Sidewalk Savers™

One aspect of the Simple Sidewalk Grinding Procedures is frequently overlooked. The DIY Homeowner or even the customer who pays someone else to grind his Sidewalk Trip Hazards will be amazed at how easily Diamond Tools can reshape and finish the concrete. This is clearly a case where seeing is believing.

Additional applications around the house or shop suddenly become feasible, even though not necessarily by the DIY homeowner. Repairing a basement floor low spot was my first “extra curricular” project as I found that my crack sealer blade and 4.5” diamond cup could make a small trough from a low spot in the basement floor to the drain that was 10” away. 15 minutes of grinding and the 25 year old basement (washing machine) puddle problem was forever gone!

This was clearly a case of me being a kid with a new tool. I was on the march looking for other problems to solve. Our garden sidewalk and our patio presented the next correctable defects in my path. Nice!

The beautiful aggregate that was exposed by my grinding the front sidewalk and patio made me contemplate grinding the entire patio as I moved from maintenance grinding to Decorative Concrete Grinding. But, that’s another story.

Other homeowners could very easily consider a wall-sawing option for enhancing the usefulness and beauty of their basement by cutting new larger windows or doors. This is really a great way to add value to the right house. This is clearly a job for the Professionals, and who would have thought of it if they hadn’t first started by grinding that little Stub-Toe Trip Hazard on their front sidewalk?

Bottom line: While grinding down that Stub Toe Hazard, don’t forget to think about other projects around the home. And, by all means, post your questions and your stories here so that we can help steer you in the right direction.

Grind It. Cut It. Fix It. ™

Sidewalker

Most Sidewalk Trip Hazards tend to Grow over time. They start out as 1/4″ bumps and over a period of 2 or 3 years they move from being a minor annoyance to being a full fledged Trip Hazard. Since nobody calls in a Concrete Contractor to repair the sidewalk for minor problems, there has really been not much a homeowner or shopkeeper could do beyond watching it grow.

Generally, the Shopkeeper reaches his pain thresh-hold where he can no longer ignore the problem when the bump hits 3/4″ or when he receives a “Love Letter” from the City advising him that he needs to replace the defective pavement block. A homeowner’s thresh-hold for ignoring the problem has historically been Lots higher, with the real procrastinators risking “Love Letters” from their local attorney by ignoring Stub Toe Hazards in the 3″ - 4″ range. The real advantage for Diamond Grinding is the low cost of equipment and the relative ease for eliminating even the smallest of trip hazards.

Bottom line: There is no longer any excuse for allowing Stub-Toe, Trip Hazards to exist. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Grind It. Cut It. Fix It. ™

Sidewalker

Here are some photographs of a Rest Area that I happened to visit in South Dakota in July 2006. It is interesting to think of the time spent painting the Stub-Toe Trip Hazards as compared to the time required to grind them and actually eliminate the hazards. These are the types of Trip Hazards that are spaced far enough apart and seemingly minor until someone actually trips and falls.

Our Sidewalk Savers approach could eliminate the minor problems before they become big problems. And just think of the benefits from eliminating Alert Orange Paint on the Sidewalks!

Grind It. Cut It. Fix It. ™

 Sidewalker