Maybe a sidewalk repair order from the city just showed up in the mail. Or maybe you just noticed that the crack by the mailbox is wide enough to swallow a pen now.
Sidewalk cracks differ from driveway cracks in one big way: the public walk out front isn't entirely your call. The city sets the standard, decides which repairs count, and can do the work and bill you if you don't.
Here's how that works in Green Bay, how to measure your own walk, and which fix fits which crack. If your main problem is a lip or trip edge, our uneven sidewalk fix compares grinding, patching, lifting, and replacing in depth.
Public Walk or Private Walk? Start Here
| Public sidewalk (along the street) | Private walk (to your door, side yard, backyard) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | In the public right-of-way | On your property |
| Who maintains it in Green Bay | The owner of the property in front of it | You |
| Whose standards apply | The city's | Yours |
| Can someone order a repair? | Yes, the city | No |
| Permits | Required for work in the right-of-way | Check with your municipality before any replacement |
| Who can replace a panel | A builder holding the city's annual sidewalk builder license, or the city's contractor | Any contractor you choose |
If you're in De Pere, Ashwaubenon, Allouez, Bellevue, Howard, Suamico, or another nearby community, the rules are set locally and may differ from Green Bay's. One call to your public works department sorts it out.
What Green Bay Flags on a Public Sidewalk
The city's sidewalk page lists the conditions that make a panel non-compliant. In plain English:
- A crack 1/2 inch wide or wider.
- A height difference between neighboring panels. The city calls it a trip hazard but doesn't publish a number. For scale, accessibility standards for public walking surfaces allow only 1/4 inch of sharp vertical edge before it needs a bevel. More in ADA sidewalk requirements.
- A cross slope steeper than 3/4 inch per foot (about 6 percent).
- Settlement of more than 1 inch per foot out of line with the walk's intended grade.
- Spalling over more than a quarter of a 5 × 5 ft panel, with pits around 1/2 inch deep.
The page bases owner responsibility on city code section 34-7 and Wisconsin statutes. Notice what's not on the list: hairline cracks with level sides. The city isn't after every line in the concrete.
Measure Your Own Walk in Ten Minutes
You don't have to wait for an inspector. Grab a tape measure, a 2-ft level, and a handful of pennies.
| Check | How to measure | What the number means |
|---|---|---|
| Crack width | Slide in a stack of pennies (eight stacked is just under 1/2"), or use a tape | If eight pennies drop in easily, you're at or past the city's 1/2" line |
| Height difference | Lay the level across the crack or joint, resting on the high side, and measure down to the low side | Over 1/4" is past the accessibility limit for an unbeveled edge; over 1/2" catches toes |
| Cross slope | Set the level across the walk, raise the low end until the bubble centers, and measure the gap underneath | 1-1/2" or more under a 2-ft level is steeper than 3/4" per foot |
| Settlement | Sight down the walk from one end, then lay the level along the low panel | A panel visibly dished or tipped compared with its neighbors deserves a closer look |
| Spalling | Measure the flaked area | A patch about 2-1/2 × 2-1/2 ft is a quarter of a 5 × 5 panel (6.25 sq ft) |
| Rocking | Step on each corner | Movement or a hollow sound means there's a void underneath |
Photograph each problem with the tape in the frame. It helps with the city, it's what any contractor needs to quote, and it gives you a baseline for next spring.
The Sidewalk Crack Decision Table
| What you see | Usual cause | Flagged by Green Bay? (public walks) | The fix | Who does it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hairline, both sides level | Shrinkage | No, it's under the 1/2" line | Leave it, or seal it if water sits in it | You |
| Open crack under 1/2", level | Shrinkage plus seasonal movement | Not for width | Clean it out and seal it with a flexible sealant | You, or us |
| Crack 1/2" or wider, level | Panels drifting apart, broken edges, or a base that's moving | Yes | Find out why it's that wide, then fill it with a method the city accepts | You or a contractor, after asking the city |
| Crack with one side lower | Settled or washed-out base | Yes, as a height difference | Raise the low panel, then seal; grind if the lip is small | Lifting contractor or grinder |
| Panel pushed up | Tree roots or frost | Yes, as a height difference | Grind the edge, raise the neighbors to blend it, or replace | Contractor |
| Crumbling, flaking crack edges | Freeze-thaw and salt | Possibly, if spalling covers enough of the panel | Patch small spots; replace if widespread | Licensed builder, on a public walk |
| Panel broken into pieces | Lost support plus heavy loads | Yes | Replace the panel | Licensed builder or the city's contractor |
| Private walk tipping water toward the house | Settlement next to the foundation | Not applicable | Lift it, then seal the joint at the house | Us |
Unsure what kind of crack you have? Our crack types field guide sorts it out, why concrete cracks explains the forces behind each one, and how to fix concrete cracks covers repairs beyond the sidewalk.
The Three Repairs That Actually Fix Sidewalk Cracks
Seal it
For a level crack with solid edges, sealing keeps water out so freeze-thaw can't keep prying it open and snowmelt can't wash out the soil underneath. On private walks and on sidewalk joints, we use a flexible polyurethane joint sealant, with closed-cell backer rod in deeper cracks, applied to a clean, dry, frost-free crack at about 40°F or warmer. The materials and method are in best concrete crack caulk.
