On Saturday, October 25, 2014 4:47:21 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
(Please, don't tell me to have me or a contractor put in a new sidewalk
unless you're willing to pay for it. Anyhow, this is more an
intellectual** question than it is a search for construction advice )

**Dirt is as intellectual as I get.

When a quality cement/sidewalk pourer puts a sidewalk in, does he make a
real effort to have the ground underneath flat and horizontal?

The ground underneath my sidewalk was and is very uneven and the two
squares I've lifted up vary in thickness from 2" to 4", sometimes in the
space of 8 inches.


The base doesn't have to be perfectly flat, some small variation is normal,
but 2" to 4" is a lot more than normal. One obvious problem, you use a lot
more concrete in the 4" thicker sections, but still wind up with only 2" in other places, which are going to be the weak links.