Paving

Our condo complex is about 23 years old and the paving on the interior roadways was showing its age. They had been patching areas for a couple of years, but by springtime, the harshness of winter has reopened the holes. Last year, they repaved the west side of the complex, including the driveways and walkways. And they did a great job.

This year they did the east side – our side. When you step out our front door, you step onto a cement porch pad. The walkway leading toward the road is pavement, not cement. Apparently, paving is cheaper. Last year, when they did the west side, they replaced the porch pads for most of the east side units, and the walkway paving, feathering it into the existing driveway paving.

We have cement flower pots set beside the walkway from the porch to the driveway. They are crescent shaped and fit one in front of the other. Last year, when they did the walkway, they sent us a letter asking us to move the pots so they could do a proper finished job on the walkway, and we could reset the pots when they were finished. We were a bit annoyed, but we did it and it turned out very well. The edge sloped toward the grass, and even after we replaced the pots, there was quite a gap and angle to create a danger walking on the sidewalk. We called it an “ankle buster” angle. We filled it with decorative granite stone so the area was level, and visible. It was aesthetically pleasing as well.

This year, we thought since they replaced the sidewalk last year, they would only replace the driveway. But then they dug up the walkway too. We left our pots there because we had not been instructed otherwise. They covered over the decorative stone with the packing material, and paved right over top. The paving abutted the flower pots too. Now we can never move them without leaving a completely raw edge of paving and stone. And, the paving is actually a bit higher than the pots. Still turns out to be an ankle buster!

We complained to the president of the condo board and she took it up with the management company. One night as we were eating dinner, we heard her talking to someone outside our front door. We went out to find she was talking to someone from the paving company. I talked to him about the covered decorative stone, the ankle busting angles on everything (our driveway slopes pretty strongly – more than most in the complex) and it is our personal liability, even though we have no control over this work. We talked about the flower pots, and how this walkway extended wider than the other. He didn’t believe some of what I said, so I got a bit angry. They wandered off down the road to look at other locations.

I heard talking again a while later, so I went out to apologize to him, telling him he caught me on a bad day. I said they had done a fantastic job on the roadways and curbs. We were only dissatisfied with not being told to move our pots, so we could level it all nicely, and try to make our walkway safer. He seemed to cheer up a bit when I apologized, and said he would do what he could. They have since come back and cut away some of the paving and we have filled the area with the stone again. However, the walkway paving is still an inch or so higher – still isn’t entirely safe in our view. With the narrowness of the walkway, and snow cover, it will be difficult to know when you might be walking too close to the edge.

We know God takes care of us, and our belongings. We dedicated our house to Him shortly after we moved in, and we had it blessed. Although we don’t have many visitors, we pray our visitors will remain safe when they walk along our driveway and walkway. We pray God will preserve the safety of all who use it.

Until next time, watch your step…