Concrete Contractor in Virginia Beach, VA - Driveways and Patios That Drain Right

The city's residential permit list doesn't name driveways or patios, so the answer for your job isn't on it, and the Permits & Inspections Division is the office that settles it, at 757-385-4211. That list does name foundation repairs, tearing out a structure and pools, so those jobs need a building permit. When it's unclear for your job, we ask that office before we start, and when a permit is needed we pull it, list ourselves as the responsible party and set up the inspections.

Yes, if your property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, the city requires a permit for any manmade change there, and that includes filling, grading, paving and digging. On a house in one of those areas, work under half the building's market value has to raise or flood-protect it as far as the city's inspectors find possible, and work at half or more has to meet the city's floodplain rules and the state building code. If you're not sure your lot is in one, we ask the permit office before any digging starts.

Your contractor needs a license from Virginia's Board for Contractors, in a class that covers the size of your job. Class C covers contracts under $10,000 and Class B under $120,000, each with a cap on its twelve-month total, Class A has no dollar limit, and the license's specialty sets what kind of work it covers. Any company working in Virginia Beach also has to register with the city for a business license, and we're licensed and insured.

Your price comes down to the size and thickness of the slab, how much old concrete and soft dirt has to come out, the base and drainage work the lot needs, and the finish you choose. A broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives shoes and tires grip, costs less than stamped or colored work, and a spot the truck can't reach adds labor. If the budget gets tight, I'd cut the fancy finish before the base, because nobody sees the base on day one but it's what keeps the slab from dropping with the dirt underneath.

You can usually walk on it within a few days, but cars wait a good while longer, and I'll give you the dates once your pour is set. That wait is curing, the stretch when concrete gains its strength, and loading it early is how edges chip and slabs crack. The tear-out and the pour go quickly, so most of your time without a driveway is that wait, plus any day we move the pour for rain.

Most cracking and sinking starts under the slab, with a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so it settles as the dirt does. Water with no path away, a pour in midday heat that leaves a weak, dusty top, and control joints, the shallow cuts that give a slab a straight place to crack, cut late or skipped all add to it. No slab is crack-proof, so we pack the base, slope it so water runs off and cut the joints on time, so cracks land in the lines we chose.