Concrete Driveway Installation Houston, TX

Some driveways can be repaired. Others have reached the point where patching only buys a year. A new driveway is usually the better investment when you see any of these:

• Cracks wider than a pencil that run across several panels, especially with one side higher than the other
• Panels that tilt toward the garage, so rain runs back toward the slab foundation
• A hollow sound when you tap the surface, a sign the base has washed out underneath
• Water that ponds near the garage door after every storm
• An approach that has dropped away from the curb, leaving a lip your car scrapes on
• A drive too narrow for two cars or with no room to turn around

Most of the Houston area sits on Beaumont and Lake Charles clay, a soil that changes volume as it gains and loses moisture. A slab on top of that clay rides the movement. You cannot stop clay from moving, but you can reduce how much the slab feels it and control how the slab responds.

That starts with the subgrade. We strip organic topsoil and roots, cut to grade, and compact the native soil so it is uniform. Then we place a base layer, typically several inches of crushed limestone or select fill, compacted in liftsCompactionMechanically pressing soil or aggregate to make it dense and stable so it does not settle later. rather than dumped and leveled in one pass. Uniform support means the slab bends less when the clay shifts.

Inside the slab, rebar on chairs holds the concrete together after it cracks. Rebar does not stop cracks; it keeps them tight and keeps panels from separating vertically. Slab thickness, typically in the 4 to 6 inch range for residential drives, is matched to the vehicles that will use it. Control jointsControl jointA groove cut or tooled into concrete so that cracks, which are expected, form in a straight, planned line. cut to about a quarter of the slab depth give the concrete planned places to crack, in straight lines, instead of random ones.

Here is how a driveway job runs from the first visit to the final walk.

1. 1Site visit: a Home Scout walks the property, measures, checks the garage slab elevation, and looks at where water goes in a storm.
2. 2Itemized proposal: demolition, base, reinforcement, concrete, finish, and any drainage appear as separate lines.
3. 3Permits and locates: we handle the city permit when the approach crosses the right-of-way and call 811 before digging.
4. 4Demolition and excavation: old concrete is broken out and hauled off, and the subgrade is cut to depth.
5. 5Base and forms: base is compacted in lifts, forms are set to the planned pitch, and isolation material goes against the garage slab and curb.
6. 6Steel: rebar is tied in a grid, set on chairs, and doweled into the existing garage slab or street approach where the design calls for it.
7. 7Pour and finish: concrete is placed, screeded, floated, and given a broom finish across the slope for traction.
8. 8Joints and cure: control joints are cut on schedule, and the slab is cured with a curing compound or kept damp.
9. 9Walkthrough: we come back 72 hours after completion to walk the job with you.

A broom finish is the standard for good reason: it gives tires and shoes grip in the rain and hides minor wear. A smooth trowel finish gets slick when wet.

If you want more character, exposed aggregate shows the stone in the mix and holds up well to traffic. Stamped concrete can run along the borders or across the whole drive, though a fully stamped driveway needs a sealer you will maintain. A colored border band around a broom field is a middle path that adds definition without much upkeep.

Need more parking? A side pad or wider apron can be poured with the new drive, or added later with a driveway extension matched to what you have.

Every driveway is priced from its own measurements and site, so we do not publish a per-square-foot rate. These are the factors that move the number:

For a rough range before anyone visits, use our ballpark price tool. Financing is available for projects from $5,000 to $250,000, subject to approval; details are on our financing page.

• Square footage and slab thickness
• Demolition and haul-off of the old drive
• How much the grade has to change and how much base is needed
• Rebar layout and doweling into existing slabs
• Access for the concrete truck, or the need for a pump
• Finish, color, and decorative borders
• Drainage additions such as a trench drainChannel drainA long, narrow grated drain set into paving to catch sheet flow along an edge, such as at a garage door or patio edge. at the garage
• City permits for work in the right-of-way, plus HOA approval

The failures we see on Houston driveways tend to repeat. Concrete poured on unprepared clay with a thin layer of loose sand under it. Wire mesh that ended up flat on the ground because nobody pulled it up during the pour. Joints spaced too far apart, or cut too shallow, so the slab cracked between them anyway.

Grade mistakes are the costly ones. A driveway that pitches toward the garage sends water under the door every storm.

A driveway project is the easiest time to fix drainage around it, because the ground is already open. Catch basin installation at a low corner or a trench drain at the garage keeps water off the slab. A concrete walkway from the drive to the front door can be poured the same week so the finishes match.

If only a few panels of your current drive are failing, concrete repair may be enough for now. If the whole slab needs to go, driveway replacement covers the tear-out and rebuild in concrete or pavers.

We have built in Houston since 2016. As a concrete contractor in Houston, we keep every trade on one team: the crew that compacts your base finishes the slab.

A Home Scout visits your property before any proposal is written. The proposal is itemized, and our price-what-we-quote guarantee means no surprise charges. Your driveway is covered by our structural warranty on hardscape. Start with a free discovery call at (832) 304-7007; the on-site consultation carries a $150 work scope fee that is credited to your project if you move forward.