Concrete Contractors in Kettering, OH

Kettering is the center of our service area, and the work concrete contractors do here centers on the pieces of a property people use every day: the driveway, the drive approach at the curb, the front walk, the back patio and the slab under the garage or shed. Kettering had 57,862 residents and 27,786 housing units at the 2020 census, and only 5.9 percent of those units stood vacant. That is a lot of concrete in daily use, and much of it has been in the ground for decades.

Why so much Kettering concrete is due at the same time

Van Buren Township voters chose to incorporate as the Village of Kettering in November 1952. By 1955 the village had 38,118 residents and became a city, and from the 1950s through the 1970s it added more than 30,000 people as families moved out of Dayton after World War II. Driveways, walks and patios from that era were poured within a few years of each other, so whole streets tend to reach the end of their service life together.

What we usually find on those older slabs:

• Driveways that have settled at the garage or the apron, leaving a lip that catches a mower or a snow shovel
• Front walks with heaved squares near old street trees
• Back patios that were poured small and now pitch toward the house instead of away from it
• Garage floors with spalled surfaces from years of road salt dripping off cars

The city's sidewalk, curb and drive approach program

The City of Kettering's Engineering Department states that property owners are responsible for the sidewalk, curbs and drive approaches next to their property. The city inspects a different section each year, with the goal of covering the whole city in 20 to 25 years, and inspectors mark squares that need replacing with white paint. Owners can make the repairs themselves through a contractor or accept the city's program.

If you hire a contractor, the city's page says the contractor must get a right-of-way construction permit, has 30 days to finish, must post a performance bond and show proof of insurance, and the work needs a final inspection by a city inspector. The City's right-of-way permit page lists driveway installations, sidewalks, curbs and gutters among the work that needs that permit, and says the contractor must obtain it before work begins. When you get a white-paint notice, we look at the marked squares, the approach and the curb, and we tell you exactly what the city marked and what else is close to failing.

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Matching the six services to Kettering homes

Concrete driveways. A full tear-out makes sense when a drive has several cracked panels, sunken sections and a broken approach. We remove the old slab, regrade and compact the base, and pour air-entrained concrete with control joints cut at the right spacing.

Sidewalks and steps. Replacing white-painted squares is one of the most common jobs in the city. Front stoops on older homes often pull away from the foundation, and we replace those with properly supported steps.

Concrete patios. Many Kettering backyards have a small original slab outside the back door. Enlarging it, or replacing it with a slab that sheds water away from the house, is a common request.

Stamped concrete. For a patio or a front walk on a street of brick ranches, a stamped pattern in a slate or ashlar texture adds detail without the upkeep of loose pavers.

Garage and shed slabs. Detached garages and backyard sheds need a slab with a thickened edge and a proper base. We check the setback and permit question with the city before we form anything.

Concrete repair and replacement. Not every crack means a full replacement. We tell you when a section can be cut out and replaced on its own and when the whole slab is past saving.

Winter is the real test here

Wikipedia's figures for Dayton's airport, next door, list a January mean of 27.5 degrees and about 25 inches of snow in an average season, mostly between November and March. Slabs here thaw in the afternoon sun and refreeze overnight again and again, while tires carry salt onto them. Exterior work gets an air-entrained mix and a surface pitched so water runs off instead of pooling, and once it has cured we recommend a penetrating sealer. For the first winter, keep rock salt off it entirely.

Two offices, two kinds of permit

On a driveway job, Kettering splits the paperwork. The City's residential construction page says a driveway extension needs a zoning permit only, which runs through Planning and Development (937-296-2441). Anything in the public right-of-way, such as a new apron, curb or sidewalk square, goes through the Engineering Department instead, and the contractor has to obtain that right-of-way permit before starting. A widening job that also changes the apron can involve both offices. We tell you which ones apply to your plan before anything is scheduled, and we build the timeline around the City's inspection.