to the parking area is a big mud pit. I bought the house late last year and have been watching for a four to five day window of good weather to add a concrete driveway and walkway to the home. The current tenants (2 adults, 3 small kids) moved in late January and will vacate and the end of April (previous tenant broke lease; these tenants are paying $250/month extra for short term lease). They’ve politely inquired about the walkway but have been patient. I’d like to start the project next week. All together it will cost me about $7k. I am NOT looking to pass this cost along to the tenant so I’d love to hear ideas/suggestions to be sure that their kids don’t ruin it before it can fully set. I will charge them if they damage it but would really, really prefer to minimize the chance of that happening. I don’t have any security cameras on site and would prefer not to have them there long-term but perhaps it makes sense to have a camera short term in case someone damages the drying concrete? Should I have them sign something that gives their permission to proceed? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I will let the three adult tenants in the other home know about the project but they’re unlikely to accidentally cause
damage since their house is separated by a fence.
If your putting concrete, its likely that it will be walkable hours after pouring. Id advise them maybe, but also you can put up a game cam or a 5G wireless camera from amazon. This way you can monitor it if something was to happen.
Easy answer: go with asphalt instead of concrete. Usually cheaper (at least where I am), and you can walk on it (not park cars) pretty much when they are done rolling it out. Easier to repair than concrete if it spalls or otherwise gets damaged, can be shaped to anything and isn't going to crack like concrete always will eventually.
If you're married to doing concrete, then the next easiest answer is wait to do the pour when they're out of town on vacation or send them somewhere for the day. Concrete cures slow (it can take hundreds of years actually) but sets up relatively quickly and they shouldn't be able to put their handprints or footprints in it or write "F You" in it after it's been curing for half a day. So give the parents some gift certificate to take them to the amusement park for the day and pour in the morning.
Everything else forget about it. Cameras aren't going to stop anything and kids are drawn to wet concrete. If they do damage it, they're renters - unless they have rental insurance, you're unlikely to get any damages out of them.
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Not sure if this works well in a cold location, I do not recall seeing it in the Midwest, however here we often install CMU blocks directly in the dirt (sometimes with gravel bed, sometimes just compacted dirt base), in their usual upright orientation, with the open cells filled with dirt and planted with grass, and the blocks spaced to maintain the "pattern" of the crosshatch. Once the grass grows enough, the blocks take the bulk of the weight driving on them, and the grass/concrete ### look is quite pleasing and practical. The top of the blocks ends up at the same height or very slightly above the natural dirt grade, so mowing is never an issue.