Cracked, heaved or missing walk out front? We dig out a solid base and pour a new sidewalk that sheds water and grips underfoot.
Concrete sidewalk building in Aberdeen means tearing out the old walk or digging into the yard, packing a solid base, then pouring, finishing and curing a new walk so it stays flat, sheds water and gives you good footing.
Most calls start with a walk that's cracked, sunk at one end or tipped so water sits on it, and that's usually the ground under it, the subgrade, settling because it was raked level instead of dug out and packed. We fix that first and set the forms dead straight. If you'd like color or a pattern on top, our decorative concrete work can go on the same walk.
The price moves mostly with the walk's length, what has to come out first and what the ground needs, and the schedule turns on the weather and any permit. We're based in Aberdeen, work in the cities around it too, and we're licensed and fully insured. Your estimate lays out the price for your own walk and everything it includes.
Call (605) 824-9815 or fill out the form, and I'll get back to you to set a time to come out. It helps to know where you want the walk to run.
I come out myself to look at the ground, where the water runs and any driveway the walk crosses, since a stretch that cars drive over may need to be thicker or reinforced. Your estimate lays out what's included, and I'm happy to go over it line by line.
Once you say go, we take care of any permit paperwork, set a pour date that works with the weather, and our crew does the work with me on site from prep through the finish. Before we leave, I'll go over how to look after the walk through its first winter.
Everything starts under the concrete, because a nice finish can't save a bad base. We dig down to firm ground, pack a gravel base and check where the water goes so the walk falls away from your house. Soft ground takes more of this, and the City of Sioux Falls, for one, makes crews dig out muck, peat and soft clay that heave with frost and replace them with granular base.
On top, we give the walk a broom finish, a light texture dragged across the fresh surface, because a slick troweled walk gets dangerous when it's wet. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the concrete a straight place to crack, and we cut them early so the walk doesn't pick its own spot. Then it cures, a slow wait that lets the concrete gain strength before you put weight on it.
What a new sidewalk from us includes:
A walk with a hairline crack or one chipped edge can usually stay, and leaving it costs you a lot less than tearing it out. Once sections have sunk, tipped toward the house or heaved into a trip edge, the base underneath has moved, so patching the top won't hold and I'd replace those sections and fix what's under them. If the garage the walk meets needs work too, we can plan it alongside our garage floor concrete work.
Length and width come first, since they set how much concrete, base and forming the job takes. Tearing out and hauling off an old walk adds to it, and so does soft ground that has to be dug deeper and rebuilt. A driveway crossing usually costs more because it may need a heavier section, and color or a pattern adds over a plain broom finish. The base is the last place I'd cut, because it's what keeps the walk flat.
I learned concrete from an old-school contractor who made me reset forms until they were dead straight, and I started Aberdeen Concrete Company in 2023 to run jobs that same careful way. I walk your base myself before any truck pours, we leave your yard tidy, and I explain the plan and the price before we start so nothing catches you off guard. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Good pour days come and go with the weather, so calling early gives us more room to pick one for your walk.
Tell us where the walk runs and whether it crosses a driveway. I'll reply within one business day to set a time for a free on-site estimate, with no obligation.
Air-entrained concrete, which has tiny air bubbles mixed through it, is the one to ask for, because a Canadian concrete group's guide calls it a must to keep the surface from scaling, or flaking off. Ask any contractor bidding your walk whether they'll use it.
Yes, with planning, because those nights can count as cold weather for concrete, which means the air drops or is expected to drop below 40°F while the fresh concrete still needs protecting. Ask any crew pouring then how they'll keep the new walk from freezing, and it's why we set our pour dates around the forecast.
Use no deicers that first winter and spread sand for traction, which is what a Michigan concrete group's guide for new concrete says. In later winters the same group says to keep calcium or magnesium-based deicers off the walk, use rock salt only in moderation and lean on sand. It also suggests a penetrating sealer once the walk is more than 30 days old and any compound on the surface has worn off.
Building permits in Aberdeen come from the city's office on the third floor of City Hall at 123 South Lincoln Street, or you can reach the Building Inspection Department. That's the place to ask whether your walk needs one, and when a job does, we take care of the application and keep you posted on where it stands.
Yes, the City of Aberdeen issues a sidewalk contractor license, and applying for it takes a surety bond for the calendar year. That bond requires replacing work the City Engineer finds wasn't laid to the required specifications within a three-year period, so it's worth asking any bidder whether they hold the license.
There's no honest number until I've seen the route, because the length, the tear-out, the ground and any driveway crossing all change it. I give you the figure at the on-site estimate, with everything that's included written out.
We're based in Aberdeen and build walks across the city and the cities around it. Pick your area below, or call (605) 824-9815 if yours isn't listed.
