Concrete driveways, steps and repair in Blair
Old houses up on the bluffs over the Missouri, steep lots, and plenty of concrete older than anyone living in them.
Concrete work in Blair, Nebraska
Blair sits on the bluffs above the Missouri, about half an hour north of Omaha, and it has some of the oldest houses we work on. The streets climbing up from Highway 30 toward the old Dana College campus have homes from the 1880s through the 1920s, and a lot of the concrete around them is original or close to it.
In town it's driveway replacement, rebuilding front steps and stoops, sidewalks and garage floors. Outside town it's longer driveways, shop floors and equipment pads. Blair is the north end of our area, so we try to bunch jobs up here. Calling a little ahead of when you need it usually gets you a better date.
Bluff lots, old steps and the frost line
On the bluffs, concrete is mostly about water. Where the driveway sheds, whether the low corner has somewhere to drain, whether the walk should be steps instead of a ramp. Water that gets under a slab here softens the ground, and that's what causes all those sunk corners in the older neighborhoods.
Steps are the classic Blair job. So many houses sit above the street that long runs of front steps are just part of the town, and a lot of them were poured on shallow footings a hundred years ago. Every winter the frost gets under them and lifts them a bit, and every spring they settle back a little differently. Eighty years of that and no two steps are the same height. We rebuild them on footings below the frost line, about 42 inches deep, with even risers and a little pitch on each tread so water runs off.
A lot of the old concrete here simply predates modern mixes. A driveway poured in the 1930s has no air in it to handle freezing, and after ninety winters of that plus salt, the surface is soft and the edges crumble. There's no patch for that. A replacement on a packed base with air-entrained concrete will outlast all of us.
Parts of Blair we work in
Pretty much all of it, including Downtown Blair, Old Dana College area, South Blair, Highway 30, Highway 75, Fort Calhoun area and Washington County acreages. If you're in or near Blair and don't see your street, call (531) 236-6623 and ask. It takes about thirty seconds.
Blair questions
Do you really come out to Blair?
Yes, regularly. It's the north end of our area. Estimates are free and there's no trip charge to come look. We just try to line up a few jobs up here at once.
Why do my front steps keep moving?
Almost always shallow footings. If the footing isn't below the frost line (about 42 inches here), frost gets under it every winter. Steps rebuilt on deep footings stop moving. Steps poured on top of the old shallow footing keep doing exactly what they've been doing.
Is it worth fixing really old concrete?
Usually not, once the surface has gone sandy and the edges crumble. Patching a slab that's failing all the way through is money down the drain. That said, some old pours in Blair were done unusually well, and if yours is one of them we'll tell you to leave it be.