I've heard over and over that your city is responsible for maintaining sidewalks that need work. So my sidewalk needs work. Is it true that the city of Houston will fix/replace my sidewalk. That seems like an urban myth to me. If the city will work on sidewalks, what dept is responsible. IE...who do I call?
Thanks Stack. Unfortunately in my experience, the 311 operators can't handle odd requests. They don't work for the city departments so they're not good at answering one off questions. Anybody have any personal experience dealing with sidewalks and the city?
I haven't yet, but I need to. I have a pine that has rooted under the sidewalk in front of my house and raised it up. I've been looking at my homeowners association site because I thought I saw something recently there about this. It said something along the lines, that homeowner pays, but has to use a contractor provided by city. But I can't remember and can't seem to find it. I'll keep looking though and if I do I'll put it here. Here's a link from the Chron about 311. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/watchem/2767620
According to City of Houston ordinances, the resident pays, even if the sidewalk is constructed by the order of the City. http://www.houstontx.gov/codes/codes40-3.pdf Look at section 40-83. You can petition the city to contract it and then pay their bills. You can also get a permit from the city and contract it out yourself. They won't be defraying any of the costs.
Sorry can't provide input about the City of Houston but the City of Pearland paid to repair my brother's curb and part of his sidewalk because it got ran over by cars turning and driving over the edge (he lives on a corner house). The City of Pearland hired a local contractor to fix it at no cost to my brother.
I think I'm in your neighborhood, krosfyah. Short answer : You pay. Sometimes you can get the city to fund a sidewalk replacement for a section along a bus line with Metro funds. Otherwise, that would have to come out of traffic and transportation budget, and you're not going to get it. You can hire a concrete contractor to do the repair or replacement. They will be familiar with the process. Check for base material, depth and steel on the job, of course, and plan for any sprinkler pipe, electrical or drainage channel that will have to run under the concrete. You can do fancy stained, patterned or stamped concrete if you want. That can change the street profile of a home nicely.
That's what I figured. I have even had a general contractor mention to me about getting the city to do the work. I don't know why people think it but I just wanted to be sure. Good thoughts. I may run a few drain lines for future purposes as well as a peiece of conduit for a lamp my wife has always wanted. Thanks for the advice! You can do fancy stained, patterned or stamped concrete if you want. That can change the street profile of a home nicely.[/QUOTE]
