Access and Haul Distance on a Narrow Lot
I priced a Kanawha City backyard patio last year where the concrete truck couldn’t get within eighty feet of the […]
Costs & Hiring
Costs & Hiring
Hiring a Concrete Contractor: The Questions That Matter
A Loudon Heights homeowner asked me last fall to look over a contract before she signed it, and the concrete
Costs & Hiring
Getting Three Comparable Concrete Bids
An Edgewood homeowner emailed me four bids for a 500 square foot patio and asked why they ranged from $6,400
Costs & Hiring
What a Concrete Quote Should Itemize
A homeowner in South Hills sent me three quotes last month, all for the same 600 square foot driveway, and
Driveways & Aprons
The Apron and the Street: Who Owns What
A Dunbar homeowner called me last spring after the town cited her for a settled apron — the strip of
Slabs & Flatwork
Rebar, Mesh or Fiber: What Each Actually Does
A pour in Cross Lanes had welded wire mesh specified for a garage slab addition, and when I got there
Coatings & Finishes
Sealing Concrete: When It Helps and When It Does Not
A customer in Kanawha City wanted her new driveway sealed the week after the pour, before the first hard freeze
Cracks & Repair
Slabjacking and Polyurethane Lifting
A walkway slab in North Charleston had dropped almost two inches at one corner, low enough that water pooled against
Cracks & Repair
When a Slab Can Be Repaired and When It Has to Come Out
A patio slab in St Albans had three cracks I’d been asked to fix twice already — once with a
Cracks & Repair
Replacing Versus Resurfacing a Driveway
A homeowner in Edgewood called me about what she kept calling “just a resurfacing job” — a broom-finished driveway from