Concrete contractor in Semmes, AL - driveways and slabs on a packed base
Quickset Mobile Concrete Company is a concrete contractor based in Mobile, and we build driveways, patios, shop floors and foundations for homeowners and businesses in Semmes.
Concrete work for Semmes homes and lots
Semmes runs as its own city with its own council, out northwest of Mobile, and the calls we get there run from long driveways off county roads to shop slabs behind the house and patios in newer subdivisions. The city's online services list permitting and building projects. Out in unincorporated Mobile County, the county's Inspection Services Department issues permits for almost any work, and a driveway apron in the county's right of way, the strip along the road, also needs the county's right-of-way permit. Before we start, we check with the office that covers your address, and we handle the permit paperwork when the job needs one.
The base work here is the same work we do in Mobile and across the bay in Fairhope. Your price moves with the size of the job, how much soft dirt has to come out and whether old concrete has to be broken up and hauled off. The schedule turns on the weather and the cure, which is the wait before you walk or drive on new concrete so it can gain strength. Your written estimate spells out what's included and what isn't. On these lots the dirt can change from sandy to clay inside one yard, so if a budget has to give, I'd go with a plain broom finish, the brushed texture that gives tires and feet grip, before I'd skimp on the base, because you can dress up a slab later but you can't fix what's under it without tearing it out.
What we pour and build in Semmes
Concrete driveway building
Much of what we pour in Semmes is long driveways, where one soft spot in the base turns into a sinking strip years later.
Concrete patio construction
Newer houses in Semmes often come with a small builder's slab out back, and we pour patios that tie into it and slope water away from the door.
Stamped concrete services
Homeowners here with room out back often want stamped concrete patterned like stone, and we pack the base hard because a crack shows through the pattern.
Concrete sidewalk building
A walk from the driveway to the front door is a small job, but on a yard that holds water we set it high enough to stay dry.
Garage floor concrete
When a garage floor has cracked and sunk, we break it out, repack the base and slope the new floor toward the door so wash water runs out.
Decorative concrete
Color, stain and scored patterns dress up entries on newer houses here, and we plan the cut lines into the design so cracks hide in them.
Concrete retaining walls
Where a yard drops toward a ditch or a neighbor's lot, a concrete wall holds the dirt, and the drain behind it matters as much as the wall.
Concrete floor installation
Shops and barns on bigger Semmes lots carry trucks, tractors and tools, so we size the slab and the rebar, the steel inside it, for that weight.
Concrete pool decks
Pool decks in back yards here need a textured surface that grips wet feet and a slope that carries splash water away from the pool and the house.
Concrete steps construction
Steps up to a raised porch take a pounding, so we set new concrete steps on their own footing to keep them from pulling away from the house.
Slab foundation building
New houses and additions keep going up on Semmes lots, and a slab foundation is where we're pickiest about the dirt underneath and where the water goes.
Foundation installation
For a house or shop here, we build the foundation from footings to slab, and we don't pour until the forms are square and the ground is firm.
Concrete parking lot building
Churches, shops and small businesses along Moffett Road need lots that take daily traffic, so we build those with a thicker slab over a heavier base.
Concrete footings
A carport, porch addition or new block wall sits on concrete footings, and we dig them down to firm, undisturbed dirt before we pour.
Foundation raising
When an older slab has sunk or tilted, raising it back to level often costs less than a teardown, if the concrete itself is still sound.
Concrete cutting
We saw-cut old concrete to widen a driveway or open a trench, with clean, straight lines so the new pour meets the old one neatly.
Does your Semmes driveway or patio need a look?
Water under a slab causes most of what we fix, and you can look up your own address on the state's AlabamaFlood tool to see whether it sits in a mapped floodplain.
- Cracks that keep getting wider
- Water pooling on the surface
- One section sinking or tilting
- A trip lip between sections
- Dirt washing out under edges
- Chipping or a dusty, flaking top
If you see one of these, call or send the form and I'll come look, because the cause usually tells us whether it's a fix or a new slab.
Fix the old slab or pour new?
On most Semmes jobs the answer comes from what's underneath, because a sound base can carry a repaired slab, and a failed base usually breaks any new top laid over it.
When fixing it works
If the cracks are narrow and the slab is still mostly level, sealing the cracks or lifting a sunken section back into place usually does the job. The ground under an older slab has already settled, so a sound slab often has plenty of use left in it.
When new concrete makes sense
If the slab is broken into pieces, keeps sinking or sends water toward your house, patching only buys a little time. We tear it out, fix the base and the drainage underneath and pour new, so the new slab isn't sitting on the same problem.
What Semmes ground asks of a slab
I come out to look at your job and write the estimate myself, then run our crew on site, so the person who bid it is there when it's poured.
Base dug out, not raked
We dig out soft dirt and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because that's what decides whether it settles.
Water sent away from the house
Before we set forms we check where your yard's water runs, so the slab falls away from the house, not toward it.
Poured in the cool of morning
We schedule pours early instead of in midday heat, because concrete that dries too fast ends up with a weak, dusty top.
Joints cut where cracks belong
We cut control joints, grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack, before it cracks on its own somewhere else.
Fully licensed and insured
The state requires a Home Builders Licensure Board license on paid home work over $10,000, so ask every bidder for theirs.
Get a look at your Semmes slab
Call (251) 219-6382 any day of the week until 9 PM and tell me what you're seeing, so I can bring the right questions when I come out.
Don't see your city? Call us
Your city may have its own page below, and if it doesn't, call (251) 219-6382 and ask, because we work in more cities than the ones listed here.