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About This Project
A sidewalk, even a curved one, is the perfect first concrete project for the beginner. Unlike wide patios, driveways or garage floors, a sidewalk is easy to form, pour and finish with hand tools. Long sidewalks can be done in bite-size, less intimidating chunks, so you don’t have to tackle the whole job on the same day or even the same week.
If the thought of pouring concrete scares the bejeebers out of you, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. This story will teach you the basics so you’ll be confident and ready to go when the concrete truck pulls up to the curb. And you’ll save at least $2 per square foot in labor to boot.
Solid Forms, the Right Tools and Plenty of Helpers Will Ease Most Rookie Jitters
A giant ready-mix truck driving up to your house can be intimidating. I always get butterflies when I hear the diesel roaring a half mile away. But being prepared with solid forms, good equipment, a couple of strong helpers and a well-planned wheelbarrow route will help calm the nerves. Once you dump the first few wheelbarrow loads and get the hang of moving the wet mud around, you’ll feel in complete control.
You’re going to need a couple of heavy-duty wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes and a variety of professional-grade concrete finishing tools. We describe the tools in detail below. The hand tools may be worth buying if you intend to pour more concrete down the road. For $100, you can have a set of high-quality tools (minus the wheelbarrows) for life and not have to hassle with rentals.
Take heed. Concrete is heavy and time is short. Once the ready-mix truck (the concrete is premixed and ready to pour) shows up, you and your helpers will be muscling around 200-lb. wheelbarrows over gravel. This work is intense—you won’t be taking any coffee breaks for a while. After pouring and screeding, you may see things slow down a bit, but they can get a little frantic again when the concrete begins to firm up. Follow the tips and advice in this article, get a hold of the right professional-grade tools, line up at least two reliable, beefy helpers and pick a good weather day, and you’ll end up with a long-lasting, attractive sidewalk you’ll be proud to carve your initials into.
Concrete Might Be The Cheapest Building Material On The Planet
It’s hard to imagine a material that gives more bang for the buck than concrete. What other material yields a permanent, finished, durable, maintenance-free outside surface for a few hundred dollars and a day’s work?
Around these parts, contractors charge about $5 per square foot for sidewalks, but many won’t put down a gravel base or even use steel reinforcing. By the time you finish buying forming materials and gravel, renting equipment and paying for the readymix, you’ll end up paying about $3 per square foot. Bonus: Your sidewalk will be stronger and last longer than many professionally poured sidewalks. Concrete costs $55 to $85 per cubic yard. Suppliers usually add a “short load” charge of about $50 for small orders (generally under 3 yds.). This 4-ft. wide by 60-ft. long walk required just over 4 yds.
You May Need A Building Permit—Check To Be Sure
At this site, we didn’t need a building permit for a residential sidewalk on private property. But take five minutes and call your local building inspector to make sure that’s true in your area. You’ll save some embarrassment and possibly a fine.
Digging Out The Path Is 80 Percent Of The Job
Lay out the path with 6-in. ripped strips of hardboard siding tacked to temporary stakes. That’ll not only give you the overall shape but also provide the forms to mark the outline for digging. You’ll also find out if curves are too sharp for the bending qualities of the siding.
It took two of us a whole day to cut off the sod and dig out the path to prepare the base for this sidewalk. Believe it or not, pouring and finishing the sidewalk was easier, faster and a lot more fun than excavating. Tree roots, stones and heavy clay made for tough digging. Renting a sod cutter ($16 a day) to remove sod, and using axes for cutting out roots and pickaxes to loosen soil make the job a little less blister-producing.
Start thinking about drainage issues at this point. If water tends to collect in the yard in spots, you may want to elevate the walk in those areas, so don’t dig as deeply there. Long, flat areas should have one side of the sidewalk lower so water can drain off the side.
In most cases, make the top of the finished walk even with the (freshly cut) top of the grass for easy mowing and a neat, clean appearance. The bottom of the trench will be about 6 in. below grade to allow for 4 in. of gravel below the 4-in. thick slab of concrete. If your sidewalk abuts another sidewalk or driveway, keep the top of the sidewalk at the same level or build in a 4- to 7-in. step at the transition. Don’t make a step that’s shorter than 4 in. You’ll trip every dinner guest who comes over.
TIP: If you don’t have a place to dump excess soil and sod, rent a trash container for a couple of days. We ordered a 10-yard unit for $225 that handled everything we dug out.
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