Concrete Contractor in Fort Hunt, VA - Slabs Built on a Solid Base

Fort Hunt is in Fairfax County, and for properties under county jurisdiction, Fairfax County Land Development Services issues building and land disturbance permits. Which permit a job needs depends on its scope, and other county agencies can require their own approvals even when that office doesn't. We find out which office covers your address and handle the permit work for our part of the job, and if anything needs your signature, we tell you up front. To ask the county yourself, its main line is 703-FAIRFAX (703-324-7329), weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Yes, because Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses businesses that build, repair or improve on property someone else owns, and that covers whoever pours your driveway. The license has a class, which sets how large a job by dollar value the contractor can take on, and a classification, which sets the type of work. Fairfax County also asks contractors for that state license when they get their county business license, and contractors in the smallest class need a county Home Improvement Contractor license from Land Development Services. We're licensed and fully insured, and it's fair to ask any contractor you're comparing which class and classification they hold.

It can if your lot sits low, because Fairfax County says its shoreline along the tidal Potomac leaves several communities at risk. The county notes that unusual tides, tropical storms, nor'easters and even onshore winds can flood yards, streets and homes in low-lying parts of eastern Fairfax County. If your lot is in a floodplain, the county regulates work there, and some of it needs approval from Land Development Services or a special exception from the Board of Supervisors, so we check that before we plan the pour.

I can't give you a fair number until I've seen the driveway, because the tear-out and base work change a lot from one lot to the next. Your choices move it too. A broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes some grip, costs less than stamped or colored concrete, and a long driveway with a tight turn or a steep pitch takes more forming and labor. The free estimate gives you your own figure with everything included written down.

Usually about a week before you drive on it, and a day or two before you walk on it. That wait is curing, and concrete keeps gaining strength the whole time, so rushing it is how you get tire marks and early cracks. In summer we pour early in the day, because concrete that dries too fast in midday heat ends up with a weak, dusty top.

Most concrete cracks a little as it dries and shrinks, so the real goal is to make it crack where we choose instead of across the middle. We cut control joints, straight grooves that give the slab a weak line to crack along, and we cut them on time, because joints cut late show up after the crack already has. Rebar, steel bars set inside the slab, holds the pieces together if it does crack, and a packed base with good drainage keeps it from sinking unevenly in the first place.