Sidewalk sloping towards house, suggestions?

Question

Hi, I've got a sidewalk sloping towards the house and I'd like to correct it properly. I've talked to a mudjacker and he believes the sidewalk is too old and should just be replaced. I am considering pouring new concrete over it to correct the slope. Does anyone have a better/alternative suggestion??? thx!

here's a couple pics of it:

Dell Schlabach · Answer

My first experience with the stuff was when we installed a couple sidewalks in the middle of a hot summer day on a project, I was there for the framing and pouring, My new guys who had a couple years experience with concrete work at a previous company assured me they could take it from there, and I could head to another project. I left about 2:00 and came back at 7:00, the rear sidewalk was not bad, the front sidewalk had never been touched with a trowel after the pour. Apparently the concrete set up much faster then expected and by the time they got to the front sidewalk they couldn't do anything with it.

My guys called a couple concrete contractors they knew and they both said only option is tear out and re-pour or do an overlay which they expected to cost more than tearout and redo.

I called a couple people and someone suggested I try the resurface. I, wasn't expecting much from previous work with the vinyl bags and other materials. But what did I have to lose.

I bought a few bags headed back to the jobsite, mixed poured and squeegeed it in the hot sun. It was working pretty well, drying fast. I would take a broom and do a broom finish as I went, kept doing the entire sidewalk, all the time I was certain it would peel, chip and look like crap, but what do i have to loose.

Waited about an hour, everything was totally dry, did a few scratch tests and it seemed to hold. Then I took the saw and did the saw cuts for the sidewalk, I was totally surprised. It acted like it was part of the original concrete, no chipping no flaking no peeling or cracking. That was two years ago, today you cant tell it was not all an original pour.  One of the few times a product delivered beyone my expectations.

Since then we have used it a lot, for pitted chipped, sidewalks garages etc.

For sidewalks leveling, we will put a board on the low side, unless its against a wall, do a buildup out maybe six eight inches, about 3/8 inch thick at the low point, feather it to nothing, you can repeat this a coupe times with longer trowels, and then when we have a bit of a slope, we do another squeegee coating over the entire sidewalk and do a broom finish.

Vince Beusan · Answer

@Sol Bergren

It doesn't look bad;  Create a level wood form on the left end of the photo and pour self-leveling concrete over it and be done with it.

Rob K. · Answer

2K sounds high. How many square feet is it? It doesn't look like a lot. In my area, tear out and repour would be $5-8 per square foot. If you really want to save cash, you could bust out the sidewalk and replace with patio stones. Don't pay to get rid of the old concrete. Run an ad on CL under the free section. People will come get the concrete for fill, firepit, etc.

Kurt F. · Answer

@Sol Bergren These sidewalk issues just suck, don't they?

I'm wondering what you'd spend on mudjacking it -- may not be worth the bother compared with replacement.

I'd agree with Bill S. and would probably replace it -- then it would actually look new once you're done spending money!  Also, I'd probably pour it right up to the house (maintain expansion joint / sealant) -- the little strip of dirt isn't gaining you much.

I wouldn't agree with Bill S. on a cross-slope at quite 1 in 10, however.  That's 10%, and for reference, half of that (5%) or even less is plenty for water drainage on soil away from a house  -- but when you're talking about sidewalk, realize that max ADA cross-slope is 2%.  Not that you need to accommodate ADA in SK (!), but cross-sloping at 5 or 10 percent would be pretty noticeable / uncomfortable when walking on it.

Also, regarding leaving it in place and pouring over it -- this is typically not a great idea.  You need to pour thicker than you might think.  Properly done, you'd need to lay a "separator" course including a rock base, and then pour another full 4" of concrete with proper reinforcing.  From the photo, it doesn't appear that this condition would be a great candidate for that because of factors like the low height of the window sill, as well as the need to match up with existing sidewalks to be left in place.

They make concrete re-surfacers, but your existing slope looks much too great to mess with those.

Stephanie Dupuis · Answer

The older the concrete the harder it gets. Old makes no difference.

Jean Bolger · Answer

hmmm. I'd talk to a second mudjacker. I'm no expert but that concrete looks pretty sound to me. It needs something actually wrong with it (besides "old") before it requires replacement I'd think. Concrete can remain sound for a very long time. A thin overlayment might be prone to chipping/failing though. Curious to hear what those with more expertise have to say...

Alternately, you could rip it out, re-grade and put in preformed paving stones

Kurt F. · Answer

@Dell Schlabach --- hey, I appreciate you posting the long explanation....thanks!

Dell Schlabach · Answer

@Kurt F.

Kurt F. · Answer

@Dell Schlabach

Dell -- good to hear you've had good luck with the quikrete leveler.   Here's my question / comment -- I've seen the leveler applied and it's always been very "liquid" and applied with a squeegee...   hence the 'leveling' descriptor as it seeks it's own level.  Which, in Sol's case would make a level sidewalk -- but he'd have no positive drainage pitch -- so he wouldn't  solve his problem completely.

This stuff dries so fast, too -- I think they recommend doing like a 12'x12' area at a time due to the quick drying and also due to the relatively small amount that you can feasibly mix up at one time.

So, per your suggestion to Sol on building up one side, have you been able to mix the stuff thick enough to create a positive drainage slope of a couple percent or so?  Also, have you ever tried it on concrete that's in really  rough shape?   I know the manufacturer's data / disclaimers -- you need to maintain joints, cracks may reappear, etc. -- I'm just interested in your firsthand experience with the stuff.

Troy Sheets · Answer

$2k is pretty high for what I see there, I've done a 40'+ section that also had to have some high spots ground down and all joints sealed with Vimco for $1800. It was along a street so the sidewalk had to be jacked to meet the curb then all joints sealed. This was commercial contractors on a commercial site with a one year warranty. Replacement was around $3800.

The only thing I'm wondering about is currency exchange...CDN dollars to US. That may be throwing us off a bit?

Sidewalk sloping towards house, suggestions?

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