Building sidewalks is much easier than people think it is. It's also much cheaper if you do all your own labor. First of all, we need to decide how wide we want to make our sidewalk and how long we want it to be. We will also need to know how deep into the ground we want to dig to lay our forms.
It's a lot easier if you don't need to dig very deep when making a sidewalk, but this will depend on the building site. For instance, if you're putting in a walkway before you dump the dirt for a new lawn then you will need to keep the walkway on top of the ground. If you are setting the walkway into an existing lawn area, then you will need to dig down a few inches so the sidewalk isn't too high. Sidewalks that protrude or are too high become tripping hazards.
Let's suppose our new walkway is four feet wide and thirty feet long. This will be a sidewalk where we'll plan to dig into the ground exactly 2-inches to lay the forms. We need to measure and mark the width of the sidewalk area which we know is 48-inches, but we also need to dig slightly beyond the area to compensate for the thickness of the forms. The forms are usually just a bunch of straight 2x4 studs. 2X4s are usually really cheap and easy to work with as forms.
The width measurement across the sidewalk includes the thickness of the 2X4 stud on each side. The board thickness of each 2X4 is 1-1/2-inches, so just add 3-inches to the width of the sidewalk. This gives us an area of 51-inches across to dig. Of course, we can dig out a wider area and backfill the dirt once the sidewalk is finished.
So now the sidewalk is 51-inches wide by 30-feet long. Sidewalks are usually excavated with nothing more than a shovel because the depth is shallow and easy to reach. Make sure the entire area is level. Also, be sure to tamp the dirt where the cement will be poured. After that, we can set in the 2X4 forms. A good way to connect the 2X4 studs is by nailing a 2X4 block on the outside of the forms where the joint is. This helps keep the forms in place. Next, make sure that all the forms are straight and even with a measurement of 48-inches the whole length of the sidewalk.
You won't be using rebar like you do when pouring foundations, but you will use a strong wire mesh made for just for sidewalks. If you're building a really small sidewalk, then you can just buy some bags of ready-mix cement, add water, and dump it in, but for most projects, youll probably have to call a cement company to deliver and pour the cement. The class of cement used for sidewalks is a smoother mix of cement than the cement used for foundations. Cement for foundations and walls is called "5-bag mix, but sidewalk cement is a "six-bag mix. That means it has a higher cement-to-aggregate ratio.
The cement company will usually know what type of mix to bring when you tell them the cement is for a sidewalk. They will ask for dimensions of the sidewalk and theyll calculate the amount of cement you need for the job. Cement is calculated and sold by square yards. Let's take our sidewalk measurements for an example. The sidewalk is 30-feet long, 4-feet wide, and 4-inches deep. So the overall square footage is 120 square feet by 4-inches deep. We need to convert this to square yards by dividing 120 by 27. There are 27 cubic feet in a square yard of cement. This calculates to 4.44 square yards, but we still need to divide that number by 3 because the walkway isn't a foot thick, its only around 4-inches, which is one-third of a foot. So the final amount is right around 1-1/2-square yards of cement needed to pour in the sidewalk forms. The price of the cement will naturally vary by location, but if you live close to the cement company, you should get it for around $90 per yard.
Now, we can pour our sidewalk. The cement truck will pour the cement, but you will have to shovel it around to get it to set into the forms evenly. You will need to jab the cement constantly with a shovel to pop the air bubbles. Once the cement is exactly where you want it, you can make it smooth on top. You can buy a cement screed or use a straight 2X4 to run across the top of the cement several times. This will make it really smooth.
Once the surface is flat and smooth, youll use a cement float to bring the smooth cement and the water to the surface. This will make a very smooth surface and will cause the rougher and larger aggregate material to sink beneath the surface. You should let this dry for a few hours in warm temperatures before brushing the concrete surface with a wide broom. Brushing gives the walkway surface some traction so the surface isnt slick in the rain and snow. Try not to press too hard while brushing the damp surface.
After about three or more days, depending on the temperature outside, you can take off the forms and start to fill around the edges of the sidewalk with dirt so theyre even with the lawn or ground. Ideally, you want the sidewalk to be about a "-inch higher than the lawn.
For the last step in the sidewalk construction, we should cut sections in the concrete so it doesn't crack or break with movement of the ground underneath. You can rent a concrete cutter or just use a concrete blade on a circular saw and cut across the sidewalk about every ten feet or so. This gives the sidewalk flexibility during expansion and contraction of the soil.
