| Project by Roz | posted 978 days ago | 1813 views | 0 times favorited | 5 comments |  |
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After 7 years of trying to get our good for nothing %$%$#% #$&*& %#@+=? (& Livingston Alabama city manager to fix the sidewalk in front of my home, I did it myself. Even though others were getting sidewalk repair done I could not. So we used left over brick from our patio project and repaired the unusable sidewalk and made more room for the live oaks.
We excavated the area and laid a form using metal edge molding to insure an even arch. We then poured a concrete footing around the out side and brought it up the side as the brick went in. We then laid a bed of dry sand and mortar mix at 3 to 1 in the center. The brick went in under my wife careful attention. She bordered the walk with hole brick and filled the center with broken pieces creating a coblestone effect. We topped it with a 3 to 1 dry sand mortar mixture as she worked. For a last step we put the sprinkler on it for 3 days to thoroughly wet in each repaired section, and it is finished.
The repair gives the Live Oaks more room and makes the walk more interesting. It allows for easier repair than an entire section of poured concrete. I think it looks good for a couple of rookies without a plan….. or maybe a clue.
-- TL. Roswell "The only thing that works in an old house is the man who lives there."
5 comments so far
BTKS
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39 posts in 1435 days
posted 978 days ago
Great idea and execution. I hope the city manager doesn’t get a burr and quote code or grip about alignment. I think it looks great and should work wonderfully. I ran into some code issues planning a sidewalk when I lived in town. Scrapped the whole project and left it for future owners of the property.
Good work, BTKS
Roz
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28 posts in 1463 days
posted 978 days ago
I think that I have caused enough hate and discontent that they would all just prefer to avoid the subject now. I understand that the code requires a 5 inch slab. I have that much depth with the finished product. As for alignment it was arch it, cut down the trees or take up the walk. I could not get them to do any of it, so here I am with my solution.
-- TL. Roswell "The only thing that works in an old house is the man who lives there."
BTKS
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39 posts in 1435 days
posted 977 days ago
Sweet, fight city hall for all you are worth!!!!! THEY REQUIRE 5IN SIDEWALKS???? OMG a 4in slab will hold a loaded dump truck. Do you all have Godzilla living in your town playing hop scotch and jumping rope on your sidewalks? Good looking walk. Glad the cutting the tree option wasn’t used. That looks like a gorgeous tree that would take about 50 to 80 years to replace.
Later, BTKS
Roz
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28 posts in 1463 days
posted 977 days ago
Hey BTKS, Thanks for the words of support. That old tree is in a picture taken of the house in about 1890. One side has decay issues but it is sound. I saw a tree like it in South Carolina last year that was over 1000 years old and was used by Indians as a navigational aid 300 years before the first white man landed. They grow very slowly and are solid. As for the walk thickness I thought that sounded excessive. When we poured the slab for my workshop (check out Lumberjocks.com/roz) it was 4 inches with footings and that was to accommodate heavy vehicles and a lift.
-- TL. Roswell "The only thing that works in an old house is the man who lives there."
Tony Friendly
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12 posts in 897 days
posted 864 days ago
I am certain that the project would not have been completed w/o your dog. :-) Great work, real linchpining.