Concrete Services in Waukegan, IL

Which one do you need?

• Cracked or heaved driveway that has to come out: Concrete driveways
• Back yard with no usable flat ground: Concrete patios
• Want the look of stone or brick in one pour: Stamped concrete
• Lifted public walk or a trip hazard out front: Sidewalks & walkways
• Garage floor that holds water at the back wall: Garage slabs & aprons
• Crumbling front stoop or uneven steps: Steps & stoops
• Slab that settled but is otherwise sound: Concrete repair
• Concrete that just has to go: Concrete removal

Why concrete fails in Lake County

Lake County sits on clay that holds water instead of draining it, and the freeze-thaw cycle here runs from November into March. Add the salt that goes down after every storm and you have the three things that kill concrete. Slabs that survive are air-entrained, poured on a compacted stone base, pitched so water leaves, jointed on a proper grid, and kept off salt through their first winter.

• Freeze-thaw scaling. Water gets into the surface, freezes and lifts the top layer off in flakes. It comes from too much water in the mix, finishing while bleed water is still on the slab, or skipping the air entrainment exterior concrete needs here.
• Road salt damage. De-icing salt accelerates surface scaling badly. New concrete should not see salt through its first winter and should be sealed before the second.
• Slabs poured on clay. Most cracked driveways in this county went down on disturbed clay with no compacted stone under them. Clay holds water, water freezes, the slab lifts.
• Control joints cut late or shallow. Concrete is going to crack. Joints decide where. Cut at the wrong depth or a day late and the slab picks its own line across the middle.
• Water pitched toward the house. A patio or walk sloping the wrong way puts water against the foundation every time it rains and freezes there in January.
• Settled and heaved sections. Where the slab is sound but has dropped, lifting or a single section replacement costs a fraction of a full tear-out.