Concrete Walkways & Steps in Cayuga

Clay and backfill: why Cayuga steps move

The soil beside a foundation is backfill, dug out when the house was built and never as solid as undisturbed ground. On tight clay it also holds water, and that water freezes. Steps poured straight onto it sink or heave, and they tip away from the door. That opens a gap that sends water down the foundation wall.

New steps and porches that attach to the house get footings below the frost line, about 1.2 metres down, or get doweled into the foundation wall where that is the sounder detail. A freestanding walkway floats on a compacted granular base, with the surface sloped so melt runs away from the house.

Courthouse-district brick and post-war streets

The oldest homes in Cayuga stand in the blocks around the courthouse, and the post-war streets off Munsee Street come next. Original porch steps and walks on streets like these usually fail in sections rather than all at once. Watch for a gap between the steps and the house, a landing that tips away from the door, and treads that flake from road salt.

Sound steps that have settled can sometimes be lifted back into position once the water problem is fixed. Steps that are cracked through, or that have taken water for years, get rebuilt on proper footings. If the wall behind them lets water in, we say so.

Salt from Highway 3

Salt rides in on boots and tires and ends up on walks and steps all winter. On concrete without entrained air, salt and freeze-thaw make the surface flake. We pour 32 MPa air-entrained concrete, which gives freezing water room to expand, then give the slab a real cure.

Booking walkways and steps in Cayuga

Cayuga sits in the middle of our Haldimand routes, between our Caledonia and Dunnville days, so a job here books onto a scheduled route day like a job in a larger town. We reply to every request within one business day.