I hope that I may shed some light on this subject. The city cited me on 16.5 feet of my side walk in 2 sections. The remaining sidewalk was replaced 15 years ago just before We bought our house. We had our driveway replaced right after moving in also. The first sidewalk replacement done by the city contractor replaced only the broken slabs and tapered them to the sunken sections creating very large puddles or sheets of ice depending on the season, but removing the tripping hazards. In order to correct the puddling problem We decided to remove some of the original work with the new violations and replace our apron at the same time. After it is all said and done here are the results:
82.5sf of side walk torn-out and replaced 4" thick
20sf side walk torn-out and replaced 6" thick (sidewalk above the driveway is required to be the same thickness as the apron)
110sf apron torn-out and replaced 6" thick
My total job cost was $531.20 and 2 weeks of my life this includes all kinds of misc material: form wood, nails, form pins, diamond blade, wire mesh plus lord knows how much was spent on beer. All the labor being done by myself, my family and friends. The permit cost is $10.00 with a $40.00 refundable retainer held until aproved by the city inspector.
Here is the link to the city's Requirements for Public Sidewalks
and Driveway Aprons:
http://www.ci.lakewood.oh.us/citydept_h ... ide_9.html
The sidewalk inspector is Nick Satullo and he is helpful, patient and a generaly nice person his cell number is 216-408-1685.
To sum up. Would I do it again? I can't imagine why!
What I know about concrete is that the difference in contractors is not so much price but quality of work.
