Sidewalks & Steps in Germantown, TN

Sidewalks and steps in Germantown come with a rule many new residents do not expect. According to the city's Homeowner Guide to Sidewalk Maintenance, the property owner is responsible for repairing the public sidewalk in front of the home, including damage from the owner's own tree roots. The city considers a sidewalk unsafe when it is sunken, lifted or badly cracked; a walk that is not perfect but is physically sound is not. And every sidewalk is inspected before a property changes hands.

The pre-sale inspection

If you are selling a Germantown home with a sidewalk, the city inspects it before the transfer. The guide lists the inspection at $100 and says homes and condos without a sidewalk need no inspection. Marked panels must be repaired before closing:

• White paint: the crack can be caulked with the city's approved concrete caulk. A reinspection follows.
• Orange paint: the panel must be replaced, and a permit is required before work starts.

The guide spells out the caulking method: clean the crack with a wire brush or sandblasting, keep it dry, use backer rod in cracks deeper than half an inch, fill at least a quarter inch deep, and tool the sealant level or slightly concave. It needs about three days to cure at 75 degrees, and walking on it before then can pull it out. That timing matters when the closing date is close. We can caulk white-marked cracks and replace orange-marked panels, and we price both fast. For permit questions, Germantown Engineering is at (901) 751-5720.

Why panels lift and sink here

Most lifted panels in Germantown trace back to tree roots. The willow oak is the official city tree, and the city has been a Tree City USA for 33 years, so many streets are lined with large oaks whose roots run under the walk. Sunken panels usually come from water and silt: runoff soaks in at a joint, the loess underneath washes out or compresses, and the panel tips. If roots did the lifting, we talk with you before pouring, since a new panel over the same root will rise again.

Rebuilding a walk

Old panels are broken out, soft soil and small roots removed and a stone base compacted. HomeGuide's sidewalk guide notes that most walkways are 4 to 6 inches thick, with more where traffic is heavier. We pitch the walk slightly to one side so rain drains into the lawn, broom the surface for grip and tool joints at even spacing. Where the walk crosses a driveway, it is poured as thick as the driveway.

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Front walks, stoops and steps

The walk from the driveway to the front door, paths to the back yard and the stoop and steps at the entry are all private work. On a brick house, a stoop that has settled away from the wall leaves a gap where water runs toward the foundation. Steps should have equal riser heights and tread depths so feet land where they expect, and the landing at the top needs room to stand while the storm door swings out. Before planning new steps we check what is under the old ones, because a heavy stoop on loose fill will keep sinking.

Handrails

Steps with more than two risers are safer with a rail, especially in rain or during an ice storm. When we pour new steps we can set rail anchors in the fresh concrete so the rail bolts down solidly instead of being drilled into a thin edge later.