If your driveway is cracked, sinking or holding water, we'll pour a new slab on a packed base with joints planned for your cars.
Concrete driveway building in Portsmouth, VA means tearing out the old surface, getting the ground underneath ready and pouring a new slab planned for the cars you park, with joints and curing that help it hold up under daily use.
Most people call us when the old driveway has cracked, sunk along an edge or started holding water by the garage. A new one starts with breaking out what's there and readying the ground underneath, because a driveway is only as steady as what it rests on. Then we set the forms, pour, cut the joints and let it cure.
The price mostly comes down to the driveway's size, how much old concrete has to come out, how thick the slab needs to be for what you park and whether the work reaches the street. The schedule turns on the weather and on curing, the days a new slab needs to gain strength. I'll give you a price for your own driveway when I come out, and if a new patio or a stamped concrete border is on your list, we can look at that too.
Call (757) 731-7248 or use the form below, and we'll set a time for me to see the driveway. Please mention whether the work reaches the street, since that can bring in a city permit.
I come out myself, look at the old slab and where the water runs, and ask what you park on it, because your vehicles and any street work shape the design and the joint plan. You get a price for that design, and I'm glad to go over how I got there.
If you go ahead, I pull any permits, schedule the inspections and run the work with our own crew, from the dig-out to the pour. When a city right-of-way permit covers work at the street, that work runs from 7 A.M. to dusk on residential streets.
When the work is done, I walk the new driveway with you, go over how to look after it and tell you plainly when it's ready for your car. Thank you for your patience while it cures.
Most driveway trouble starts underneath, so we dig down to firm ground and pack the subgrade, the dirt the slab will rest on, instead of raking loose soil level and pouring over it. Before any forms go in, we check where the water runs and set the slab to fall away from your house and garage, so rain heads for the yard or the street.
On hot days we pour early, because concrete finished in midday heat can end up with a weak, dusty top. We give it a broom finish, a light texture dragged across the surface so tires and shoes grip when it's wet, and we cut the control joints, shallow grooves that tell the slab where to crack, on time instead of days later.
What a new driveway from us includes:
If the cracks are thin and the slab is still level, a repair can carry you a while longer, and I'll tell you so. When sections have sunk, water pools toward the house or the old slab was laid on loose dirt, a patch only covers the problem, because the cause is underneath. In that case a new driveway on a proper base is the better use of your money, and I'll explain why at the estimate.
Size and tear-out set most of the cost, as I mentioned above, but your choices add to it too. A stamped border or a wider entrance at the street each raise the price. When the budget is tight, I'd rather you keep the plain broom finish and spend on the base, because nobody sees the base on day one, yet a fancy top on a poor base cracks just the same and usually can't be fixed without tearing it out.
I learned concrete on a municipal crew, pouring sidewalks, curbs and steps to city standards, and I started Advantage Portsmouth Concrete in 2013 to bring that same discipline to people's homes. I come out to see the job and give the estimate myself, then run the work with our own crew, so the person who priced your driveway is there for the pour.
We keep trucks off your lawn where we can, protect what's beside the work and leave the site clean. I'd rather explain something twice than have you surprised later, so please ask me anything along the way. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. Thank you for considering us, and please call (757) 731-7248 when you're ready.
We take calls into the evening and on weekends, so please ring us about your driveway whenever it suits your day.
Tell us the rough size, what you park and whether the work reaches the street. We reply within one business day, and I'll come out for a free estimate with no obligation.
A concrete driveway in nearby Virginia Beach usually costs about $8 to $16 per square foot, and that's the going rate in the area, not a quote from us. Where yours lands depends on the size, the tear-out, the base work and the finish you choose. I'll give you a price for your own driveway when I come out to see it.
Some cracking comes with any concrete, but properly designed joints control it and keep it to a minimum. That's why the joint plan is worth asking any builder about, and why we plan ours around your vehicles and cut them on time, as described above. Industry guidance also calls for isolation joints, a soft break that lets the slabs move separately, where a driveway meets walks or curbs.
For passenger cars, planning often starts around a 4-inch slab. Heavier loads like a work truck or a boat trailer, or weak support under the slab, can call for a different design. That's why I ask what you park before I price anything, and I'll explain the thickness I recommend for yours.
Curing should start right after finishing and continue as long as the mix and the weather call for, so there isn't one number for every driveway. Plan to park on the street or elsewhere at first, and keep cars well off the new edges and corners, which are the easiest parts to damage early. Until I tell you it's ready, please go easy on those edges.
You'll need city permits if the project disturbs 2,500 square feet or more of ground or changes the city's right-of-way at the street. Portsmouth calls for a Land Disturbance Permit and an Erosion Control Plan on the larger digs, and a right-of-way permit for street work. Some lots also fall under Virginia's Chesapeake Bay rules, where a driveway in or across a Resource Protection Area, unless exempt, has to meet set conditions, including a finding by the city that there's no reasonable other route, and the city's Planning Department is the place to ask about those. When a permit is needed, we pull it and schedule the inspections, and if it isn't clear, we check with the local building office before work starts.
Ask the builder for their Virginia contractor license before you sign, because the state Board for Contractors licenses businesses that build or improve property owned by others. A state-licensed contractor also has to meet the licensing rules of each city where they work. We're licensed and insured, and I'm glad to show you our paperwork at the estimate.
We're based in Portsmouth and build driveways across the cities around it, including Norfolk and Chesapeake. Please choose your city below, or call us if yours isn't listed.
