Sidewalk repair planning guides

Allen's code puts the street sidewalk on the owner or the HOA. Frisco's Streets Division repairs sidewalks that meet its criteria. Plano and McKinney give a way to report a damaged sidewalk, and the pages we opened do not say who pays.

Twelve things to look for on a walk-through, in one table you can print with this page. It records what you see. It does not decide whether a walkway meets any standard.

Both methods take concrete off the high side of a joint. A grinder leaves a rough, patterned band. A horizontal saw leaves a smooth face with the stones showing. Neither one moves a slab or fixes what raised it.

Both methods raise a settled slab by pumping material beneath it. They differ in the material, the size of the holes and how soon the walkway reopens. Neither one changes why the slab sank.

The words in a bid decide what you are buying. This page defines the common ones in plain English and names the published source for each definition.

Six steps, in order, from the first report to a closed record, most of them in the order the Federal Highway Administration's maintenance guide gives after a complaint or injury. It is a working order for a manager, not legal advice.

In Dallas, the city code puts the repair of a defective, unsafe, or hazardous sidewalk on the abutting property owner, at the owner's expense. For existing residential sidewalk, the City offers a 50/50 cost share. Privately hired work needs a City permit.

Garland's Street Department says it does not maintain sidewalks and curbs. Quoting the city ordinance, it puts that duty on the abutting property owner. It manages a 50/50 cost share for sidewalk, curb and gutter repair. Its commercial permitting page says any repair or installation needs the Sidewalk and Approach Application, and that City sidewalk work also needs a Sidewalk Bond.

In Fort Worth, city code declares a defective, unsafe or hazardous sidewalk a nuisance. Once the City orders the repair, the owner, the agent in charge, or the tenant of the abutting property has 30 days from the notice to do it, and can appeal. Fort Worth's residential permitting page says sidewalk repairs need a parkway permit pulled by a bonded contractor.

Richardson's Sidewalk Rehabilitation Program page says sidewalk maintenance is, by City ordinance, the adjacent property owner's responsibility. The City helps residential owners on a regional basis as funding permits, with minimum criteria for a defect to qualify. It offers no matching-fund program, and it waives a permit fee for owner-funded work.

Under Carrollton's Sidewalk Repair Policy, Public Works repairs sections of sidewalk where staff confirm a trip hazard. Vehicle damage, including to driveway approaches, is the adjacent owner's. The 90/10 Grant Sidewalk Replacement Program lets single-family owners pay a share to speed up a replacement.

The City of Mesquite says that by City Code, residents are responsible for the repair of damaged sidewalks, curbs, gutters and driveway approaches. It runs a 50/50 cost share that applies only when the City's contractor does the work and the home is owner occupied. Owners who hire their own contractor must apply for permits first, and that work is not covered.

The City of Grand Prairie's Sidewalk Repairs page says that, by City Ordinance No. 6234 Sec. 29-113, it is the responsibility of a homeowner, lessor, lessee, and/or resident to maintain the sidewalk in front of his or her home. The same page says the City will repair sidewalks verified to have a deficiency that creates a tripping hazard, and that residents may request a repair through a Street Service Request.

The Town of Flower Mound's Sidewalk Program FAQ says sidewalks in Flower Mound are the responsibility of the property owner, that the Town maintains sidewalks adjacent to arterial or collector streets and to public property, park trails, and handicap ramps on public streets, and that it does not maintain sidewalks adjacent to private property. An owner who does not repair can receive a code enforcement notice, and a Town repair is billed with a lien if unpaid after 30 days. The Town's voluntary Sidewalk Program repairs sidewalks at the owner's cost, paid once or, for eligible owners, over 12 interest-free months.

Curing keeps new concrete moist and warm enough to gain the strength it was designed for. Published figures for how long run from 72 hours to 7 days, and they are written for different work. The time a walkway can reopen is a question for the contractor's own specification, asked before the pour.

All concrete tends to crack, and most early, random cracks rarely affect its structural integrity or service life. The cracks that matter are the ones with a step across them, the ones that break a panel into pieces, and the ones whose pattern points to movement in the soil underneath. Each of those points to a different repair route.

The lines across a concrete walkway are planned. Control (contraction) joints give the concrete a weak line to crack along, and expansion or isolation joints separate the walk from things that move differently, such as a driveway, a wall or a pole. FHWA says heaving most often happens at joints, and which kind of joint it is changes what to ask.

A tree root lifts a sidewalk panel by growing thicker under it, so a repair that only treats the concrete tends to be temporary. Every repair is two decisions: what to do with the concrete, and what to do with the root. Cutting roots can weaken or kill the tree, so that part is an arborist's call. For a sidewalk along a street, ask the city as well.

A sidewalk panel sinks when the ground under it stops holding it up. The sources point to three ways that happens: soil that was not compacted evenly, water that collects under the slab and carries the base away, and clay that shrinks as it dries. Each leaves different clues, and lifting the panel fixes none of them, so find the cause before choosing a repair.

Expansive clay swells when it takes on water and shrinks as it dries, and a 2019 University of Texas report for TxDOT says the population centers around Dallas and Fort Worth sit near some of the most extensive deposits in Texas. A sidewalk on it can rise, drop, tilt or crack along its length as the seasons change, so the soil belongs in any repair decision.

Four pages, one for each way a commercial walkway problem is usually handled. Start with the symptom you can see, then read the page for the method that seems closest, and check its limitations before deciding.