Concrete Contractors in Gainesville, FL

Gainesville is our home market, and concrete contractors here deal with a city that has grown in waves. Wikipedia lists 26,861 residents in 1950, 64,510 in 1970 and 141,085 at the 2020 census, with the metro area near 360,000. Each wave left its own kind of concrete behind: narrow ribbon drives and front steps near downtown, carports and patios from the postwar and university boom years, and wide two-car drives in the newer subdivisions on the west side. We pour new driveways, patios, walks, garage and shed slabs and decorative finishes, and we repair or replace concrete that has cracked, sunk or lifted.

Old neighborhoods, old concrete

The Northeast Gainesville Residential District, known locally as the Duckpond, was listed on the National Register in 1980 and counts 229 historic buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Pleasant Street Historic District, one of the city's early African American neighborhoods, followed in 1989 with 259 historic buildings. Homes in these areas often have front walks and porch steps that are older than anyone on the street, laid before modern mixes and reinforcement. When a walk here is broken or a stoop has pulled away from the porch, we look at how the original was laid out and match width, joint spacing and finish so the new piece looks like it belongs. If the work is in a locally designated district, we check with the city about any review the exterior change needs before scheduling.

Trees and concrete share the same ground

Gainesville has been a Tree City USA every year since 1982, and a 2016 assessment found tree canopy over 47 percent of the city's land. That shade is a big reason people love living here. It is also the most common reason we see driveways and walks heaved up in slabs and broken at the edges. Live oak and laurel oak roots run shallow in sandy soil and lift concrete as they grow. On a replacement, we talk through the options: routing a walk around a root zone, widening a joint, adjusting the base, or using a different layout so the new slab is not fighting the same tree. We do not cut major roots without talking to you first, because a damaged tree can become a bigger problem than a cracked walk.

Rain, sand and what lies under it

The city averages 48.31 inches of rain a year on about 114 rainy days, and summer storms can dump a lot of it in an hour. Water that runs off a roof and pools at the edge of a patio washes fine sand out from under the slab, and the corner drops. That is why we set pitch on every pour so water moves toward the yard or the street and away from the house, and why we look at where downspouts empty before we form. Alachua County's sinkhole fact sheet says sinkholes most commonly form in western and central parts of the county, where limestone sits under a thin cover of sand. In 2012 a Jeep fell into a sinkhole on Southwest 52nd Avenue. Most settling under a slab is ordinary soil movement, not a sinkhole, but if we see a sudden depression we will tell you to have a geologist or engineer look before anyone pours over it.

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Permits in the City of Gainesville

The city's Public Works page says driveway installation is permitted through the Building Inspection Department at the Thomas Center, 306 NE 6th Avenue, separately from Public Works. Work that digs in or blocks the public right-of-way, such as a driveway apron or a section of public sidewalk, can also need a Public Works right-of-way permit, and the city says a project is not legally complete until it passes a final Public Works inspection. We confirm which permits your job needs before we schedule. Florida law also requires anyone digging to call Sunshine 811 at least two full business days ahead, and we take care of that request before excavation.

What we do around Gainesville

• Driveways: tear-out and replacement, widening, new aprons and parking pads
• Patios: backyard slabs, patio extensions and screened porch floors
• Decorative concrete: stamped and colored finishes for patios and walks
• Walks and steps: front walks, side paths, stoops and porch steps
• Slabs: garage, shed, carport and equipment pads
• Repair and replacement: root-heaved sections, sunken corners, trip edges and failed steps

We work in every part of the city, from the student rentals around campus to the neighborhoods off Millhopper Road, Archer Road and Tower Road. Call (352) 558-2464 to set up a visit.