Driveways

A driveway carries loads nothing else on your property does. Cars, delivery trucks, and the occasional dumpster all sit on it, and it takes the worst of a New England winter every year. We build driveways to handle that. We use thicker slabs, steel reinforcement, and a base prepared for the weight.

We pour both stamped and plain concrete driveways, and both are popular. Plenty of customers want the decorative finish. Plenty want a clean, durable plain slab. We do either.

This is where a driveway differs from every other slab on your property.

6 to 8 inches thick. Roughly double what we pour for a patio or pool deck. Concrete fails under repeated loading when it's too thin, and a driveway takes that loading every day for decades.

Rebar reinforcement. Steel throughout the slab, which holds the concrete together under load and controls how it behaves as it moves.

Prepared base. Compacted gravel underneath, because the slab is only as stable as what it sits on. Poor base preparation is the most common reason driveways fail early, and it's invisible once the concrete is down — which is why it's worth asking every contractor you get a quote from what they're putting underneath.

Control joints placed to manage where the slab cracks as it cures and moves through freeze-thaw cycles. Every concrete slab cracks. Joint placement is how you decide where.

Stamped or plain?

Both are common on driveways, and it's genuinely a preference rather than a quality difference.

Cobblestone is the most popular stamped pattern on driveways. It reads well at the scale of a driveway and suits most house styles.

We can also do a stamped border with a plain field — a decorative band around the edges with a plain finish in the middle. Very few customers ask for it, but it's available and it's worth knowing about if you like the look of stamped work but want to keep the budget down.

Winter Care

This is the part most contractors skip, and it's the difference between a driveway that looks good in ten years and one that doesn't.

Never use rock salt or standard ice melt on concrete. It's the fastest way to destroy the surface, and it will void most sealer warranties.

Use Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) instead. It's widely available, it's safe on concrete, and it does the job. It costs more than rock salt. It costs a great deal less than replacing a driveway.

Don't plow it. A plow blade dropped on stamped concrete will scrape and gouge the surface. A snowblower is fine as long as the housing isn't riding on the concrete. If you use a plow service, tell them it's stamped concrete and ask them to keep the blade up — or find a service that will.

Reseal every two years. A driveway takes more wear than a patio, and the sealer is what stands between the surface and everything above it.

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Pool Decks - Patios - Walkways & Steps