Walkway construction in Pittsburg CA - a path built for the ground it crosses

Most people call me because the shortcut across the lawn has worn to dirt, an old slab walk has lifted and started tripping people, or they want a clean way from the driveway to the front door. The price moves with how long and wide the path runs, the surface you pick, how much digging and grading the ground needs and whether the path meets the street sidewalk or changes how water leaves your lot. The schedule turns on the weather for a pour, how much ground work there is and whether the city wants a permit, which we pull before we start. When I come out, I'll measure the route with you and write your own figure up in plain terms.

Before anything gets dug, I go over poured concrete, pavers and flagstone with you, and what each one means if a repair is ever needed down the road, because that choice is easier to make now than to change later. Then we mark the route, dig out the soft topsoil and grade the path so water runs off it and away from the house. We pack the base in layers sized for the foot traffic and the ground, since the base is what keeps a path flat. From there we either form, pour and finish the concrete with a texture that grips when it's wet, or set the pavers or flagstone, and on paver paths we set solid edging so the whole path stays tight instead of creeping apart. We finish by filling the joints and cleaning up the site.

A walkway often runs past other masonry, so we build that too. If the path needs a wall beside it to hold back soil or line the yard, our brick wall installation work goes in alongside it, and where the ground climbs toward the house or you want stonework to match a flagstone path, our stone masonry takes care of it.

The City of Pittsburg requires its engineering construction permit for concrete work and grading, so a poured walk, or a paver path that means regrading part of the yard, may well need one. The city decides what needs a permit, so we check with them before we start, and when your job needs one, we pull it and handle the paperwork. The city's engineering permit list also covers site drainage and the removal and replacement of curb, gutter and sidewalk, which comes into play if your new path ties into the street sidewalk or changes where water runs off the lot. If you'd like to read it yourself, the city's permit page lays it out.

We're based in Pittsburg and work in the cities around it, and the walkway calls look a lot alike on jobs in Antioch and Concord. We see older slab walks lifted at the joints and side-yard paths worn to dirt, so we tie the new path into the driveway or porch with a clean joint and pitch it so water runs away from the house.