Cracked, sinking or uneven walk out front? We build a new concrete sidewalk on a packed base, with joints laid out on purpose.
Concrete sidewalk building in South Whittier means taking out the old walk or opening up bare ground, digging down to firm soil, packing a solid base and pouring a new slab on it, so you end up with a level walk that sheds water and gives any cracks a planned place to go.
Most people call us because the walk they have is cracked, sinking at one end or uneven enough that somebody's going to trip on it. Usually the trouble started underneath, where someone raked the dirt level instead of digging it out and packing it, so the slab settled right along with the soil. Patching the top won't fix that, which is why I'd rather replace a walk properly than sell you something that hides the problem for a season.
What moves the price is mostly the size of the walk, how much old concrete has to come out, how much digging and base work the ground needs, and whether the stretch where the walk crosses the driveway has to be built thicker for cars. The schedule turns on the weather, on any permit your address needs and on curing, the days new concrete needs to gain strength before you put weight on it. When a job calls for a permit, I help you find the office that handles your address, help with the paperwork and plan the work around the inspections. Your estimate lays out the options I'd suggest and what each one means for cost and upkeep.
I'd rather see a walk before I price it, because a walk can look simple from the street and still need serious work underneath. Here's how it goes.
I come out myself to look at the job, and I've run this business since 2013. I check where the water runs, how firm the ground is and whether the walk meets the driveway, then walk you through your options and what each one means for cost and upkeep.
I write it up with the base work, the slab and the finish spelled out separately, because the part under the concrete is the part you'll never see. If something on your walk doesn't need doing, I'll tell you that too.
If you hire us, our own crew does the work and I check in along the way. We're licensed and insured. When the walk is done, we look it over together, and your satisfaction, guaranteed.
We start by breaking out and hauling away the old walk, if there is one, then dig past the loose dirt to firm subgrade, the ground the slab will sit on, and pack a base on top of it so the walk doesn't sink later. We set the forms with a slight fall away from your house, because a walk that tips toward the foundation sends water right where you don't want it. Where the walk meets the driveway, we look at whether that stretch should be built heavier for cars, since a slab sized for foot traffic can break up under a car's weight. Then we pour, give the top a broom finish, a light brushed texture that keeps the walk from getting slick when it's wet, and cut control joints, the shallow grooves that give the slab a place to crack.
A new walk often comes up alongside other work. If the walk ends at a garage with a cracked or pitted floor, we also do garage floor concrete, and if you'd like color or a pattern instead of a plain broom finish, our decorative concrete work can tie the walk in with the rest of your yard.
Here's what you'll see from the day we mark out the walk to the day you can use it.
Before any digging, we walk the line of the new sidewalk with you and mark it on the ground, so you can see where it runs, where the water will go and where the joint lines will fall. Moving a chalk line is easy, and moving concrete isn't.
This is the slow, dusty part, and it's the part you'll never see again once the concrete's down. That's why it's the first thing people want to cut from a budget, and it's the one place I won't cut, because a smooth top on a soft base settles and cracks the same way your old walk did.
Before the truck shows up, we set any steel the plan calls for, rebar, the bars that help hold a slab together if it does crack. Then the crew places the concrete, levels it and finishes the top while it's still workable.
Fresh concrete looks hard well before it's ready, so we'll tell you when it's fine to walk on and when the driveway stretch is ready for a car. Those first days matter more than most people think, because a walk that's used too soon or dries out too fast ends up weaker for good.
Tell us where the walk is, roughly how long and wide you want it and whether a driveway crosses it, and I'll know what to look for before I come out. We reply within one business day to set a time, and the estimate is free with no obligation. After I've seen the site, you get a written estimate that walks through your options, or you can call (562) 358-3037.
(562) 358-3037A concrete sidewalk in Los Angeles usually costs about $5 to $11 per square foot of new walk. That's a City of Los Angeles figure for the market, not our price, and where a job lands depends on how much old concrete comes out, how much base work the ground needs and whether part of the walk has to be thicker for cars. Your own number comes from the estimate after I've seen the site.
LA County Public Works issues permits here, and its South Whittier District Office processes building permits. The county's exempt list covers walks no more than 30 inches above grade, with no basement or story underneath, that aren't part of an accessible route, so it's worth confirming with the county whether your walk fits. Either way, we help with the paperwork and plan around any inspections.
It can, because control joints decide where concrete cracks, not whether it cracks. We lay out the joints so any cracks show up in the grooves we planned, where they're hard to notice, instead of running across the middle of a section. A packed base underneath also cuts down on the settling that causes the worst cracks.
It can, but heat makes the job harder, because cement reacts faster and fresh concrete loses water faster, which can leave a weaker walk if nobody plans for it. That's a fair thing to ask any crew about before you hire them. We plan pours for the cooler part of the day and keep the new slab from drying out too fast while it cures.
The county lists South Whittier as one of its unincorporated areas, so permits here come from LA County Public Works and not a city hall. If you're near a border, confirm that your property is actually in unincorporated LA County first, because an address outside it may go through another office. Work on the street side, in the public right-of-way along the road, goes through the county's Public Works Public Infrastructure team, which manages permits for road construction, encroachment and excavation there.
Even work the county doesn't require a permit for still has to follow local zoning and other laws, and being exempt doesn't make work that breaks the code okay. We're based in South Whittier and work across the cities around it, including Norwalk, Whittier and Downey. If you don't see your city listed, call and ask.
Seeing the ground, the slope and the driveway crossing in person is the only way to know how much base work your walk really needs, so call (562) 358-3037 or send the form.
If you're still working out what your walk needs, call (562) 358-3037 and I'll talk it through with you.
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