That's how to make sidewalks. We usually save around two-thirds the cost of a professionally made sidewalk by doing it ourselves. - 20761
It's a lot easier if you don't need to dig very deep when making a sidewalk, but this will depend on the building site. For instance, if you're putting in a walkway before you dump the dirt for a new lawn then you will need to keep the walkway on top of the ground. If you are setting the walkway into an existing lawn area, then you will need to dig down a few inches so the sidewalk isn't too high. Sidewalks that protrude or are too high become tripping hazards.
Let's suppose our new walkway is four feet wide and thirty feet long. This will be a sidewalk where we'll plan to dig into the ground exactly 2-inches to lay the forms. We need to measure and mark the width of the sidewalk area which we know is 48-inches, but we also need to dig slightly beyond the area to compensate for the thickness of the forms. The forms are usually just a bunch of straight 2x4 studs. 2X4s are usually really cheap and easy to work with as forms.
The width measurement across the sidewalk includes the thickness of the 2X4 stud on each side. The board thickness of each 2X4 is 1-1/2-inches, so just add 3-inches to the width of the sidewalk. This gives us an area of 51-inches across to dig. Of course, we can dig out a wider area and backfill the dirt once the sidewalk is finished.
So now the sidewalk is 51-inches wide by 30-feet long. Sidewalks are usually excavated with nothing more than a shovel because the depth is shallow and easy to reach. Make sure the entire area is level. Also, be sure to tamp the dirt where the cement will be poured. After that, we can set in the 2X4 forms. A good way to connect the 2X4 studs is by nailing a 2X4 block on the outside of the forms where the joint is. This helps keep the forms in place. Next, make sure that all the forms are straight and even with a measurement of 48-inches the whole length of the sidewalk.
You won't be using rebar like you do when pouring foundations, but you will use a strong wire mesh made for just for sidewalks. If you're building a really small sidewalk, then you can just buy some bags of ready-mix cement, add water, and dump it in, but for most projects, youll probably have to call a cement company to deliver and pour the cement. The class of cement used for sidewalks is a smoother mix of cement than the cement used for foundations. Cement for foundations and walls is called "5-bag mix, but sidewalk cement is a "six-bag mix. That means it has a higher cement-to-aggregate ratio.
The cement company will usually know what type of mix to bring when you tell them the cement is for a sidewalk. They will ask for dimensions of the sidewalk and theyll calculate the amount of cement you need for the job. Cement is calculated and sold by square yards. Let's take our sidewalk measurements for an example. The sidewalk is 30-feet long, 4-feet wide, and 4-inches deep. So the overall square footage is 120 square feet by 4-inches deep. We need to convert this to square yards by dividing 120 by 27. There are 27 cubic feet in a square yard of cement. This calculates to 4.44 square yards, but we still need to divide that number by 3 because the walkway isn't a foot thick, its only around 4-inches, which is one-third of a foot. So the final amount is right around 1-1/2-square yards of cement needed to pour in the sidewalk forms. The price of the cement will naturally vary by location, but if you live close to the cement company, you should get it for around $90 per yard.
Now, we can pour our sidewalk. The cement truck will pour the cement, but you will have to shovel it around to get it to set into the forms evenly. You will need to jab the cement constantly with a shovel to pop the air bubbles. Once the cement is exactly where you want it, you can make it smooth on top. You can buy a cement screed or use a straight 2X4 to run across the top of the cement several times. This will make it really smooth.
Once the surface is flat and smooth, youll use a cement float to bring the smooth cement and the water to the surface. This will make a very smooth surface and will cause the rougher and larger aggregate material to sink beneath the surface. You should let this dry for a few hours in warm temperatures before brushing the concrete surface with a wide broom. Brushing gives the walkway surface some traction so the surface isnt slick in the rain and snow. Try not to press too hard while brushing the damp surface.
After about three or more days, depending on the temperature outside, you can take off the forms and start to fill around the edges of the sidewalk with dirt so theyre even with the lawn or ground. Ideally, you want the sidewalk to be about a "-inch higher than the lawn.
For the last step in the sidewalk construction, we should cut sections in the concrete so it doesn't crack or break with movement of the ground underneath. You can rent a concrete cutter or just use a concrete blade on a circular saw and cut across the sidewalk about every ten feet or so. This gives the sidewalk flexibility during expansion and contraction of the soil.
That's how to make sidewalks. We usually save around two-thirds the cost of a professionally made sidewalk by doing it ourselves. - 20761
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