Concrete that stays flat in Riverview

Why new Riverview lots move under a slab

Most of Riverview went up fast on ground that used to be pasture and flatwoods. A builder scrapes it, trucks in fill, spreads it, and the house goes on top. That fill is sand with whatever else came on the truck, and it does not settle the same everywhere. A driveway poured over a soft spot has nothing holding its middle up, so it hairlines first, then opens, then one side drops below the other and you can feel the lip with your foot.

So the base matters more here than the mix does. We dig out the soft ground, put back what should be there, and compact it in lifts instead of one thick layer that only packs down on top. Where a new pour meets the house or an existing drive, that joint gets attention, because two slabs that move at different speeds will crack at the seam no matter how good the concrete was. None of that shows up in a photo. All of it shows up around the third summer.

The other thing under a Riverview driveway is roots. Live oaks and laurel oaks got left standing when these subdivisions went in, and they were small then. They are not small now. A root running under a thin slab lifts it, and nothing you pour on top puts it back down. We look at what is growing near the work before we price it, and we will tell you plainly when a section has to come out instead of getting covered over.

• Soft fill dug out before anything gets poured
• Base compacted in lifts, never one thick layer
• Grade shot so water leaves the slab
• Joints cut where the slab wants to crack
• Roots and soft spots pointed out before you sign

What summer rain does to a flat lot

Riverview is flat, the water table sits close to the surface, and from June through September the afternoon storms drop more water in an hour than a yard can take. Nearly every subdivision here drains into a retention pond, and the ground between your slab and that pond stays soaked for a day after the sky clears. Concrete does not mind getting wet. What it minds is sitting on ground that stays saturated, because saturated sand moves, and a slab resting on it goes along for the ride.

That is why the fall on a pad matters as much as the thickness. A patio has to run water away from the house instead of holding it against the block, and a slab at a back door usually wants a step down at the edge so runoff does not track inside. We shoot the grade before the forms go in. Once the concrete is down, water goes where the slab tells it to go, and nothing you do later argues with that.

A customer put it this way in his review: "I highly recommend this company. Very professional in general. Jose responded all my questions and took the time to find a solution to resolve some terrain problems, then water can flow without any problems." Working out where the water goes is the part that gets skipped, because it happens before anything looks like progress. It takes a level and some time, and it is the difference between a pad you forget about and one you keep calling somebody about.

Older places out past the Alafia

Not all of Riverview is new. East and south of the Alafia there are older block houses on acreage, horse property, metal barns and carports poured a long time ago by whoever had a mixer that day. Those slabs are usually thin, laid straight on dirt with no base and no real edge, so they break up from the outside in. A patch on a slab like that holds until the next storm season. Taking it out and pouring it properly costs more once and then stops costing.

We do the demolition ourselves, which matters on a bigger lot, because a crew that breaks up a slab and leaves the rubble on your grass has handed you a second job. The old concrete comes out, the ground under it gets fixed rather than covered, and the new pour gets an edge that will not crumble the first time a truck runs over it. A pad for a barn or a piece of equipment gets the same base work as anything up at the house, since a tractor weighs more than a car.

Somebody nearby wrote this about a barn pad: "Did a great job on my concrete pad for my barn! Even ensured step downs so water doesn't seep in! Very professional and competent workers! AND reasonably priced! So thankful for Jose and the team!" Step downs on a barn pad are not a detail for the drawing. They are why the floor is dry after the kind of rain that comes through here sideways in August.

Getting a price in Riverview

Call (813) 812-1892 and tell us what you are looking at, or send the form on this page and we will set a time to walk it with you. The estimate is free and comes in writing, with the work broken out so you can see what is included and what is not. Phones and the crew run Monday to Saturday, 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM, closed Sunday, and the shop is in Tampa, a short drive up the road from Riverview. If a job needs something we do not do, we will tell you that instead of taking it on.