Concrete Contractors in Kettering, OH

We are concrete contractors in Kettering, Ohio, and most of what we pour replaces concrete that has already done a long shift. Wikipedia calls Kettering the most populous suburb in the Dayton metro, and it got there fast: the city added more than 30,000 residents from the 1950s to the 1970s, and its population went from 54,462 in 1960 to 69,599 in 1970. Plenty of driveways, front walks and back patios from that boom are still in place, and a lot of them are tired.

The age of Kettering concrete

American Community Survey numbers summarized by Point2Homes put the median year a Kettering home was built at 1961. About 31.5% of homes date from the 1950s and 24.5% from the 1960s, while only around 4% were built after 2000. Concrete from those decades may have gone down thinner than today's work, on little gravel, and without the air-entrained mixes now standard for outdoor slabs. After 60 winters, that shows up as:

• Driveways cracked into separate plates that rock or tilt
• Front walks heaved by tree roots from mature street and yard trees
• Steps that have pulled away from the house or flaked on every tread
• Patios that slope back toward the foundation
• Garage aprons broken where the driveway meets the garage floor

Why Ohio winters are hard on concrete

Dayton airport records, as summarized on Wikipedia, show January highs around 37 degrees and lows near 22, with about 23 inches of snow in a normal season. In practice that means many days when snowmelt seeps into the surface in the afternoon and freezes again after dark. Water expands as it freezes, and the surface paste takes the strain every time. Road salt carried up the drive on tires speeds that up, and the top layer starts to scale. What holds up here:

• Air entrainment. Tiny, evenly spaced air voids in the mix act as relief space when trapped water freezes.
• A drained gravel base, compacted in place, so water does not sit under the slab.
• Thickness matched to the load, with steel where the soil or the use calls for it.
• Joints on a planned grid, so shrinkage cracks land where we put them.
• Patience. A real cure, then a penetrating sealer once the slab is about a month old.

Sidewalks, curbs and the City

Kettering has rules many homeowners only learn about when white paint shows up on their sidewalk. According to the City of Kettering, property owners are responsible for the sidewalk, curb and drive approach next to their property. The Engineering Department runs a yearly sidewalk and curb repair program, inspecting each part of the city on a cycle of roughly 20 to 25 years and marking sections that need replacement with white paint. Owners can let the City's contractor do the work and pay for it, or hire their own contractor, who must get a right-of-way construction permit and pass a final City inspection. We explain those options on our sidewalks and steps page.

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From the curb to the back fence

Driveways come out and go back in on a new base, get widened, or get a new apron and approach. Patios are built new, replaced or extended. Stamped concrete adds pattern and color to patios, walks and borders. Sidewalks and steps cover the front walk, the public squares at the street and poured stoops. Garage and shed slabs give a building a flat, reinforced floor. Repair and replacement covers crack sealing, leveling, resurfacing and swapping out the sections that cannot be saved.

Fix it or start over?

A cracked slab is not automatically a lost slab. HomeGuide's leveling and resurfacing guides treat a sound slab that has sunk, or one with light flaking and cracks under about a quarter inch, as a repair candidate. Wide cracks, heavy spalling and crumbling point to replacement, and so does any repair that would need more than 2 inches of new material on top. We look at the base and the cause before recommending either, because a patch over a washed-out base usually fails again.

Permits we check for

The City of Kettering's residential construction page says a driveway extension needs a zoning permit, and work on the apron or curb in the public right-of-way also needs a permit from the Engineering Department. Sheds under 200 square feet need a zoning permit only. For patios and other jobs, we check with the City before we schedule. The suburbs around Kettering each have their own rules, and we look those up for every job outside city limits.

What the estimate covers

We measure, check slope and drainage, probe the old base and note any trees close to the work. The written quote breaks out removal and hauling, base, thickness, reinforcement and finish, then the total. It also says how long the job takes and when the new concrete can carry foot traffic, a car and a coat of sealer. Call (937) 884-4704 or send the form to book a visit.

Kettering is the center of our service area, from the Oakwood and Dayton line on the north to Centerville and Washington Township on the south, with Moraine and West Carrollton to the west and Beavercreek to the east. We also take jobs in Miami Township, Miamisburg, Springboro, Franklin, Germantown, Lebanon, Bellbrook, Sugarcreek Township, Riverside, Huber Heights, Fairborn, Xenia, Vandalia, Englewood and Trotwood. The housing changes as you go. Many of Oakwood's homes are pre-war, most of Kettering's are from the 1950s and 1960s, and Springboro and Beavercreek added thousands of homes after 2000, while most new building around Bellbrook now happens in Sugarcreek Township. Each city and township sets its own permit rules, and we check them before we schedule.