Six stages. One clean grind.
A raised edge becomes a smooth walkway in six stages, and we do every one of them the same way, every time. It's written into our published specification, and it's why a CHS grind looks like it belongs there.
It starts with a tape measure, not a guess.
Every raised edge gets measured. A quarter inch is enough to catch a toe, so that is where our spec starts. Anything up to 2 inches gets ground. Anything over it gets replaced. No judgment calls, no surprises.
The scarifier takes the lip off fast.
On the big ones, a scarifier with its own vacuum chews through the raised concrete in minutes, capturing the dust as it goes. The heavy lifting is over before most residents notice we're there.
Sloped back at 1:8. Twice as gentle as the standard asks.
A 1-inch lip gets sloped back a full 8 inches. A half-inch lip, 4 inches. The ADA allows far steeper. We don't, because a gentle bevel is what makes the hazard disappear underfoot.
Then the hand grinder brings it to a finish.
A dry hand grinder with attached vacuum does the fine work: smoothing the bevel, evening the texture, taking out every ridge the scarifier left behind. This is the pass that separates a repair from a scar.
Squared off. Straight line. Nothing touched that didn't need to be.
The back of the grind is squared off so the edge reads as a clean line, not a smear. The slab on the far side of the joint is left exactly as we found it. The fresh surface is lighter at first and weathers in with the sidewalk around it.
Swept, checked, and gone.
The finished surface grips like the concrete around it, with the same coefficient of friction and no slick spots. We sweep up, haul out the dust, and move to the next one. What's left is a walkway that just works.
Stage 1 of 6
It starts with a tape measure, not a guess.
Every raised edge gets measured. A quarter inch is enough to catch a toe, so that is where our spec starts. Anything up to 2 inches gets ground. Anything over it gets replaced. No judgment calls, no surprises.
Stage 1
The scarifier takes the lip off fast.
On the big ones, a scarifier with its own vacuum chews through the raised concrete in minutes, capturing the dust as it goes. The heavy lifting is over before most residents notice we're there.
Stage 2
Sloped back at 1:8. Twice as gentle as the standard asks.
A 1-inch lip gets sloped back a full 8 inches. A half-inch lip, 4 inches. The ADA allows far steeper. We don't, because a gentle bevel is what makes the hazard disappear underfoot.
Stage 3
Then the hand grinder brings it to a finish.
A dry hand grinder with attached vacuum does the fine work: smoothing the bevel, evening the texture, taking out every ridge the scarifier left behind. This is the pass that separates a repair from a scar.
Stage 4
Squared off. Straight line. Nothing touched that didn't need to be.
The back of the grind is squared off so the edge reads as a clean line, not a smear. The slab on the far side of the joint is left exactly as we found it. The fresh surface is lighter at first and weathers in with the sidewalk around it.
Stage 5
Swept, checked, and gone.
The finished surface grips like the concrete around it, with the same coefficient of friction and no slick spots. We sweep up, haul out the dust, and move to the next one. What's left is a walkway that just works.
Stage 6
Same sidewalk. Different contractor.
Anyone can rent a grinder. Left: another contractor's work, with a ragged edge, scarring across the slab, and a lip that's still there. Right: a CHS grind. Straight back line, even bevel, the neighboring slab untouched. You can see the difference from the street. So can a resident's attorney.
- Sloped back at 1:8 or gentler, never a steep lip
- Squared off at the back for a clean, straight line
- The concrete on the other side of the joint is left alone
- Non-slip finish with the same traction as the surrounding concrete
The written standard
This isn't a sales page. It's our spec.
Every stage above is written into a one-page grinding specification you can drop straight into a bid package or reserve study. Hold us to it. It's also reproduced on the concrete grinding page.
Let's find out what stage one turns up.
Stage one is a free site survey. We walk the property, measure every raised edge, and send you a proposal your board can act on. Nothing starts until you say so.
Or call 714-292-6150