Concrete Contractors in Evansdale, IA

Evansdale was created over water. Residents of the Home Acres and River Forest area shared a drainage problem, formed the Home Acres Improvement Association, and voted 205 to 106 to incorporate in November 1947. Concrete contractors in Evansdale still begin every driveway, patio or walk with the question those neighbors were asking: where will the water go?

A postwar housing stock

Point2Homes' summary of Census estimates counts 605 Evansdale homes from the 1940s and 532 from the 1950s, more than half of the city's 2,220 units, and puts the median year built at 1959. Concrete poured in that period was often thinner than today's, set on whatever soil was on site, and usually mixed without entrained air. Seventy-odd years later it shows. On older Evansdale lots we commonly find:

• Driveways with a dip where rain sits after every storm.
• Patios that fall toward the house instead of away.
• Walk panels pushed up by roots or frost.
• Garage floors split by a crack running from the door to the back wall.

Getting the pitch right

A slab that looks flat should not be. Driveways and patios need a steady fall so water runs off instead of sitting in joints, freezing and prying panels apart. When we replace a slab in Evansdale, we:

• Break out the old concrete and probe the soil for soft or wet spots.
• Bring in crushed stone and compact it so the new slab has firm footing.
• Set the forms with an even pitch away from the foundation.
• Decide where the runoff ends up: the street, a swale in the lawn or a gravel strip.

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Pieces poured years apart

Point2Homes counts 1,836 single detached houses among the 2,220 units and puts owner occupancy at 60.8 percent. A typical lot has one driveway, one front walk, maybe a patio and a detached garage or shed, and those pieces were often poured years apart. We look at them as a set, because a new driveway that ends up higher than the old walk leaves a trip edge and a new place for water to collect.

Near the Cedar River

Wikipedia notes that the old Elk Run Hotel in Evansdale faced the Cedar River, and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail has a trailhead in town. On lower ground the soil stays wet longer in spring, which is exactly when a poorly drained base gives way. On those lots we put down a deeper layer of crushed stone, keep slabs well below door thresholds, and make sure downspouts discharge where the water can get away from the slab.

The newer half of town

Not all of Evansdale is postwar. Point2Homes counts 344 homes from the 1970s, 237 from the 1990s and 196 from 2000 to 2009. A 1970s driveway is about fifty years old and usually ready for replacement. Concrete from the 1990s and 2000s is more often a sealing job: clean and fill the joints, seal the cracks before they let water reach the base, and replace a settled garage apron before it drops further. Wikipedia shows the city at 4,561 residents in 2020, slightly down from 4,751 in 2010, so most work here is on existing houses, not new construction.

Front steps on 1940s and 1950s houses

Steps on houses from those decades have often pulled away from the foundation or crumbled at the front edge. We rebuild them in poured concrete on a footing below frost, with a top landing deep enough to open the storm door without stepping back down.

Garage and shed floors at the back of the lot

When an old detached garage floor fails, we break it out, check whether the soil under it stays wet, and pour a new slab on a drained base, thickened at the edges where the walls bear. If the building is staying, we work around it carefully. If it is being replaced too, we pour first and set anchor bolts where the framer needs them. Setbacks and any permit needs are checked with the city before work starts.

Call (319) 481-5867 or send a photo of the problem spot, and we will set a time to see it in person.