One catch on public walks: if the city has ordered a crack repaired, use a method the city accepts. Green Bay's page lists epoxy concrete patch products for cracks and depressions, as owner work. If you'd rather use a flexible sealant, ask Public Works whether it satisfies the order before you start.
And ask why it's that wide. A crack that has opened to 1/2 inch usually didn't get there from shrinkage alone. Panels drifting apart point to something moving: a washout along the edge, a panel creeping downhill toward the street, a root, or frost. Fill it without fixing that, and it can open right back up.
Raise it, then seal it
A crack with one side lower is really a sunken panel, and filling the gap leaves both the trip edge and the hollow underneath. Foam lifting raises the low panel through a few 5/8" holes (about the size of a dime). The foam fills the void and lifts the panel in small, controlled increments, the holes get patched, and you can walk on it right away. Then the crack or joint gets sealed so water can't undermine it again.
On a Green Bay public walk: the city's page names mudjacking as the method for raising sunken panels and doesn't mention foam lifting. Before you hire anyone to raise a panel on an ordered repair, us included, ask Public Works whether foam lifting satisfies it. On a private walk, it's your call.
For a small lip, the city also accepts diamond grinding of the raised edge, which you can do yourself or hire out. It's quick and inexpensive, and if that's all your walk needs, you don't need us.
Replace the panel
Broken into pieces, crumbling across the surface, or heaved too far to grind or blend: that panel needs to come out. In Green Bay's right-of-way, that means a builder holding the city's annual Concrete Sidewalk Builders License, with a permit, or the city's own contractor. We don't replace concrete, and we'll tell you from the photos when that's what you need.
Got a Repair Notice? How to Handle It
- 1Match the notice to the walk. Take the letter outside and find each flagged panel and the reason it was flagged.
- 2Mark your deadline. Green Bay gives you 30 days after the formal notice to complete ordered repairs.
- 3Call Public Works before hiring anyone. Ask which repairs satisfy the order for each panel, which permits you need (the city lists an obstruction permit and a sidewalk grade permit for owner repairs, plus signs and barricades), whether your contractor needs the city's sidewalk builder license for the work planned, and whether foam lifting is accepted for sunken panels.
- 4Pick your route from the table below.
- 5Request the final inspection. Once repairs are done, notify the city. It re-inspects, mails a letter summarizing what's left, and removes repaired panels from the bill.
- 6Keep before-and-after photos from the same spots.
| Your route | Best for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | Filling cracks with epoxy patch; grinding small raised edges | Right-of-way work needs permits, signs, and barricades |
| Hire a licensed sidewalk builder | Broken or badly damaged panels | Must hold the city's annual license and pull a permit |
| Hire a contractor to raise sunken panels | Panels that sank but are still in one piece | The city's page names mudjacking; confirm whether foam lifting counts |
| Let the city's contractor do it | Panels that need replacing anyway, especially only one or two | Work typically starts the following summer and wraps up by fall. You're invoiced afterward, and a bill unpaid 30 days after the invoice date goes on your property taxes, payable over 5 annual installments with interest. |
Honest Math: When the City's Contractor Is the Better Deal
The city lists historical costs of about $160 to $300 to replace one 5 × 5 panel, a price that comes from its bulk contract. For one or two panels that need replacing anyway, that's hard for any private crew to beat, and nobody should talk you out of it.
Private repair starts to make more sense when:
- You have a run of sunken panels that are otherwise sound. Raising them keeps the concrete you have, provided the city accepts the method.
- You don't want to wait. City work typically happens the summer after the order, and a trip edge in front of your house is a hazard all winter.
- You're already fixing the driveway or stoop. Adding the walk to the same visit spreads out the cost of the trip.
- It's a private walk. There's no city contractor for the path to your front door.
Those city figures are historical, so ask Public Works what applies this year. For how lifting prices compare locally, see concrete lifting cost in Green Bay.
Private Walks: Same Fixes, Your Rules
The walk to your front door, the path beside the garage, the back walk to the patio: no inspector and no deadline, but these are the walks your family and guests use every day. Put these first:
- Any lip over about 1/2 inch. Someone will catch a toe on it, usually in the dark or carrying groceries.
- Any walk tipping toward the house. It's sending roof and yard water at your foundation. Lift it, then seal the gap at the house (see caulking where concrete meets the house).
- Open joints and cracks heading into winter. Seal them in late summer or early fall, while it's still warm enough for sealant to cure.
Why Sidewalks Crack Where They Do
Sidewalk cracks cluster in predictable spots:
- Where the walk crosses the driveway, and every car, delivery van, and garbage truck turning in rolls over it.
- Next to terrace trees, where roots push up from below (see tree roots lifting concrete).
- Over old utility trenches, where loosely backfilled soil keeps settling for years.
- Along the street edge, where plow piles sit and melt into the soil under the walk.
- At joints nobody sealed, where snowmelt runs straight under the panels every spring.
Most come back to water and lost support underneath, so sealing and drainage matter as much as the crack itself.