# Repair Sidewalk that is Slanted Towards House



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

On the side of my Chicago bungalow, the sidewalk that abuts the house is slanted slightly inward toward the house. When there are heavy rains, the water pools. I have used Loctite PL S10 Polyurethane Concrete & Masonry Sealant to seal the area where the base brick meets the sidewalk. No leaks into basement. But I am concerned that pooling water will eventually damage bricks and cause leaks. 

I am considering have the sidewalk removed and replaced with a new sidewalk that is both slanted away from house but also has a channel molded into it to direct the water downward to the from of the house and to the street. This helps because my neighbor doesn't clean his gutter often. In fact most of the water comes from his gutters. 

Please help me confirm that this is a good route to talk. Also, is there any risk to the house when removing the concrete?

Thanks,


----------



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

Correction:
Please help me confirm this is a good route to take. (Not talk - smh at error)

My house is the one on left side in pics 1 and 3.


----------



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

No harm will be done to the structure by removing the old side walk---if the budget allows--do it now---wet brick freezes and spalls--I see that the lower section has been tuck pointed recently--so that 'pooling' is causing damage.

You are right to be concerned---have you got enough pitch to drain that walkway to the street?


----------



## carpdad (Oct 11, 2010)

I suppose that's city living, and just playing the devils advocate for your neighbor,

Your garden may be holding/letting water through, and cause for any water damage.

You may not be allowed to change the slope against the neighbor, or change the slope that may pool the water in middle that freezes.


----------



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

oh'mike - thanks for the reply. I have the money now and will do it now. Just had the tuckpointing done. There will be enough pitch to drain to street with the new side that is both slanted away from house and downward towards street in front. My front yard has very pitch so that helps. 

carpdad - if all goes well, I can avoid makin problem for my neighbor. Besides the point that his gutter are like Niagara Falls.


----------



## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

See if the city will allow you and the neighbor to tear it out, reslope it towards the middle, with a drain along the length, that allows the water to empty to the street gutter.


----------



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

Update - Today the contractors finished laying the the new sidewalk. I also has them rebuild the stairs leading to the basement with an extra stair/ridge along the top to stop water from going down towards the basement door. There is a drain by the basement door, but I wanted to be extra cautious. Finally had them lay a slab in the alley for the garbage cans and also to block water from coming off the alley to my backyard. For some reason the grade of the alley was 2 inches above my yard. Not it is reversed. 

Thanks for all your help. It looks great now and I feel much better about preventing water issues (and we have had a TON of rain in Chicago so far this year).


----------



## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Hope they tied that ridge into the old wall, looks like someone got their hand prints in the new wall already, know anything about that?????



Forgot to say , nice looking job .


----------



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

Thanks. The used rebar I believe to tie in the ridge piece. Really surprised at how quick the work went. About 1 1/2 days of work. Now I researching how to make sure I do what is needed to make it last.


----------



## europaving (Jul 9, 2014)

Nice job!


----------



## ChicagoVille (May 5, 2014)

Hi--I'm following this as I have some similar issues (in Chicago with a brick foundation and a concrete sidewalk between my neighbors and our foundations in the breezeway). Not sure how to post a link to my thread but maybe you can see it in my profile. 

Where did you purchase the sealant that you used? Was it recommended specifically for these old brick foundations? 

When you had your brick tuckpointed did they use a mortar with more lime than what you typically find these days? Reading up on the web it sounds like that's often recommended as a mortar that has a high concentration of Portland cement can in the long run fracture old brick like ours. 

Last question--did you have your glass block windows installed or were they already there when you bought the property? Looking for recommendations in the Chicago area for glass block custom installations. 

Your project looks nice by the way. 

Jay


----------



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

I purchased the sealant from Home Depot. I ran it right after having some tuckpointing completed earlier this year (originally planned to wait on new concrete but changed my mind with all the rain were were getting a few weeks ago). I used that sealant because of it being self-leveling and maintaining some flexibility over time to prevent water infiltration. There are better commercial sealants, but I did not have access to them. 

The mortar for the tuckpointing was not the more common concrete mix; it would damage the old brick. I will PM you with the name of the company that did the work. He did a great job for a very good price. I believe he does glass block windows as well. He can certainly rebuilt the window for you. My glass block window were already installed. 

By the way, check out www.chicagobungalow.org for good information. Its for Chicago Bungalow owners, but a lot of members are simply old house owners. There are references for contractors that have been vetted and they offer seminars. I took one on masonry late last year.


----------



## drelldrell (May 12, 2014)

Apparently I can't PM yet - not enough messages. The company is DL Construction at www.dlconstruction.us. The owner is Daniel Lesinsky at (708) 662-0443. 

Near the bottom of the web page you will see a link for pictures of his work.


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Drell...... Nice looken job.... and darn good timeing....


----------



## ChicagoVille (May 5, 2014)

Many thanks for the contact and info. 

Jay


----------

