I’ve got a concrete guy coming out to do some porch work. He is removing the old concrete porch (really just an entry) and putting in a slightly larger one (around 7’x15′). The new entry’s concrete will be brick-pattern stamped and colored.
An idea suggested by someone (can’t remember if it was me or him) was to tie the entry and sidewalk together by adding a 1′ border of stamped/stained concrete on either side of the sidewalk.
The current sidewalk is around 34″ wide and is a straight run from the street to front door, so the modified sidewalk would be nearly 60″ wide.
Does wider look better or worse? Worth the $$?
jt8
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
— Mother Teresa
Replies
Looks will depend on the house
A wider sidewalk is, to me, more inviting as it allows 2 folks to more easily walk side by side.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who would condemn them to death.
- Psalms 109:30-31
Agre with rjw. 34" is too narrow for two people. But it also needs to fit the surroundings."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
John,
How it will look depends on the overall scene. I bet you'll get a lot of responses/opinions if you post a picture of the current view from the street.
Bill
I bet you'll get a lot of responses/opinions if you post a picture of the current view from the street.
This is the sow's ear that I posted about a few months ago in regards to roof. blah little ranch on .36 acre corner lot. Driveway is in the back.
This is the view from the corner at time of purchase:
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This is a picture from a week ago. The old entry roof is gone. The strange little mailbox planter met its end last weekend. The little roof over the garage door will shortly get zapped (as well as the door).
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As for what I will probably shoot for, "Proposed #6" is currently in the lead. This is my Photoshopped rendition of what it would look like under 'proposed 6'. Take it a step further and imagine it with new roof and the possibly wider sidewalk.
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jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
Make the new sidewalk as wide as the two middle columns. And maybe curve it a little."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Our minimum width is 3'6".
When faced with long sidewalks or driveways, we put some soft curves in the shape. See attached.
One trick we use putting soft curves in a walk is to start with a straight line, and design the curves so that the appearance is there, but you can get from one end to the other in a straight line.
Sorry forgot to attach. See 2 examples.....next TX post
Edited 4/9/2007 4:30 pm ET by txlandlord
It looks like you are classing the place up with all the columns and dentil work...
Make the porch at least 8' deep to allow actual use.
Widen the sidewalk to the width of the inner columns and put in a boxwood hedge down the length. Maybe even put brick pavers on to match the house.
Add a pair of trees - Oak? Sugar Maple? and then some type of gate at the road.
Finally, will you add new architectural shingles when you tie in the porch roof?
there - have I spent enough of your $$ yet?
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
It looks like you are classing the place up with all the columns and dentil work...
Don't think I'd use the word classy in regards to this house, but I know what you mean.
Make the porch at least 8' deep to allow actual use.
I still need to check with the village office concerning the setback (it is 40', but I'm not sure where they're measuring from). The 7x15 was a guesstimate so that the concrete guy could give me an estimate. I might be able to bump it out to 8', but in any case it won't really be large enough to offer much more than an entryway.
Add a pair of trees - Oak? Sugar Maple?
The two trees already in the yard are probably going to get zapped. The one I wanted to keep (river birch?) got hit pretty hard by an ice storm a few months back. If I replace the trees, I will probably place them so that they block some of the summer sun (since the house doesn't have much of an overhang).
Finally, will you add new architectural shingles when you tie in the porch roof?
Yes, the roof has been on the 'current' plate for about 3 months now.
The weather has NOT been cooperating. Too cold or too windy or rainy. Those 15 years shingles up there now are about 36 years old. Kinda crumble if you walk on them. Prior proposals had a redish-brown arch shingle, but with proposal 6 it will be somewhere between grey and black. Not black and not as light as what is on it now.
there - have I spent enough of your $$ yet?
Easy to do. I like your idea of lining up the inner two posts with the sidewalk border.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
John,
How about flagstone or pavers? Less commercial looking IMHO. Also DIY
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
We do the soft curves to break up the runway look.
We also do exposed aggregate and sometimes add brick in brick pockets.
The exposed aggregate look is created with a concrete pea gravel mix. Do not use a jitterbug. Just before you would normally broom the concrete, spray a mix of 4 lbs sugar to 5 gallons of water with a bug sprayer. Let the concrete sit, rinse and broom off the top layer exposing the aggregate. It creates a nice natural and interesting look, without the blandness of regular concrete.
It is as easy or easier to finish than regular concrete and the only added cost in our last project was the $3.00 a yard extra for pea gravel and cost of the sugar.
It will keep a "wet" and enhanced look if you seal it after allowing it to cure for about 30 days.
Off subject, and just my thoughts.
