About Concrete Contractors Waterloo
Concrete Contractors Waterloo handles residential flatwork in Waterloo and the Cedar Valley. That covers driveways, backyard patios, stamped and colored surfaces, front walks and steps, garage and shed floors, and the repair or full replacement of slabs that have sunk, cracked or lost their top layer.
Two local problems behind most failed slabs
The first is the weather. Wikipedia's climate figures for Waterloo put the January normal at 18.5°F, list an all-time low of 34 below zero, and give average snowfall of a bit over 35 inches. Wet concrete freezes and thaws over and over between November and April, and street salt rides in on every tire. The second is age. Point2Homes, summarizing Census estimates, puts the median Waterloo home at 1962, and nearly half the city's housing went up before 1960. A lot of the concrete in town was poured long before air-entrained mixes and proper bases were routine.
Questions worth asking any concrete contractor
Whoever you hire, these answers tell you more than the bottom line does:
- How thick will the slab be, and how deep is the stone base under it?
- Is the mix air-entrained for freeze-thaw?
- Where will the joints go, and how deep are they cut?
- Which way will water run off the finished slab?
- How will it be cured, and when can I walk, drive and seal it?
- Who checks whether the city wants a permit for the approach or public walk?
Our written estimates answer each of these line by line, so you can hold other quotes up against ours.