Garage Floor Concrete in Norfolk VA - a floor built on a solid, packed base
Cracked, sinking or dusty garage floor? We dig out, pack a firm base and pour a new slab built to carry your cars.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What goes into a new garage floor in Norfolk?
Garage floor concrete in Norfolk is a new slab poured on a packed base, either in a new garage or in place of a cracked, sinking old floor, and it gives you a solid, even surface for cars, tools and storage. Garage slabs here run at the thicker end of what's normal for home floors, and the part you'll plan your life around is the cure, which takes a lot longer than the pour.
Most people call because the old floor has cracked across, dropped near the door or started chipping and leaving dust on everything, and when a floor sinks, the cause is usually underneath, in a base that was never dug out and packed. The price moves with the size of the garage, whether an old slab has to be broken out and hauled off, whether the floor gets steel in it and which finish you pick. The schedule turns on the tear-out, the weather on pour day and how long you can keep the cars out while the new floor cures, and the written estimate spells out the prep, the pour and what you'll need to plan around for your garage.
How we pour garage floor concrete
If there's an old floor, we break it out and haul it away first, then dig out the soft soil and pack the subgrade, which is the ground the slab sits on, because a floor that settles is usually a base problem. We check where the water runs and set the floor to fall toward the door, so a wet car or a hard rain drains out instead of toward the house. We pour in the cooler part of the day, since a slab placed in midday heat can end up with a weak, dusty top, then finish it and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight line to crack along instead of a random one. After that we keep the new concrete moist so it hardens the way it should, and we help you plan where the cars and heavy stuff will go while it cures. If the budget's tight, I'd rather spend it on the base than the surface, because you can redo a finish later but you can't fix a base without tearing the floor out.
Some garage jobs connect to other work. If you want color or a pattern on the floor or the apron outside, that's decorative concrete. If the garage sits into a slope and dirt keeps washing down beside the driveway, concrete retaining walls can hold it back before it ends up against the door.
Smooth troweled finish
A hard-troweled floor is smooth and wears well, so it suits a garage where you work on the car, roll a creeper or sweep a lot. It can get slick when it's wet, which matters if the door stays open to the rain.
Broom finish
A broom finish is a light texture dragged across the surface for grip, and it's the better pick for any part that gets soaked and then freezes. It doesn't wear as well as a troweled floor, so it makes the most sense near the door where the water comes in.
Call (757) 731-7228 sooner rather than later if a crack keeps widening, a section is dropping near the door or water pools inside, because a failing base usually gets worse.
What happens after you call us about a garage floor?
Here's how a garage floor job runs with us, from the first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step along the way.
Call or send the form
You reach us by phone or the contact form, and we set a time for me to come out to the house. If you have photos of the cracks or the low spots, those help too.
I look the garage over
I'm usually the one who comes out, and I measure, check the ground and the drainage, and ask a lot about how you use the garage. What you park, what heavy stuff lives there and where the water goes all change the plan.
You get a written estimate
The estimate spells out the prep, the pour and anything you'll need to plan around, so you can see what the money covers before you decide. If the job needs a permit or inspection, we handle that part.
We pour, then walk it
Our own crew does the work, with me on site for the pour and the tricky parts. I walk the finished floor with you before we call it done, and it's backed by our promise of satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Get a written estimate for your garage floor
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, measure and write up the estimate for free at your property, with no pressure and no obligation to book.
(757) 731-7228Garage floor concrete in Norfolk: permits and wet ground
Whether a new garage floor needs a permit in Norfolk isn't settled by the city's own list. The city issues permits for work that needs new framing or opens up existing framing, and its list of work that needs no permit names driveways and floor coverings but not garage floors. So before we start, we ask, and you can ask about your own project by reaching the city's Building Permits and Reviews team at planreviewpermits@norfolk.gov or 757-664-6565.
The city says the chance of flooding is real for everyone in Norfolk, from the coast and from heavy rain, so I look at where water runs around the door before we plan the slab. We see the same low, wet lots on jobs in Portsmouth and Chesapeake, and we work in the cities around Norfolk on both sides of the state line.
Garage floor questions we hear in Norfolk
How much does a new concrete garage floor cost in Norfolk, VA?
A concrete slab in Norfolk usually costs about $6 to $12 per square foot, and that's the going rate in the area, not our price. That usual range leaves out staining or stamping, and if an old floor is there, tearing it out is added on top. Your own figure comes in the written estimate after I've seen the garage.
How long does new concrete need before I can park in the garage?
A new slab should be walkable within 48 hours, and to be safe you may want to wait a week before putting a car or other heavy load on it. It takes a month to fully cure, and outside and ground temperatures, humidity, wind, slab thickness and the mix all change how fast that goes, so plan somewhere else for the cars at least until that first week is up.
Who should pull the permit for a garage floor in Norfolk?
The city highly recommends that the contractor you hire pull the permit and be listed as the responsible party. If you do the work yourself and pull it, you also submit an affidavit accepting responsibility for everything done under that permit. When your job needs one, we pull it in our name and set up the inspections.
What causes cracks in a new concrete garage floor?
Most cracking in home concrete comes from the slab shrinking as it dries and from temperature changes, and since concrete is fairly weak when it's pulled apart, some cracking is normal in most slabs. What you can ask any crew is how they plan for it. The steps we take for that are laid out above.
Does a concrete garage floor need rebar?
Not every garage floor does, since slabs are poured both reinforced and unreinforced, and the choice comes down to what you park, what you store and the ground under it. Rebar is steel set inside the slab to hold it together if it cracks, and a reinforced floor costs more per square foot. I'll tell you which way I'd go and why once I've seen the garage.
What license does a concrete contractor need in Virginia?
Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses businesses that build, repair or improve on property owned by someone else, and each license carries a class for the size of the project and a specialty for the kind of work. A Class C contractor, for example, can take a single contract over $1,000 and under $30,000, so it's fair to ask which class a contractor holds. We're licensed and insured.
Related concrete work around your garage
If plain gray isn't what you want for a garage or the walk to it, color, stain or a stamped pattern can give the concrete a finished look.
When a garage is cut into a slope, a concrete wall can hold the soil back so it stops sliding toward the driveway and the door.
Tell us about your garage floor
Call (757) 731-7228, email office@concretenorfolk.com or use the contact form with the garage's size and whether an old slab has to come out, so I show up already thinking about the tear-out and the base.