Sidewalks & Steps in Schenectady, NY

Sidewalks & Steps take more foot traffic than any other concrete on a property, and in an older city they tend to fail first. Schenectady is full of streets with mature trees, porch-front houses and concrete walks poured generations ago. Roots lift sidewalk squares, frost tilts them, and front steps lose their edges a little more each spring. A raised edge of an inch or two is enough to trip someone, and a step that rocks or crumbles is a real hazard.

Public sidewalks

The sidewalk between your property and the street is in the public right of way. Who is responsible for repairing it, how replacement squares must be built and whether a permit is needed are set by each city, town or village, and the rules differ from place to place. We check what your city, town or village requires before we schedule. When we replace public walk, we match the width and joint pattern of the walk on either side so the new squares line up.

Signs a walk needs replacing

• Raised or sunken edges at joints or cracks that catch feet, strollers and snow shovels.
• Squares broken into several pieces or rocking underfoot.
• Scaled, pitted surfaces that hold water and freeze.
• Walks sloping toward the house or holding a puddle by the porch.
• Tree roots lifting whole sections.

When roots are the cause, the plan includes how far we can cut back and whether the walk needs to bend around the tree. On a street tree, we check before any roots are cut.

Front steps and landings

Concrete steps on older houses are often cast-in-place blocks that have settled, pulled away from the house or broken at the edges. Small damage can sometimes be patched. When the steps are tilted, hollow or crumbling all over, replacement is safer. We form new steps with even riser heights and tread depths, put reinforcement in the landing and steps, and give the treads a broom finish for grip. Where a railing is needed, we plan the anchors before the pour.

In HomeGuide's steps guide, a poured step runs $200 to $500 each, a precast step $100 to $350 each, and a typical repair $300 to $800.

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Building walks that last

We dig out the old walk, compact a gravel base, set forms to an even slope that sheds water away from the house, and pour air-entrained concrete at least 4 inches thick, thicker where cars cross at the driveway. Control joints go in at regular spacing, usually matching the square pattern of the street, so cracks stay in the joints.

Winter care

Get new walks and steps through their first winter without rock salt; sand works instead. In later years, use de-icer sparingly and shovel early so snow does not pack down into ice. A sealer renewed every few years slows scaling on both.