Walk this way

A well-done walkway provides a safe route to the front door, adds serious curb appeal and can be a worthwhile investment for homeowners. If you’re thinking of getting into walkway installation, these six tips from contractors in the know can help you get the job done right.

1. Prep the base.

All of the pros agree: The most important part of any walkway project is base preparation. “Whether it’s a walkway or driveway, pavers or pavement, the number 1 detail is always making sure you have a solid base,” says Gregory Cunningham, owner of Ground Care Landscape based in North Andover, Massachusetts. “Without that one key piece, it doesn’t matter what you put on top.”

Cunningham says the first step is sampling the soil where the walkway will be built and removing all loam – no matter how deep it goes. “We had a project where we had to dig four feet to get rid of all the loam, which was a bit excessive, but we wanted to make sure it was going to last for our climate,” he says.

“If your base prep isn’t done correctly, it’s going to fall apart over time,” says Justin Hampton, co-owner of Paver Designs in Omaha, Nebraska. This means making sure the soil is compacted properly before proceeding with installation, particularly in freeze-thaw climates.

In addition, Hampton says a big mistake people make is not excavating wider than your planned walkway. When the base isn’t far enough out on either side of the pavers, your sidewalk is more likely to fall apart.

“If your walkway is four feet wide, you need at least six to eight inches on either side because of weight dispersion and horizontal push. You want your edging going into the base and not the dirt,” he says.

2. Consider design details.

Walkways may seem pretty straightforward, but they still require planning to ensure they fit with the home and surrounding landscape. That means making sure the width of the walkway is in proportion to the size of the home and the size of the features you see by the home, such as pillars framing the front entrance. “Big homes should have big walkways,” says Fred Riedel, owner of Paver Restoration in Clayton, North Carolina.

In general, “be aware of what’s around you,” Cunningham says. “When you’re suggesting colors or textures or products in general to your clients, make sure you understand the color of their landscape.”

When it comes to the design of the walkway itself, Hampton suggests avoiding straight lines. “Especially on a walkway, it shows if lines aren’t straight, and a flowing sidewalk that curves to the front stoop is nicer than marching down a sidewalk and taking a 90-degree turn.” In addition, he says boulder outcroppings, landscaping down the edges and LED lighting are all design elements that can further increase visual appeal.

3. Plan ahead.

This one may require asking the customer to see into the future a bit. Are they planning to tackle landscaping projects after the walkway is complete? It may be necessary to plan for enough space between the home and walkway for future landscaping. “Sometimes you don’t realize the walkway is the first project and then they might want to do more projects, one of which might be the landscape,” Cunningham says.

Or are customers going to want to add front yard features that require water or electricity? “We’ll often bury some sort of PVC under the sidewalk,” Hampton says. That way, later on, homeowners can easily string lighting or set up a sprinkler water system beneath the walkway.

4. Watch the water.

Take the time to observe where water is coming from and flowing to on the jobsite. That means considering where downspouts and drains may dump water onto the sidewalk as well as how water flows off of other nearby areas, such as driveways.

Depending on the walkway location, your best bet may be to bury a downspout beneath the new walkway.

“That way, you don’t have a gutter hanging across your sidewalk or water pouring across every time it rains,” Hampton says.

Another consideration, according to Riedel, is whether mulch from nearby flower beds or foundation plantings will wash onto the walkway during heavy rains. Riedel recommends building a walkway with a curb, installing edge restraints on nearby beds to hold the mulch in or encouraging customers to incorporate mulch binders or different mulching materials into their garden beds to hold the mulch together.

5. Get the pitch right.

It’s important to “make sure your grade, your pitch, fits the landscape around it,” Cunningham says.

Hampton says doing that can help ensure that the water you observed flows away from the house rather than pooling on the walkway or running back toward the foundation.

In Massachusetts, for instance, getting the pitch right means ice is less likely to build up on walkways in the winter, which is important not only for safety but also because using a salt product can break down pavers, Cunningham says.

Walkway pitch matters in warmer weather too – particularly with north-facing homes, where standing water can lead to moss and algae buildup on the sidewalk.

Although proper pitch can help, with north-facing entrances, Riedel suggests planning for extra drainage to help keep the water off the walkway and using sealers on the walkway itself to prevent mold and algae growth.

6. Protect the finished product.

Riedel stresses the importance of using paver or concrete sealers on finished walkways. It’s a move that’s particularly important in his area, where the blooms of crepe myrtles can stain walkways. After all that planning, prep and installation to ensure your walkway project is a success, protecting the finished product should be a no-brainer.