Concrete driveway building in Apopka FL - a drive that sheds rain and holds up

Most people call me when the old drive has cracked, dropped or started holding water, or when a new house or addition needs one. The price mostly moves with the size of the drive, whether old concrete has to come out first, how much work the ground needs before we pour and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the weather, the permit question for your address and the days the slab needs to cure before you can drive on it. Your estimate gives you your own figure and spells out what it covers, and if you're thinking about a back yard slab too, our concrete patio work can be planned in the same visit.

First I settle the finish with you, before we build any forms, because a broom finish, the light ridged texture that gives tires and shoes grip in the rain, and a decorative surface need different planning. Then we dig down to firm ground, pack the subgrade, which is the soil the slab sits on, and grade the base so rain runs off the drive and away from the house instead of sitting on it. We set the forms and any steel the job calls for, since rebar holds the slab together if it does crack, then pour and finish. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the concrete a planned place to crack as it shrinks, so the cracks don't pick their own spots. After the pour we keep the slab covered and damp while it cures, which is the slow hardening that gives it strength, and we'll tell you when it's ready to drive on. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather you go plainer on the finish than cut back on the base, because nobody sees the base on day one, but it decides whether the drive stays flat.

A new drive often makes the rest of the yard look tired. If you want somewhere to sit out back, we handle concrete patio construction with the same ground prep, and if you'd like a pattern or color on the drive itself, that's part of our stamped concrete services.

Apopka requires a building permit to build, enlarge, alter, remove, demolish or repair a structure, but its list of examples names fences, garages, signs and additions, not driveways. That leaves the question open for a driveway, so if you're wondering about your own, the City of Apopka is the place to ask. On our jobs, we check with the city or county building office that covers your address before we start, and when a permit is needed we file it as the licensed contractor and keep you posted. If the work reaches toward the street or changes how storm water drains, the city's Engineering Division is the office that handles excavation permits, right-of-way permits and drainage reviews. We're based in Apopka and work in the cities around it across the Orlando area, so we know which office to call for most addresses.

The ground here is mostly sand, and sandy soil in Central Florida can need extra packing or reinforcement before it makes a stable base. We see the same loose ground on jobs in Ocoee and Winter Garden, so we pack it in layers and check it before any forms go in, and we grade it with our summer storms in mind.