Tear-out and pouring
Concrete driveways.
Old drive out, base rebuilt, new drive poured. On this soil the base matters more than the mix, and rebuilding it is why the new one lasts.
Tear-out
Base rebuild
Forming
Reinforcement
Pour and finish
Approach and culvert
Cracked driveways are a soil problem wearing a concrete costume.
Gulf Coast clay moves with the weather. It swells in the wet and shrinks in the dry, and a slab sitting straight on it goes along for the ride. That is why so many Houston-area driveways crack in the same places, and why pouring a new slab on the old base usually buys you a few years rather than a few decades.
We break out the old drive, rebuild the base properly, form and reinforce, then pour and finish. Where the approach ties into a county ditch we set the culvert at the same time so the new drive is not undermined from the side.
Included in the scope
Tear-out
The old drive broken out and hauled away, including the parts under the grass.
Base rebuild
Base replaced and compacted rather than reused, which is where the life of the slab comes from.
Forming
Formed to line and grade, with falls that shed water away from the house.
Reinforcement
Rebar or mesh tied to suit the loads the drive will actually take.
Pour and finish
Poured, finished and jointed so the cracks go where we put them.
Approach and culvert
Culvert and roadside approach handled in the same visit where the drive meets a ditch.
Concrete driveways, on real jobs.
Every photograph below is a KGW site. Click any of them to see it full size.
Questions
What people ask before they call.
Can you pour over my existing driveway?
We would rather not. An overlay inherits every problem in the slab underneath, and on this soil that is usually a movement problem that comes straight back through.
How long before I can drive on it?
Normally about a week for cars, longer for anything heavy. We will give you the timing for your pour and the weather at the time.
Tell us about the site.
Two ways in, depending on how far along you are. Either one reaches the office in Crosby, not a call centre.