Footings and slabs for whatever is going on top
Garage floors, shop pads, addition foundations and equipment pads. Residential and commercial.
Footings carry the building
A footing is the widened base that spreads a wall's load out over enough soil that the ground can take it. Get it wrong and the building tells you, in cracked brick, doors that stop closing and a floor that is no longer level.
Depth is set by the frost line and by code, width by the load above. In Mecklenburg and Union County that means an inspection before any concrete is poured, and the inspector wants to see the trench, the depth and the steel. That inspection is a good thing. It is a second set of eyes on the part of the job nobody will ever see again.
Concrete footings and foundations are both listed on our Google profile, and a customer describes us building the foundation for a new addition and calls the finishing on the slab top notch.
Garage floors and shop pads
A garage floor takes point loads a house floor never sees: a jack stand, a lift post, a loaded trailer tongue. It normally wants more thickness than a patio and reinforcement sized for what is going on it, and it wants to be told about the lift before it is poured rather than after.
It also wants a slope to the door. A dead flat garage floor holds the water that runs off your car every time it rains, and in a shop it holds whatever gets spilled. A modest fall to the opening takes it outside on its own.
Two customers on our profile describe exactly this work: a 1,600 square foot garage floor, and a pad for a shop finished clean with no mess left behind.
Vapor barrier, and why an interior slab is different
Any slab that will have a floor covering, a heated space, or stored goods on it goes over a vapor barrier: sheet polyethylene over the compacted stone, lapped and sealed. Without it the slab wicks ground moisture up through itself for its entire life, and that moisture is what lifts glued flooring, blisters epoxy and grows mold under a stored mattress.
It is cheap, it takes an hour, and it cannot be added later. Every retrofit for a missing vapor barrier is a bad, expensive version of a thing that should have been a roll of plastic.
Pads for the things that sit in the yard
Generator pads, hot tub pads, shed and outbuilding pads, HVAC pads, mailbox and post bases. Small pours, and the two that go wrong are the ones where the load was underestimated and the ones where nobody thought about how water would leave.
A hot tub full of water and people is a serious point load. A generator is a heavy vibrating one. Neither belongs on a four inch slab poured on loose fill because it looked big enough.
Working to somebody else's schedule
On an addition or a new build the concrete sits between the excavator and the framer, and everybody after us is waiting on the cure. That means showing up on the day, pouring on the day, and telling the builder straight away if weather is going to move it.
A general contractor on our Google profile describes working with us across several projects and calls us an indispensable partner. That is the part of commercial and builder work that actually matters: being where we said, on the day we said.
Not sure this is the work you need?
What 21 homeowners said
Every quote below is a real review, word for word, from our Google profile.
At the recommendation of our neighbor we used Ivan and company @ I.V Concrete Services to have a much needed driveway installed. The guys were on time, maintained an open line of communication with us throughout the process and did an absolutely phenomenal job. This is by far the best looking concrete work I have ever had done.
I am very happy with the work that IV Concrete services provided. They were able to complete a massive driveway within only 2 days. Very good finish and didn't skimp out on material thickness. Ivan is great to work with. Very reasonable prices for the work provided.
They did a fantastic job to help decide on the right solution for two walkways that are at declines at different heights. They then poured the concrete the way it was specified with the higher strength concrete mix. Grading was done very well on a sloped lot and areas of water were identified for the right runoff to ensure longevity and mitigate any erosion. Price was very competitive over other bids.
They arrived on time, communicated clearly about the process, and took the time to understand exactly what I wanted. The quality of their work exceeded my expectations. The concrete was smooth, perfectly poured, and looks fantastic. Not only was the job completed quickly, but the attention to detail really stood out.
Hired IV Concrete to do a pad for a shop. Awesome work, great finish, great job overall. Left no mess behind, extremely clean job. Ivan is a pleasure to work with. Cant wait to work with him again in the future!
If you need concrete work done, this gentleman did what he said for the price we agreed and completed job on time. Owner is a perfectionist as well as honest and humble.
Think you have a problem up there? We will look at it, free.
For a footing or a foundation, almost always yes, and it will need an inspection before the pour. For a freestanding pad it depends on the size and the county. We will tell you what your job needs. We do not pour a footing that should have been inspected and was not.
Yes. That is a common one here, and it needs the anchor bolt or post layout in hand before the forms go up, because moving a bolt afterwards means drilling and epoxy rather than a placement.
Four inches is common for cars only. Five or six inches with heavier reinforcement if you are putting a lift in, working on trucks, or storing equipment. Tell us what is going on the floor before we pour it and you get the right slab the first time.
Yes. Residential and commercial are both on our Google profile and we work with general contractors on multi property jobs.
We photograph the work and show you. If slabs and foundations is not what you actually need, we say so and quote the work that is.
We cover concrete driveways, patios and stamped concrete, slabs and foundations, sidewalks and walkways, concrete repairs and leveling and concrete cutting and removal. Every one of them has its own page with what is included.
Get a free onsite estimate.
Tell us what you need poured. We come out, look at the ground, and give you a real number.