September 12, 201412 yr Parker Concrete in Florence. Right down the street from where I work.They did work for our company, did a great job.
September 12, 201412 yr .... Call Jerry Roth (female) at Janell Concrete. She is one of the owners, very nice, and tell her I told you to call her.
September 12, 201412 yr Author .... Call Jerry Roth (female) at Janell Concrete. She is one of the owners, very nice, and tell her I told you to call her. Do I have to spell your name to her?
September 12, 201412 yr Do I have to spell your name to her? supercalifragilisticMentschTrachtGottLachtexpialidocious
September 12, 201412 yr Yes Mrs. Roth, MentschTrachtGottLacht recommended you. I was hoping Clyde would use my real name....but the other would make the conversation much funnier.
September 12, 201412 yr First off, NOT King and Sons Concrete. They take shortcuts, they pour in weather conditions that aren't suitable for concrete, they don't put in proper control joints...they're no good. I know a lot of folks who have used them (against my recommendation) because they talk a good talk and their prices look better than many, but don't do it. Best recommendation I have for you: Albanese Concrete. They do fantastic work. I've seen a LOT of concrete work over the years, and their is the best. Probably does about 60/40 commercial concrete to residential work...I've seen their work on both types, and it's absolutely top notch. They're a little bit on the expensive side (most good concrete companies are), but that's kind of what you get when you're dealing with a company that does commercial concrete, because in order to do commercial work, you have to have the high end of concrete finishers...and those guys don't come cheap. Also, it's a really good family that owns the company too - they've sent their kids through St. Joe's Crescent Springs, Cov Cath and Notre Dame Academy. McD Concrete is another top notch outfit. They probably do 75/25 commercial to residential work, and again, you're going to pay a little more, but their work is quality. The owner, Chris, graduated from Covington Latin with my older brother in '93. Went through The Citadel and was in the Army for several years as well. He's currently a state representative, and apparently Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer just announced the other day that he's running for Governor with Chris running as his Lt. Governor. Politics notwithstanding, McD Concrete does great concrete work. I used them to do quite a few houses when I was still building, and I've done numerous commercial jobs with them. Kramer Concrete Construction, if they're still around, is a good contractor too (I haven't dealt with him in 8+ years). They're out of Alexandria, I believe. I started out in residential contraction. Built over 120 houses. For your money, he's a really good contractor. I probably had him pour the flatwork (slabs, driveways, sidewalks, porches) for 30+ of those houses. Don, the owner, can be a little tough to get ahold of, but he's a good guy. Any of those three - Albanese, McD, and Kramer - should gladly give you a free estimate on the work.
September 12, 201412 yr NJH Innovations....great guy! https://www.facebook.com/pages/NJH-Innovations/201445256555431
September 12, 201412 yr My recommendations for a few things to bear in mind when looking at replacing your driveway: 1) Consider pouring a 6" slab. It's essentially no more labor to pour than a 4" slab, but it will give you a MUCH stronger driveway. Your added cost for a 6" slab is in the cost of the concrete material. It's been a while since I've bought concrete in amounts as small as a driveway and/or sidewalks, but it should be somewhere around $100 per cubic yard of concrete. 1 square foot of 4" concrete slab equals 0.01235 cubic yards of concrete, and 1 square foot of 6" concrete slab equals 0.01852 cubic yards of concrete. If you can figure the square footage of your driveway, then you can use those numbers to figure out how many cubic yards of concrete it will take, and you can easily get an estimate from a ready-mix plant for your concrete. 2) Have the concrete reinforced with at least perimeter rebar and welded wire mesh. In addition, having them add in runs of rebar along the length of the driveway is even better. 3) Use air-entrained concrete for all exterior concrete work. This means when the ready-mix plant batches your concrete, they mix in a chemical that will react and create tiny air bubbles (tiny enough that you won't see them) in the concrete. These bubbles help protect the concrete from freeze/thaw damage, and spalling or scaling concrete. 