Definately - go for it, especially considering your photoshop pic. We had a similar situation a few years back. The owner wanted the walkway wide enough for two people wearing coats and carrying items. We came up with 60-inches for the width, but I was concerned it would look like a runway.
With the house set well back from the road and the nice new entry, the walkway fits well - nice and enviting.
I just looked at your pics again and here are a few additional thoughts. I thing you are wise to loose the garage door. It's too bad you can't somehow put a brick facade on the front of the garage so that it wouldn't look as much like an addition.
Are you moving the front door over? If so, what about sidelights on the front door? I'd would raise the budget though... :-) It's your money so I'm not worried about it though. :-)
Back to the front sidewalk, instead of a long straight run like that, how about breaking it up a bit. See attached sketch. You could put a bird bath, a conservative statue, a compact tree like a Chinese maple, or a fountain in the island in the sidewalk...
Where is the off-street parking?
And finally, get a landscape plan!!!
John
I like Matts suggestion. The sidewalk with the birdbath/small tree in the center.
The pic's that Tex posted look nice but if you go with the front facade like the one you photoshoped it has a traditional/classical look and thats a strait sidewalk, or something like Matts suggestion.
Doug
Wider would look better, and I second the curved walkway idea. It gives the entry a little mystery, and even a winding path will be respected if there are nice plantings or low walls flanking it. The straight walk makes the entry look too much like a target. That front yard needs a little interest to boost the curb appeal of the property.The porch could have a pair of seats flanking the door, even at 15' width. That could be a nice place to sit on a summer's evening.Bill
OK, it appears that about 14 of 15 folks think wider is better, but that I'd be better served by thinking on it further. 'bang for the buck' is the keynote, and perhaps simply edging the current walk isn't the best bang. Lots of good ideas here.
So I think I'll tell the crete guy that we'll skip the sidewalk edging for now and look at walkway options again in the future.
Thanks for all the input, you helped me decide this one (for now).
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
Does wider look better or worse? Worth the $$?
Yep, like everyone else, my answer is "it depends."
On a 50' wide lot with 20' of driveway along one side, a wide sidewalk splitting the remaining grass in two may not be the best answer.
Might be a nice terrace with a winding path to it is needed. Or not.
The style of the house, as well as the lot dimensions, will play into this. A prairie-style often looks better with wider walks.
Now, the suggestion of a patterned edge is a neat way of making the wolk wider without looking like a larger expance of "cement." But, going with, oh, a 42" walk with exposed aggregate can be just as appropriate, too.
Might be a nice terrace with a winding path to it is needed. Or not.
One of the earlier 'proposed' ideas had been to pull up the straight sidewalk and replace it with a curving ("S") that flared wider at the street. It would have landed to the right of where the straight one does now. I don't remember at the moment why that idea went by the wayside. Possibly a budget issue.
But the sidewalk didn't become a 'deal with it now' issue until it became an option as an add-on of the entryway/porch (which is a deal with it now issue).
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
I don't remember at the moment why that idea went by the wayside. Possibly a budget issue.
Ah, an infamous serial killer . . . budgets.
The real "trick" of having an "s" walk is not having so much bend that folks just ignore it.
Now, given the photos, do you have any visitors that actually park to where they'd use the walk in that location? I saw this because it's often easier to make paths with various kinds of "hardcaping" (stones in gravel between metal edging or the like). Particularly if the only real, regular, foot traffic is the letter carrier cutting across the lawn.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Now, given the photos, do you have any visitors that actually park to where they'd use the walk in that location? I saw this because it's often easier to make paths with various kinds of "hardcaping" (stones in gravel between metal edging or the like). Particularly if the only real, regular, foot traffic is the letter carrier cutting across the lawn.
With the current door configuration, most visitors do park in front and use the sidewalk. Until I cut one through the brick, there is no back door other than the rollup garage door.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
You had better check with the city or whomever...the sidewalk is often in the right-of-way and any changes may PTO.
Everyone else pretty much covered it, but I'd like to underline that 34" is ridiculously narrow. 5' is the width of a city sidewalk, but is a little wide for the scale of the house. Can he use a slightly smaller brick pattern on the sidewalk edges and end up with maybe 54"?
Like Ed said, I'd make at least the part up by the house as wide as the inside distance of the 2 new columns.
Maybe it's just regional language differences, but when you say sidewalk I think of something parallel to the street. I would recommend that in addition to widening the entry walk.
Our place had the walk-up the-driveway entrance; ugly and uninviting. Grass to the street, not easy for older folks to enter/exit the car. Replaced it with sidewalk and winding entry walk - what a difference. Ours is just over 36" wide and no one has had problems with that width.
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Edited 4/9/2007 11:06 pm by wrudiger
Edited 4/9/2007 11:06 pm by wrudiger