I pour flat concrete that finishes dirt work. Driveway aprons where the drive meets the road, inlet pads and grate boxes set into a swale, culvert headwalls and mitered ends, and flat slabs for sheds, equipment, generators, AC units and mow strips. That is the whole list, and the exclusions are printed further down this page in plain sight. If what you need is the compacted dirt under a house slab, that is a building pad, and your slab contractor pours on top of what I build.
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What I pour
Four things, and all four are flatwork tied to dirt work I am already doing.
Driveway aprons. The transition where your drive meets the pavement. That first eight feet takes more abuse than the rest of the drive combined, because every vehicle turns on it, brakes on it and drags mud across it. It is also the piece that keeps limerock from migrating out into the road.
Concrete inlet pads and grate boxes. A poured pad with a galvanized grate, set into the low point of a swale and tied to a pipe run. This is the one people are most surprised I do, and it is the one that matters most, because the box is only as good as the grade running into it.
Culvert headwalls and mitered ends. The finished ends on a pipe, so the ends do not blow out, the ditch keeps its shape and nothing is left sitting in air after two wet seasons.
Flat slabs. Shed slabs, equipment slabs, generator pads, bulk tank pads, AC pads, mow strips, and a pad for a container or a carport. Flat, on grade, on compacted dirt I put down.
What I do not pour
This list is on the page on purpose, and it stays on the page.
I do not pour house slabs. I do not pour monolithic foundations, stem walls or structural footings. I do not build retaining walls. I do not do decorative or stamped work. I do not pour pool decks.
All of those go to a licensed concrete or building contractor, and the reason is not modesty. Those are structural or specialty scopes, they carry different responsibilities, and the person who takes them on should be the person whose license and insurance are written for them.
If you need a pad for a house, this is how it works. I build the dirt pad, strip the organic material out of it, place clean fill in lifts, compact each lift, and shoot it to grade with the laser. Your slab contractor pours on top of it. That split is normal, it is how most of these jobs actually run, and it means the two people involved are each doing the thing they do every day.
Why flatwork tied to dirt work is a different product
Almost all concrete failure on the jobs I get called to look at is a dirt failure wearing a concrete costume.
A slab cracks because something under it moved. An apron breaks up because the base was never compacted and the first loaded truck found it. A grate box sits proud of the swale and the water runs past it, so somebody assumes the box is wrong when the grade is wrong. Headwall ends undercut because nothing was compacted behind them.
When the dirt and the flatwork are two separate purchases, that is also two separate people, and when it fails they point at each other. I have watched that argument more than once and nobody in it enjoys the outcome.
On my jobs the subgrade and the pour are the same person's responsibility. There is nobody to point at, which is worth something on the day it matters and is the reason this page exists at all.
What actually goes under a slab
The concrete is the part you see and the smaller part of whether it lasts.
Strip the organic material. Roots, grass and topsoil under a slab rot out and leave a void. Same rule as a building pad and for exactly the same reason.
Compacted base. Clean fill or limerock, placed and compacted, thick enough for what is going on top. A generator pad and a shed slab and an apron a concrete truck will roll across are three different answers, and the answer is set by the load, not by the square footage.
Drainage before the pour. A slab in a low spot with water standing against it will not last regardless of the mix. If the grade around it is wrong, I would rather fix the grade first than pour into a puddle, and I will say so on the walk.
Reinforcement. Fiber, mesh or bar, depending on what it is and what runs on it. This is a real decision and not an upsell, and I will tell you what I think yours needs and why.
Thickness and edges. Thickened at the edge where equipment tracks on and off. A four inch slab with a feathered edge is a slab with a chipped edge coming.
Joints. Concrete cracks. That is not a defect, it is what it does. Control joints decide where, which is the whole point of putting them in. A slab with no joints does not crack less, it just cracks where it feels like it.
Curing, and staying off it
The single most common way a good pour gets ruined is somebody driving on it early.
Rule of thumb is about a week before a passenger vehicle and longer for anything heavy, and it moves with the mix, the weather and the thickness. Florida heat is not the friend it sounds like: hot, dry and windy pulls water out of the surface too fast and gives you a weak skin that dusts and scales later. A pour in July gets treated differently than a pour in January.
When I pour yours, I will give you a date, not a rule of thumb. Write it on the calendar and tell whoever else is coming to the property that week, because the person who ruins a new apron is usually not the owner. It is a delivery truck.
