Concrete Contractor in Alamo, TX - Slabs That Drain on Flat Lots
Craftsman McAllen Concrete Construction is a McAllen-based concrete contractor pouring driveways, patios, sidewalks, slabs and foundations for homes and small businesses in Alamo, TX, starting with the ground underneath and where water runs.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
Alamo homes, lots and small businesses we pour for
Alamo is mostly homes, a lot of them one-story houses on slab foundations. In the older neighborhoods the driveways and walks are usually as old as the houses, newer subdivisions keep filling in around them, and small businesses along the main roads need parking and walkways that hold up to daily traffic. Our calls here look a lot like the ones we get in San Juan and Donna on either side of it: a sinking driveway, a patio that holds water, a shop that needs a slab.
The ground here is flat and the summers are long and hot, so most of what decides whether a slab lasts happens before the truck shows up, in the base and the slope.
Concrete work we do for Alamo properties
Concrete driveway building
Older Alamo driveways often crack and sink where the dirt underneath was never packed, so we dig out, compact the base and pour on solid ground.
Concrete patio construction
Plenty of Alamo patios are flat slabs off the back door, and we set a gentle fall away from the house so rain doesn't sit against your wall.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped concrete gives an Alamo patio or entry the look of stone or tile, and we seal it to help the color stand up to the sun.
Concrete sidewalk building
We replace front walks lifted by tree roots or sunk at the joints, and pour new paths to side yards and back gates on Alamo lots.
Garage floor concrete
When your garage floor has cracked or settled under years of parked cars, we break it out and pour a new slab that sheds water toward the door.
Decorative concrete
Colored, scored or exposed-stone finishes suit Alamo entries and patios, and we'll talk through which ones stay comfortable underfoot in a Valley summer.
Concrete retaining walls
Alamo lots are mostly flat, so a wall here usually holds up a raised bed, a built-up pad or the bank of a drainage ditch.
Concrete floor installation
We pour interior floors for shops, storage buildings and additions in Alamo, with the base packed and the surface finished smooth or ready for tile.
Concrete pool decks
Pool decks here see bare feet, splash water and full sun, so we give them a textured finish for grip and a slope that sends water to drains.
Concrete steps construction
Front steps on older Alamo homes often pull away from the porch or wear uneven, and we form new ones with rebar, the steel that ties them together.
Slab foundation building
For a new house, addition or shop on an Alamo lot, we build up and pack the pad, then pour the slab to the building's plans.
Foundation installation
We lay out, form and pour foundations for new Alamo homes and small business buildings, and check the forms against the plans before any concrete arrives.
Concrete parking lot building
Small business lots in Alamo take daily turning traffic and delivery trucks, so we pour them thicker than a home driveway and plan drainage across the whole lot.
Concrete footings
Footings carry the weight of carports, porch posts, fences and additions on Alamo lots, so we dig them down to firm ground before we pour.
Foundation raising
When a slab or porch has dropped as the ground under it shifted, we find out why first, then lift and support it if raising makes sense.
Concrete cutting
We saw-cut old slabs for new plumbing, doorways and clean tear-out edges, so a repair on an older Alamo driveway meets the old concrete neatly.
Get a free on-site concrete estimate in Alamo
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out to look at the job, and you get a written estimate, free and with no obligation.
- Based in
- McAllen, TX 78501
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
Working in Alamo: permits, plans and what moves the price
In Alamo, the city's Community Planning & Development Department sets the rules for building on a property, so it's the city's call whether your job needs a permit. On a new business building, city staff release the permit only after they approve the whole submittal with a full set of plans, which means the pour date follows that approval, not the other way around. If you're opening a business in an existing building, the city's business license comes with a fire inspection, and anything the city requires, like added parking, has to be finished before the license is released, so a parking lot pour can end up standing between you and opening day. When a job needs a permit or an inspection, we help you line it up and plan the pour around it.
What moves the price here is mostly what you can't see from the street: how much old concrete has to come out, how much digging and packing the ground needs, how thick the slab has to be for what will sit on it, the finish on top, and whether a truck can reach the spot or we're wheeling concrete through a side gate. The schedule turns on the weather, any city inspection and curing, the wait while new concrete gains strength before you use it. It's the same work we do down the road in Hidalgo, and the written estimate you get after I've walked your site puts your own figure on it.
