Trees & Sidewalks
I am considering whether to replace the cement in the (uneven) sidewalk in front of my house. It seems to me that the problem is being caused by the roots of the tree and I wondered if the mason would be able to ameliorate this without damaging the tree. Doing some research, I came across…
I am considering whether to replace the cement in the (uneven) sidewalk in front of my house. It seems to me that the problem is being caused by the roots of the tree and I wondered if the mason would be able to ameliorate this without damaging the tree. Doing some research, I came across a city program called Trees & Sidewalks, where they say they will fix your sidewalk themselves and do everything to preserve the tree.
Has anyone had any experience with the program? Do they actually follow through? If I sign up for the program, could that possibly lead to my getting a violation from the city?
And if I do it through the city, would I still have to get landmarks permission on my own?
from the brochure linked here, it seems as if no permit is needed for a sidewalk repair but — if a city tree is involved — the Parks Department needs to be alerted and given time to inspect the site. Is that right?
Two years ago I had a little time off and decided to take care of the same problem. I live on a landmarked block and followed the lead of a neighbor who went to the DOT for a permit to work on the sidewalk. He did his work at a leisurely pace with his nice little DOT permit in his window. I went and spent a whole day in the DOT office waiting among expeditors who yelled at the top of their lungs, stuffing fist fulls of permits into the little slots in the glass. 5 minutes before closing time, with certification of ownership in hand, I finally got my turn and was told that I had to go to Landmarks. Apparantly, it is hit or miss, depending on who takes care of you how you will be taken care of. I didn’t have another day to go to Landmarks, nor did I want to this, since I am told they are just as arbitrary and who wants to get on their radar screen. So I abandoned the project — for now. When I finally do do this, I will forget the permit and get a crew in on a weekend and have them do all the work then with an arborist to take care of the roots at the same time with no permit. I think it is a laugh, because I was/am planning on doing a nice job with bluestone, unlike the rest of the block which is a patchwork of cracked and buckling blue stone and cement sidewalk patches of every color.
Page 32 – http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/pubs/Rowhouse_Manual.pdf
Question: Did those of you in landmarked districts get LPC permission? Did the mason get it? Was it a hassle?
Bklnite – I had the same problem a week after he’d done my work. He finally got back to me – he’d had a new phone that wouldn’t work properly. When that was replaced he found a gazillion messages & was trying to reach everyone.
BTW Arkady,
VinRoy did some brownstone and brick re-pointing work on my (previous) house about 12 years ago & we were happy with the work. I saw recent recommendations here and called him for concrete work (that I eventually got Shahab to do). Left at least 3 messages with no reply. Apparently others have found him MIA or not responsive as well. Thumbs down from me if he can’t be bothered to return a call.
http://bstoner.wpengine.com/forum/archives/2009/10/vin_roy_baronet.php
I had a dog run through and leave paw prints on mine too – grrrr… Shahab came back (he was returning with the yellow caution tape anyway) and smoothed it out.
VinRoy relaid some pavers for me – he can do entire sidewalks too. 646 554 4513
At a rental I manage I had a 20′ sidewalk cast. One flipping dog was allowed to walk on it while it was wet & I just got a citation from the city that it’s a violation because the 8 or 10 pawprints are more than half an inch deep!
Also, I had some concrete done this week. Was looking to do a 100 sf area between steps and sidewalk either in 2″ bluestone or (tinted) concrete. I got a couple of estimates and it would have been 2700 – 3000 for bluestone. Chose to go for the cheaper concrete option, tinted to (I hope) match the bluestone sidewalk. Only been a couple of days, so not sure how it’s going to look as it ages. You do need to watch it…make sure your guy gets caution tape up and you still have to watch the kids trying to leave their mark.
I used Shahab who came recommended on the forum here by Petebklyn. About 10 bucks a square foot.