Is the walkway that leads visitors to your front door “welcoming” or is it a law suit waiting to happen?
Homeowners love to get “creative” when it comes to making decorative walkways and patios. What they often forget is to think about the safety of these surfaces. Combinations of interesting looking materials can result in conditions that could lead to trips and falls—-especially when trying to negotiate the walkway in the dark.
Ones first impression of the walkway in the picture below is, “Wow—-that is cool!” Well at least that is what I thought, when I saw it in the listing photos and couldn’t see the real details.
When faced with the task of actually using the walkway, one can imagine it might be better to have no walkway at all.
Watching the agent attempt to navigate the walkway and eventually giving up and walking along the side of the walkway was very telling as to its actual usefulness.
Walkways should be constructed with even surfaces—-and should not have trip hazards.
When it comes to creating safe walkways, form should follow function—-before entertaining ideas that are more “artsy-fartsy.”
Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING PHOTO OF THE WALK WAY– YES IT IS A TRIP HAZARD– AND I WOULD HAVE CALLED IT OUT IN A TACTFUL MANNER ( SO AS NOT TO OFFEND THE SELLER )
That’s supposed to be a walkway?? Really ?