Now, we’re ready to pour the sidewalk. The cement truck will pour the cement, but you will need to shovel it around to get it even against the forms. You will need to get the cement evenly into the forms. Jab the cement constantly to break any air bubbles. Once the cement is where you want it, you will need to make it smooth. You can buy a screed or you can just use a level 2X4 to run across the top of the cement. This will make it basically smooth.

Once you have the surface fairly smooth, you will need to use a float or a long trowel to bring the fine cement to the surface. This will make a very smooth surface and will make the rougher aggregate material sink beneath the surface. You will want let this dry for a few hours before brushing the surface with a shop broom. Brushing will give the sidewalk some traction so you don’t slip on the smooth surface. Be careful not to overdo the brushing.

After about three days, you can remove the forms and start to back fill the edges of the sidewalk so they are even with the lawn or ground. Ideally, we like to have the side walk about a half inch higher than the lawn.

For the final step in the sidewalk process, we need to cut sections in the concrete so it doesn’t crack with the movement of the ground underneath. You can rent a concrete cutter or use a concrete blade on a circular saw and cut across the sidewalk every ten feet or so. This will give the sidewalk flexibility during expansion and contraction of the soil.

That’s basically how to make your own sidewalks. We can usually save about two-thirds the cost of a professionally poured sidewalk by doing it ourselves.

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