Paving stones on the sidewalk suddenly uneven

Good evening dear forum participants,

About two months ago (so long before the onset of winter) I discovered a noticeable unevenness in the paving stones on the sidewalk directly in front of our house (if you stand facing the front door, it is on the right, just before the neighbor's house) - there are 2-3 rows across that are clearly uneven and not sunken, but quite the opposite, raised.

Unfortunately, this is not very clear in the pictures (in one photo I have practically marked the spot with my foot).

The question that now arises for me is, of course, what could have caused such a raising of the paving stones. Could it be caused by the underlying pipes that might be defective and somehow leaking liquids, which could have damaged the paved path? Although I would assume that if it were water, the ground would be soft and the paving stones would rather sink.

Other causes? Above all, I want to avoid that this could have any invisible causes that might cause damage to the facade/foundation of our house. Whether the sidewalk is a bit uneven or not does not really matter to me. Is there any way to find out without opening up the sidewalk?

The condition has not changed since those two months - neither worsened nor improved. The paving stones do not wobble but are as firmly fixed as always, just uneven.

Possibly important - we do not have a basement. On the side where the paving stones are uneven we have our kitchen on tiled flooring, so it could take a while before anything is noticed there... Nothing is visible on the insulation or facade.

I am at a loss.

Thank you very much in advance!

We also had the yard paved in the fall. I asked the foreman if the pavement could bulge in summer due to expansion, which he denied. He said that only happens in winter because the standing water between the stones freezes and therefore takes up more space. So you can assume that after the ice melts, normal conditions will prevail again...

Well, as I already said - the bulge, in my opinion, appeared even before there was any frost at all. It also did not really recede during the times when it was significantly warmer.

Hello,

is it a public path (owner municipality/city) or is the street private property (adjacent property owner)?

Theoretically, one can locate pipes above ground (accurate to about 20cm) or first check in the piping network to see where the water pipe(s) are and whether they might even be considered.

Damage could also be detected by increased water consumption, although I rather suspect here that the slabs are too close together (possibly missing expansion joint), causing them to push up in summer and not sink back in winter. When it gets warmer again, maybe tap them with a rubber hammer. In frost, the slabs might break because they are even harder then.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Suspect frost in it. Even if it had a few days above freezing, the frost is still in the ground.

In most cases, valve caps for water and gas can be found in front of every house. If any are present, they are visible, and underneath at a certain depth is the pipeline.

Gas, however, will not lift the ground, and if water leaks, based on your descriptions, it is expected to leak as well.

Since I cannot see the pictures on the phone, I tend to suspect frost.

However, I have never experienced pavement slabs being pushed up due to "expansion joints".....

It will not go back on its own either.

Good evening dear forum participants,

thank you very much for the information. Now I am a bit more relieved about it, but I have contacted the city again regarding the pipelines.

I have now photographed the clean sidewalk without snow. I think you can see it much better now.

Does this rather confirm the theory about water and frost?

What surprises me is that it only happened this summer. However, the street was already built in 2004.



This is a private road.

Can this whole thing be repaired cheaply by oneself?

Best regards,

Loleloler