A couple of months ago, the city scoured my neighborhood, looking for broken or heaving sidewalks and driveway aprons. When they found them, they spray painted big Xs on them and sent the homeowners letters mandating that they be replaced. My letter told me that if the city replaced the five sidewalk damaged blocks and the apron, it would cost $1,400. The damage to most of these concrete slabs was minimal, by the way. The real problem--which the city was totally unconcerned with--is my driveway. It has been a hazard since I moved in in 1998, but I've lived with it. Tree roots from a tree that's been gone for some time heaved the driveway in ridiculous ways. Because my house was built in 1935, it has a snazzy 1935 driveway, complete with a lovely grass strip down the middle. Charming, but kind of a pain. Do I really have to mow my driveway? You can see a little of the driveway grass in the photo below. Well, thanks to the city's mandate, I'm making some changes around here.
My neighbor is a general contract who does a lot of concrete work. For just about the same amount of money as the city quoted me for the sidewalk and apron, he can do a long stretch of my heaving driveway and all the other work. He started it on Friday. Alone. He is one energetic guy!
Let's just say that those tree roots were a bigger problem than he anticipated. He used a chainsaw and an axe, and he finally removed an enormous piece of root from the driveway.
This is the root!
The old concrete is gone, but yesterday morning, the rain set in. Right now, there's a lake where my drive should be. Oh well. Eventually, this will be a new thing I'll really appreciate. Right now, it's a little muddy around here.
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