Sidewalks & Walkways in College Station, TX

Sidewalks and walkways are modest jobs with a big effect. The front walk is the first surface a visitor uses, and a side path keeps your shoes clean on trips to the bins or the back gate. Once a panel rises or drops an inch it becomes something people trip on, and at a rental, new tenants have no idea where the bad spot is.

Why walks heave and crack here

Tree roots are the most common cause. Post oaks and other large shade trees are part of the landscape across the Brazos Valley, and the Texas State Historical Association places most of Brazos County in the Post Oak Savannah. As roots grow under a walk, they lift the panels and crack them. Soil movement is the other cause. Clay ground that swells after heavy rain and shrinks in a dry summer pushes thin slabs up and down. With close to a third of College Station homes built in the 1970s and 1980s, many walks have been dealing with this for decades.

Signs a walkway needs replacing

• A height difference at a joint of roughly half an inch or more
• Cracks across panels, or panels split into several pieces
• Puddles that sit on the walk after a storm
• Steps that are uneven, crumbling or separating from the porch
• A path that tips toward the house rather than away

Building a new walk

Damaged panels come out first. Roots are trimmed only where that is safe for the tree, and soft soil is dug out. After the base is compacted, forms go in with a gentle sideways pitch so rain sheds off the surface. HomeGuide puts typical walkway thickness at 4 to 6 inches. Joints are tooled or sawn at regular spacing so shrinkage cracks land in them rather than mid-panel. A light broom texture adds grip in the wet, which counts in a city that averages about 41.75 inches of rain a year.

Get a Free Estimate

Public sidewalks and the right-of-way

Walks along the street are generally inside the city right-of-way. College Station regulates right-of-way work, and paving there has to meet the BCS Design Standards the city cites. HomeGuide notes that repair often falls to the homeowner, though cities differ. Before we touch a street-side section, we confirm with the city who is responsible and whether a permit applies.

Options for paths and walks

• Gray concrete, broom finish: the standard, least costly option
• Stamped walks: HomeGuide's range is roughly $10 to $21 a square foot
• Exposed aggregate: grippy and good at hiding dirt
• Extra width: 4 to 5 feet lets two people walk side by side
• Steps and landings: placed with the walk so riser heights match

Care

Keep gutters from dumping onto the walk, fill joint gaps if they open up, and watch for new root lifts near large trees. Sealing a walkway every few years keeps out water and stains. Small lifts can sometimes be leveled or ground down instead of replaced; see our concrete repair page.