Basement floor
A slab below grade, where moisture from beneath is the defining constraint on everything you might put over it.
Often reasonable to monitor
Concrete Project Types
Concrete by project type
Owner decision pages rather than sales pages: what tends to go wrong with each kind of concrete, and what to establish before agreeing a scope.
Different concrete has different failure patterns and different things worth checking. A basement floor is dominated by moisture from beneath. A porch is dominated by a threshold that cannot move. A retaining wall is dominated by soil pressure and is not really flatwork at all.
These pages are written for the person who owns the concrete, not the person selling work on it. They cover the problems each type tends to develop, the repair-versus-replacement considerations specific to it, and the scope items estimates for that kind of work commonly leave out.
The four here are the types not already covered elsewhere on the site. Driveways, patios, walkways, steps, garage floors, pool decks, sidewalks and residential slabs each have their own established page, linked below.
Project types covered here
Porch
A slab attached to the house at a door threshold, where isolation and drainage both matter more than usual.
Usually worth planning a repair
Retaining wall
The one project on this site that is engineering rather than flatwork. Soil pressure and drainage decide everything.
Worth arranging an evaluation promptly
Driveway apron
The section between the street and your driveway. Often in the public right of way, which changes who decides.
Usually worth planning a repair
Project pages elsewhere on the site
- Driveways — the largest and most loaded residential flatwork
- Patios — where drainage towards the house matters most
- Walkways — panels, trip hazards and root pressure
- Steps — edges, nosings and freeze-thaw exposure
- Garage floors — salt, settlement and coatings
- Pool decks — slip, surface finish and constant wetting
- Sidewalks — panel work and public right-of-way questions
- Residential slabs — base, thickness and reinforcement
Not sure which way to go?
Both decision tools are free, need no contact details, and take a couple of minutes. If you would rather talk to somebody local, you can ask us to look at matching you.