Concrete contractor in Othello, WA - slabs built on a packed base

A lot of the cracking and sinking we see on Othello driveways and patios starts at the edge where a lawn gets watered right up to the concrete. That water works its way under the slab and softens the subgrade, which is the dirt and gravel the slab sits on, and once that gives, the concrete settles with it and breaks. We dig out the soft stuff, bring in gravel and pack it in layers, and we set the grade so sprinkler water and runoff head for the yard instead of under the slab or toward your foundation.

Older slabs here were often poured on dirt that was raked level, not packed, and plenty have few control joints, the grooves cut into fresh concrete so it cracks along a straight line we picked instead of across the middle. We cut ours the day of the pour, before the concrete decides for itself.

In Othello, building permits come from the city's Building & Planning Department at City Hall, and they cover new construction plus alterations and additions to existing buildings. The city's code holds both the building and the digging for it until that permit is issued, so on a foundation, a slab for a new shop or footings for an addition, the permit sets our start date. The city's list doesn't name driveways or patios one way or the other, so before I price your job I check with that office, and when a permit's needed we handle the application or help you with yours. Whoever you hire, ask if they're licensed and insured, and we're fully licensed and insured. The price moves with the size and thickness of the slab, how much old concrete and soft dirt has to come out, and the finish you pick, while the schedule turns on any permit and on how long the concrete has to cure before you use it.

We're based in Moses Lake, so Othello is a short run down the highway for our crew and the ready-mix trucks, and I time those trucks so the concrete shows up workable instead of sitting in the drum. We pour the same kinds of jobs up in Ephrata and over in Quincy, along with other cities around the area, so the crew you get in Othello is the same crew that does all our work.

Othello mixes older houses on the blocks near downtown with newer subdivisions out on the edges, plus the shops, warehouses and farm businesses that keep the city working. On the older blocks we're mostly replacing tired driveways, steps and walks, and on the newer lots it's patios, shop slabs and driveways that need widening.

It's the same kind of work we do back home in Moses Lake, but each lot sets its own job. An older house usually means tear-out and a base that was never packed, while a new build usually means fresh fill dirt that has to be compacted before anything goes on top of it.