Merrillville Indiana Concrete Sidewalks After Winter

Those raised corners at the joints are what people point at first. After a hard winter, a square that sat level can sit higher than the next one. That trip edge is the call we get about Concrete Sidewalks in Merrillville once the snow is gone. So we walk the panels and check every joint before we talk about a fix.

Because the ground under these neighborhood walks stays wet in the thaw. Meltwater sits on a flat grade and works down the joints. When that water freezes in the clay, it pushes the panel up. Then it thaws, and the panel doesn’t always settle back down. After a few cycles, one square is up and the next one is not. The joints let each square move on its own.

We’ve pulled up sidewalk panels in Merrillville, Indiana and found soft wet clay under the old base. A panel can still show a hard top while the corner sits on that clay. Salt from winter clearing adds more melt and freeze on the surface. That chips the top of the square. That lift at the joint is what homeowners call about.

Look along the walk from a low angle, the way we do on a first visit. If one side of a joint stands higher, that square has moved. A panel that rocks under your foot has lost support at that corner. Dark stains in the joint mean water sat there through the cold months. Flat walks in Merrillville, Indiana subdivisions shed water slowly. A lawn that creeps over the edge sends melt onto the concrete.

Concrete Sidewalks in Merrillville, Indiana and the Clay Under Them

So the repair starts with the base under the square. We mark the panels that rock or sit high at a joint. Then we saw-cut and take out the ones that won’t sit level again. After the old concrete is out, we check the clay and what remains of the base. When the base is soupy, new concrete poured on it can heave again the next freeze. For example, a skim coat over a high joint breaks off the next winter.

People have called us about the walk from the driveway to the front door. They’ve also called about squares along the street when those sit on their lot. On that same visit we reset a tipped curb at the drive. Then we tear out and replace the service walk if those squares heaved too. We use that approach on Concrete Sidewalks in Merrillville when only part of the walk moved.

Trip Edges on Concrete Sidewalks in Merrillville, Indiana

It’s the lip where one square stands higher than the next. Homeowners notice it with a mower wheel or on the walk out to the car. We’ve reset joints on Concrete Sidewalks in Merrillville where the lip was only at one corner. Because the panel has risen, we take that square out and replace it. So we also patch salt scale on squares that stayed level, since that damage stays on the surface.

Then we go over tear-out and replace if the heave stayed in one area. Concrete removal on Concrete Sidewalks in Merrillville can stay on the short run that heaved. We break out the old panel and fix the base, then the concrete replacement goes in. We source the mix so the new squares come as close in color as the plant can manage. After the pour, we tool the joints to match the old spacing. That gives meltwater a way off the walk.

We see this winter heave on neighborhood sidewalks in Merrillville, Indiana. People have called once the yards dry out. We’re Cabe’s Concrete, a family owned and operated company, and we’ve done this work since 2006. You can read that background on our About Us page. Photos of finished joints are in our photo gallery. When a longer run has failed, that work is part of our concrete sidewalks work. Concrete removal comes with that visit when the panels won’t settle. Upper walks get the same joint check if the landing heaved over the winter.