Sidewalks and curbs

When rain washes the soil out from under a sidewalk

A void under the slab is not a trip-hazard grind. The panel has nothing left to sit on.

A void under a sidewalk panel is not a lip you can grind. After a hard rain in Central Florida, water can cut the soil out from under the edge of a slab, and the panel rocks because it has nothing left to sit on.

Precision Concrete & Construction sees this on HOA walks in Orange, Seminole, Brevard, Volusia, Osceola, and Lake counties after a storm, along a swale, or where a downspout dumps on the edge of the walk. The joint still looks tight from the street. Step on the corner and the slab moves. Grinding a rocking panel does not put dirt back under it.

The inlet is not always the problem

A settled drain box can send water under the walk. That is the drain-inlet guide. A washout can also come from irrigation that runs along the form, or from a grade that already dumps toward the houses. Nikki Mejia walks after a rain when she can, because the void is easier to see when the soil is wet. The proposal should say whether the panel comes out, whether the grade has to change, and whether an inlet on that same corner belongs on the same paper.

Roots can heave a panel and leave a lip. That is the trip-hazard page. A washout leaves a hollow. Those are different lines. A manager who sends a photo of the edge, from the side, with the nearest house number, lets Nikki see which one she is walking into.

What this is not

This is not a grind list, and it is not a flood study. Call (407) 925-7873 for a free assessment, or email info@precisionpaintandconstruction.com. If you already have photos from the afternoon after a storm, send those. Dry Tuesday photos hide the void.