Why Alamo driveways and patios sink and hold water
On flat ground like Alamo's, water doesn't leave a slab unless the slope is built in, so a driveway or patio poured dead level, or tipped back toward the house, ends up with water pooling at the door and soggy ground along your foundation. The other thing we see over and over is a base that was raked smooth instead of dug out and packed, and that slab sinks as the loose dirt under it settles. We check where the water runs before we set a form and we pack the base solid. If the budget's tight, I'll tell you to cut the fancy finish before the base, because you can redo a surface later but you can't fix the ground under a slab without tearing it out.
Older homes here often have driveways and walks thinner than what we'd pour today, with little or no steel inside, and years of tree roots and parked cars have broken them into pieces. When patching won't hold, we saw out the bad sections or the whole slab, re-pack the ground and pour new with rebar, so the new concrete isn't sitting on the same problem the old one was.
How a concrete job runs when you call us in Alamo
From your first call to the final walk-through, here's how a job goes and when it helps to have you there.
Call or send the form
Call (956) 331-0213 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come look at the job. It helps if you can be there so I can ask what you have in mind.
I look and measure first
I walk the site, ask a lot of questions about drainage, what will drive or sit on the slab and what's under the old one, and take my own measurements. You get a written estimate that breaks the job down, so you can see where the money goes before you decide, and if the job needs city paperwork or inspections, we help line them up.
Our crew builds it with me
Our crew digs out, packs the base, sets the forms and pours, and I'm on the job with them. If the city needs to inspect before the pour, we book around the inspector's field hours, 10 AM to noon and 3 to 5 PM, so the truck isn't sitting there waiting.
We walk it together
When the work is done, I walk it with you and go over how long to stay off it while it cures. Then we clean up the site before we leave.
Questions about concrete work in Alamo
How do I find out if my concrete project in Alamo needs a permit?
Call the city's Planning Department at 787-0006, option 4, which takes building questions, and ask about your address and your job. If you do need one, the building permit application is on the city's forms page. If you'd rather not chase it yourself, we'll check with the city for you before we set a pour date.
What building codes does the City of Alamo use for foundations and slabs?
For structural work, the city lists the 2024 International Building Code and International Residential Code, with the residential code marked for windstorm. That's the standard the city applies to structural work like foundations and footings for buildings, so plans for a new house, addition or shop need to match it.
When is the city inspector at City Hall in Alamo?
The City Inspector is at City Hall from 8 to 10 in the morning and 1 to 3 in the afternoon. The rest of the working day the inspector is out on inspections, which is the window we plan a pour around when the job needs one. Those office hours are your best chance to catch the inspector in person.
Will Alamo bulk trash pickup take old concrete from a tear-out?
No. The city's brush and bulky item collection leaves out construction material such as sheet rock, lumber and roof shingles, and broken concrete is construction material too. Brush mixed in with other debris gets left as well, and then it's yours to dispose of at your own expense. On our jobs, we haul the old concrete off as part of cleanup, so it doesn't end up at your curb.
How much does a concrete driveway cost in Alamo, TX?
Your price comes from the size of the driveway and what's under it, and I give it to you in a written estimate once I've seen the site. A driveway that's already sinking usually needs more digging and packing than one on solid ground, and that's the part I won't trim. Where you can save is the finish, since a plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes grip, costs less than stamped or colored concrete.
What causes new concrete to crack in Alamo's summer heat?
Pouring in the middle of a hot day is a common cause, because the top dries out before the concrete underneath is ready and comes out weak and dusty. Late or skipped joints are the other, since concrete shrinks as it cures and cracks wherever it's weakest. We pour early in the day, keep the new slab damp while it cures, and the same day we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack, so most cracking follows lines we chose instead of running across the middle.
Plan your Alamo concrete project with us
We take calls at (956) 331-0213 from 7 AM to 11 PM every day, so you can reach us after work or send the form tonight.