Cracked, uneven floor or a new room to finish? We pour a flat, sound slab with the right layer under it for your covering.
Concrete floor installation in Portsmouth means placing a new concrete slab that serves as your finished floor or as the base for tile, wood, vinyl or a coating, and when it's done well it gives that covering a flat, sound surface to sit on.
Most of the floor calls we get are for an addition, a workshop or sunroom, or an old floor that has cracked, sunk in spots or started to chip. It's the same careful work we put into concrete pool decks and concrete steps, with one more thing to watch indoors, which is keeping moisture away from whatever goes on top.
The price depends mostly on the floor's size and on what the ground and the old floor need before we pour. The schedule depends on getting the room ready and on how long your next trade has to wait while the slab cures. I'll give you an estimate for your own floor once I've seen it.
Please call (757) 731-7248 or use the form, and tell us roughly how big the floor is and what's going on top of it. We'll set a time for me to come see the space.
I come out myself, look over the room and what's there now, and ask how you'll use the floor. You get an estimate for your floor, and I'm glad to explain how I arrived at it.
If you go ahead, I run the job with our own crew and take care of any permits and inspections it needs. When it's done, we walk the floor together, and I go over how it keeps curing so you can plan the rest of your project.
Before we set any forms, we ask what covering or coating is going on top, since that decides what we put under the slab. Then we dig out and pack the subgrade, which is the soil the slab sits on. We don't just rake it level, because a floor poured on loose dirt settles along with it.
Once the concrete is down, curing begins. That's the slow hardening that happens while the slab holds on to its water. Keeping new concrete from drying out too fast helps it harden, lowers the chance of cracking and helps it last, so I'll tell you how we plan to hold that moisture in. We also cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight place to crack. We cut them while the concrete is still young, because late joints leave cracks wherever the slab chooses.
What a concrete floor job includes:
If the old floor is mostly sound and only has hairline cracks or a few chipped spots, a repair or a thin overlay is usually the better buy, because the slab underneath is still doing its job. If the floor has sunk, broken into pieces that move, or keeps lifting the covering you put on it, I'd replace it. Anything laid over a failing slab fails with it. I'll tell you which one I think your floor needs once I've seen it.
Size is the starting point. After that, it comes down to whether an old slab has to be broken out and hauled away, how much digging and packing the base needs, and what goes under the slab for your covering. Rebar, the steel that helps a slab carry weight and hold together if it cracks, costs a little more than a plain pad. If something has to give, please trim the finish before the base. The base is hidden on day one, but it's what keeps a floor flat.
I learned concrete on a municipal crew, where we explained our work to the people living next to it. I've run Advantage Portsmouth Concrete the same way since 2013. We protect your floors, walls and doorways on the way in, keep the work area tidy and keep you posted on the schedule. I'd rather explain something twice than have you surprised later. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Calling early lets us plan the slab and its curing time around your other trades, so please have the floor's size and planned covering handy.
Please tell us the floor's size, the covering or coating you plan and your dates. We reply within one business day, and I'll come out and give you a free estimate with no obligation.
Concrete slab work in Norfolk, right next door, usually costs about $6 to $12 per square foot. That's what the local market charges for slab work, not our price. The cost of your own floor depends on its size, the base and what goes under it, so I'll price it once I've seen the space.
A floor that will get a covering or coating usually has a vapor retarder under it, which is a layer that slows moisture coming up from the ground. Industry guidance says it protects coverings best when the concrete sits right on it. Concrete poured that way settles and shrinks more than it does on a draining base, though, so the pour takes extra care. We'll weigh that with you based on the covering you've picked.
A new slab should be walkable within 48 hours, but full curing takes about a month, 28 to 30 days. The floor keeps curing for weeks after you can stand on it, so plan your flooring and other trades around that month. Waiting a week before moving heavier items back onto it is the safe choice.
Your contractor should hold a license from Virginia's Board for Contractors, which licenses businesses that build or improve property owned by others. The license class sets how large a contract the business can take on, and its specialty sets the type of work. A Class C license, for example, covers a single job over $1,000 and under $30,000, so you can compare your quote with the class on the license. Portsmouth confirms contractor licenses with the state, and when the construction work tops $25,000 the city also asks for a City of Portsmouth business license. We're licensed and insured.
Some floor jobs need one, and the city's Building Inspection Division is the office that enforces Virginia's building code on construction, alteration, replacement and repair work. When your job needs a permit, we pull it and schedule the inspections ourselves, and if it isn't clear, we check with the building office before work starts. If you'd like to ask yourself, Portsmouth Permits & Inspections takes questions by email or at 757-393-8531.
Clear the room down to the old floor and leave an open path from the street, because the concrete has to travel from the truck to the room by chute, wheelbarrow or pump. We'll talk on site about which route works and what we'll protect along the way. Please keep pets and children out of the room until the slab is walkable.
We're based in Portsmouth and do the same floor work in many cities around it, including Norfolk and Chesapeake. Pick your area below, or call us if yours isn't listed.