What it costs
I price flatwork after I have walked it, and the number I write down holds unless you change the scope.
I do not publish a square foot price, and the honest reason is that the concrete is the predictable half of the number and the dirt under it is not. Two identical shed slabs, one on firm ridge sand and one where eighteen inches of organic ground has to come out and be replaced first, are not the same job and never will be. A square foot price would be padding the first one.
What I will do instead is give you a real number the same day. Send me the town, the dimensions, what is going on it, and a photo of the spot. You get a number back, not a callback promise.
What makes it cheaper: firm ground, good access for a concrete truck, a simple rectangle, dry season, and pouring it while I am already on your property doing the dirt.
What makes it more: bad ground that has to come out, a long chute run or a pump because a truck cannot get close, an odd shape, tying into existing concrete, breaking out and removing what is there now, and heavy reinforcement for equipment loads.
Good fit for me, and what to call somebody else about
Good fit
driveway aprons, inlet pads and grate boxes, culvert headwalls and mitered ends, shed and carport slabs, container pads, equipment, generator, bulk tank and AC pads, mow strips, small commercial pad replacement, and curb and apron repair. Best value when it is bought with the dirt work it belongs to.
Call somebody else for
house slabs, monolithic foundations, stem walls and structural footings. Retaining walls. Decorative, stamped, stained or exposed aggregate work. Pool decks. Sidewalks in a public right of way, which have their own requirements. Anything an engineer has to design and stamp. Large commercial slabs, meaning anything that needs a pump truck and a finishing crew. Pavers and hardscape, which is an adjacent trade and not this one.
All of that goes to a licensed concrete or building contractor, and I will tell you that on the phone in two minutes rather than waste your week. When a pour is bigger than one man should be finishing on his own, I bring in finishers I have worked with for years and I stay the one accountable for it.
What usually comes next
Questions I get
What concrete do you actually pour?
Driveway aprons where the drive meets the road, concrete inlet pads and grate boxes set into a swale, culvert headwalls and mitered ends, and flat slabs for sheds, equipment, generators and AC units. All of it is flatwork tied to dirt work I am already doing, which means one person is responsible for the subgrade and the pour and there is nobody to point at if it cracks.
Will you pour my house slab or my foundation?
No. House slabs, monolithic foundations, stem walls, structural footings, retaining walls, decorative and stamped work and pool decks all go to a licensed concrete or building contractor. If you need a pad for a house, I build the dirt pad and compact it and your slab contractor pours on it.
How long before I can drive on a new apron?
Rule of thumb is a week for a passenger vehicle and longer for anything heavy, and it depends on the mix, the weather and the thickness. I will tell you the date rather than the rule of thumb when I pour yours. Driving on it early is the single most common way a good apron gets ruined.
Will it crack?
Eventually, somewhere, yes. Concrete shrinks as it cures and it cracks. What decides whether that is a non-event or a problem is where the crack goes, and that is what control joints are for. A slab with proper joints cracks in the joints, where you cannot see it and it does not matter. A slab with no joints cracks across the middle. Anybody who tells you their concrete will never crack is either new or selling.
Does my slab need mesh or rebar?
Depends on what it is and what runs on it. A mow strip and a slab a tractor parks on are not the same decision. Fiber in the mix, welded wire mesh, or bar on chairs are all real answers for different loads, and the wrong one is either wasted money or a slab that fails early. I will tell you what I think yours needs and why, and you are welcome to ask somebody else the same question.
Can you replace a slab or an apron that has broken up?
Yes, and that is a good chunk of the flatwork I do. Break it out, haul it off, look hard at why it failed, fix the base or the drainage that caused it, and pour it back. That middle step is the one that gets skipped when the removal and the pour are bought from different people, which is how the same slab gets replaced twice.
Can you do the apron at the same time as my driveway?
That is the best way to buy it. The apron is the last eight feet of a driveway job and the first eight feet a truck touches, and it is the piece that keeps your limerock out of the road. Doing it in the same booking means one mobilization and one person responsible for how the rock ties into the concrete. See driveways and access roads.
Tell me what you need poured
Call (352) 932-3653, or send the form. Tell me the town, the dimensions, what is going on it, and how close a concrete truck can get. A photo of the spot is worth more than a description.
Free estimate, on site, no pressure. If what you are describing is a house slab or a foundation, I will say so on the phone and point you at somebody who does that work, which is a two minute call instead of a wasted week.
Free estimateCall (352) 932-3653