Concrete walkways and sidewalks in Vancouver, WA

Front walkways, side yards and backyard paths

A new front walkway changes how your whole house looks from the street. A side yard walkway gives you a clean, dry path to the backyard and the trash cans instead of a muddy strip of gravel. We pour both, along with paths out to sheds, gardens and patios.

Walkways can be straight and simple or follow a curve through your landscaping. The curved stamped walkway in our photos was formed to follow the beds on either side of it.

Steps and landings

If your yard slopes, a walkway often needs steps. Concrete steps with even risers are easier and safer to walk than a steep path, especially in the rain. A landing at the front door gives you a flat spot to stand while you unlock it.

Grip, edges and drainage

Most walkways get a broom finish, which leaves fine lines across the surface for grip. The edges are finished smooth with an edging tool so they look clean and don’t chip. Each walkway is pitched slightly so rain runs off to the side instead of puddling in the middle.

Replacing an old walkway

Old walkways crack, sink at the joints or get lifted by tree roots until the edges catch your toes. The broken sections get cut out and hauled away, the ground underneath is regraded and compacted, and the new walkway goes in on a fresh gravel base. If the old path was too narrow or in the wrong spot, this is the time to widen it or move it.

A new walkway can match your driveway or patio, or stand apart from it. A stamped walkway next to a broom finish driveway, or an exposed aggregate path that matches an aggregate patio, ties the front of the house together.