Concrete Contractors in Stinesville, IN

Stinesville is tiny, and that shapes what homeowners ask concrete contractors to do here. The town takes up about 0.11 square miles and counted 203 people in 2020, five more than in 2010. It dates to 1855, the year the New Albany and Salem Railroad reached the site, and it carries the name of the original landowner, Eusebius Stine. With that much history, most of the concrete here is old: front walks, porch steps and slabs poured long before current mixes and methods.

Why old concrete fails the way it does

Concrete poured decades ago was often made without air entrainment. Air entrainment puts tiny, evenly spaced bubbles in the mix that give freezing water room to expand. Without it, the surface of an outdoor slab tends to flake, pit and crumble after enough winters. Older walks also tend to be thin and unreinforced, and they were often laid right on the dirt with little or no stone base. So when we look at a Stinesville walk that has heaved and broken, the answer is usually to rebuild it properly rather than patch the top.

Steps you can trust

Porch and stoop steps on older homes take the most abuse and are the most dangerous when they fail. Common problems:

• Treads that slope toward the house and send water into the foundation
• Risers of uneven height that catch toes
• Steps that have pulled away from the porch or wall
• Crumbling edges where salt was used for years

We tear out failing steps, pour a new base and footing, and form steps with even risers and a slight pitch away from the house. A broom finish adds grip in wet and icy weather.

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Creek valley drainage

Jacks Defeat Creek and its valley lie along the town's west side, and the creek travels roughly a mile northeast to join Beanblossom Creek. Homes on the valley side collect runoff from the higher ground behind them. When we pour a drive or patio here, we check the fall across the whole lot so the new slab sheds water away from the house and does not block a natural drainage path.

Matching the character of the place

Five adjoining limestone storefronts at 8201 to 8237 West Main Street, put up between 1886 and 1894, form the Stinesville Commercial Historic District, added to the National Register in 1995. Stone is part of how the town looks. If you want new concrete that fits, a stamped cut-stone or ashlar pattern in warm gray or buff sits better next to old stone walls and foundations than plain gray.

Driveways and outbuildings

Even on small lots, a concrete parking pad or short driveway beats gravel that washes out into the street. For garages and sheds, we pour slabs with thickened edges and reinforcement. We keep these jobs tight and tidy, since narrow lots in older towns leave little room for a truck and equipment.

Working on narrow, old lots

Many Stinesville houses sit close to the street and close to each other, with walks and steps that were placed by hand decades ago. On lots like that, we plan the pour route before the estimate is final: whether the mixer can reach the forms from the street, whether we need a wheelbarrow or buggy run, and where broken-out concrete will sit until it is hauled away. Old walks often hide buried edging, roots or a former coal-chute opening near the foundation, so we probe before we commit to a layout. Call (812) 286-8782 to schedule a visit.