4) Fan-finish on concrete looks really good, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, but broom finish, which is a little more plain, is better for it. There is some evidence to suggest that the way finishers work the concrete with their trowels when they make a fan-finish will work the water (which is supposed to hydrate out of the concrete through chemical reaction as it sets) back into the concrete, and thereby weakens the finish and can make it more prone to spalling/scaling. Broom finishing, which gives you a texture like you're looking for with the fan-finish, but less of a fancy look, is much better because it doesn't involve the kind of trowel work that the fan-finish does. FAN FINISH BROOM FINISH 5) Make sure they use a cure-and-seal on the concrete once they have finished the concrete surface. They should be doing it already, but always make sure they are. 6) Have them "dowel" the driveway concrete into any abutting concrete - your garage slab, the sidewalk along the street, the sidewalk going to your front door, etc. This means having them drill into the abutting concrete, and epoxy in 12"-16" metal rebar rods that will then extend into the new concrete slab. This helps lock everything together, and can prevent concrete settling issues. It's important...really important. And make sure they actually epoxy the dowels into the existing concrete instead of dry-fitting them. It makes a difference. 7) Discuss buying the concrete material directly. Your contractor may let you buy the concrete instead of him, in which case you can save on the mark-up that they would otherwise be adding on the concrete material. 8) Regardless of who buys, make sure your concrete is coming from a reputable ready-mix plant. Check with the BBB on that one if you can. Believe it or not, often times the condition of their concrete trucks are a decent indicator of their product. If they have nice, clean, well taken-care of trucks, chances are they take good care of making sure they put out good concrete from their plant. Drive by in the evening and have a look at the trucks they have sitting in their lot. In Northern Kentucky, I would work with All-Rite Ready Mix or Boone Ready Mix. 9) Make sure your control joints are put in properly. A 4-inch slab poured using small aggregate in the concrete mix should never have a span in any direction of greater than 8 feet without having control joints put in to relieve cracking in the slab, and if they use large aggregate in the concrete mix, then there should never be a span in any direction of more than 10 feet without a control joint. CONTROL JOINT SPACING 10) If the concrete is being poured in the summer, don't allow them to pour if the temperature is over 95° F. Period. And if you're pouring in colder months and there is ANY chance of temperature below 40° F, don't let them even think about pouring without seeing a stack of concrete insulation blankets in your yard waiting in case the temperature drops. (Concrete will warm up as it cures and those blankets keep that heat trapped beneath them, and help the concrete cure properly in cold conditions.) If the contractor has to use the blankets, make sure they leave them on the concrete for no less than 2 full days. I'd suggest 3 days. And if the temperature is expected to be below 20° F, don't pour. Period. 11) More cold-conditions info: often times they will prep and set forms for your driveway or sidewalk slab one day and then pour it the next. If the subgrade is ever left overnight in freezing conditions to the point where the ground freezes, then absolutely do not pour the slab until the subgrade has thawed COMPLETELY. There aren't any shortcuts here. If it means watching the forecast and calling off work because they are calling for freezing temperatures, then so be it. Pouring on frozen subgrade means it will eventually thaw out and buckle all of your brand new concrete. 12) Discuss who will be putting back the dirt dug out along the sides of the concrete. Contractors don't frequently figure yard repairs from demo, excavating equipment, or concrete truck tire ruts into their pricing. Depending on how your driveway is situated, they may have to do a surprising amount of damage to your yard in order to get your old driveway pulled out on and the new one poured. Discuss that with the concrete contractor. Most times you can get them to include the repairs in their pricing, and often times having them fix the ruts and push back the dirt with their equipment while they have it out there onsite will cost you less than having a landscaper come in later and do it. 13) Be at home when they pour your slabs. Take the day off and watch them. Be a pain in their collective butt when you see something you don't like. You are essentially setting things in stone when you pour a driveway or sidewalk. Make sure you're at home to see to it being done the way you want it to be. Edited September 12, 201412 yr by Colonels_Wear_Blue
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.