Concrete Contractors in Athens, GA

Athens is our home market, and the work we do as concrete contractors here covers the whole consolidated city-county. Athens and Clarke County unified their governments in 1991, and the 2020 census counted 127,315 residents on roughly 116 square miles of land. That takes in student rentals near campus, older houses on the in-town historic streets, and newer neighborhoods out toward the county line. We pour new driveways, patios, walks and steps, garage and shed slabs, and we repair or replace concrete that has cracked, sunk or scaled.

Hills change how a slab is built

Wikipedia notes that Athens sits on a series of hills typical of the Piedmont, at about 636 feet. On a sloped lot, a driveway is rarely a flat rectangle. It needs a planned grade from garage to street, and sometimes a turnaround or a short retaining edge where the yard falls away. Patios on hillside lots often need more base on the low side, or a step-down, to stay level. We shoot grades before we quote, so the estimate reflects the real amount of fill, forming and concrete the site needs.

Red clay underneath

The red clay subsoil common across the Georgia Piedmont, like the Cecil series the USDA describes, is firm when dry and slick when wet. It does not drain fast, so water that gets under a slab can sit and soften the base. We strip topsoil and roots, compact a stone base, and pitch every surface so rain leaves the slab instead of soaking in at the edges. Downspouts get attention too, because a gutter that dumps onto the edge of a driveway will undermine it over time.

A mild winter, with real freezes

Athens averages only about 2.9 inches of snow a year, but the city still sees freezing nights from about November 5 to March 24, around 48 days a year at or below 32 degrees. Summers are the bigger factor on pour day: the record high is 109 degrees, set on June 29, 2012. In July and August we schedule early-morning pours, keep the subgrade damp, and cure the surface properly so it does not dry too fast and craze.

Get a Free Estimate

Historic districts and permits

Athens-Clarke County lists 15 local historic districts, including Cobbham, Boulevard, Dearing Street, Milledge Avenue, Reese Street and Woodlawn. The county's preservation guide says exterior changes that alter a property in these districts generally need a Certificate of Appropriateness before work starts. If your house is in one, we plan walks, steps and driveways with that review in mind and leave time for it in the schedule.

Outside the districts, Athens-Clarke County Transportation and Public Works takes residential driveway permit applications and right-of-way applications, and they are submitted digitally. If your driveway apron or a walk reaches the public right-of-way, we help you get that paperwork in before we form anything.

What we pour in Athens

• Driveways: tear-out and replacement, widening, new aprons and parking pads
• Patios: broom-finish and decorative patios, including hillside patios with steps
• Stamped concrete: patterned and colored patios and walks
• Sidewalks and steps: front walks, side paths, stoops and porch steps
• Slabs: garage floors, shed pads and equipment slabs
• Repair: cracked panels, trip edges, sunken sections and failed steps

Call (706) 995-6616 to set up a visit anywhere in Athens-Clarke County.