Concrete Driveway Building in McAllen TX - A slab sized for what you park on it
Cracked, sinking or too narrow for your cars? We dig out, pack the base and pour a new driveway on ground that's ready for it.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into building a new concrete driveway in McAllen?
Concrete driveway building in McAllen means breaking out the old driveway or clearing the ground, digging down to firm soil, packing a solid base and pouring a new slab that cures into a surface your cars can sit on.
Most people call because the old driveway has cracked and sunk, water sits on it, or they've got more cars than it was built for. The price moves with the size of the driveway, how thick it needs to be for what parks on it, whether an old slab has to be broken out and hauled off, how much work the ground needs before we pour and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the city's permit and inspection, the weather on pour day and the cure before you can drive on it, so your own number comes from the written estimate after I've seen the site.
How do you know your driveway needs replacing?
Cracks that widen or lift
A thin line across the slab usually isn't the problem, but a crack that keeps opening, or one side sitting higher than the other, usually means the ground underneath has moved. Left alone, water gets into it and the edges start breaking loose.
A section that's sinking
When one panel dips below the next, the base under it usually settled because it was raked level instead of dug out and packed. The lip trips people and catches mower wheels, and every rain sends more water under it.
Water running toward the house
Puddles that sit for a day, or water that runs back toward the garage or the foundation, mean the driveway falls the wrong way. Waiting keeps soaking the ground right where your house and your slab both need it dry.
How we handle concrete driveway building
Before anything is dug, I ask what will park on the driveway and where your cars will go while it cures, and we plan the thickness and the pour date around both. Then we break out and haul off the old slab if there is one, check where the water runs so the new one falls away from the house, and dig down to firm ground. We pack the subgrade, the soil the slab sits on, and the base on top of it, because a base that's only raked level settles with the dirt and takes the concrete down with it. We set the forms, lay rebar, the steel that holds the slab together across a crack, and pour early in the day so the top doesn't dry out before it's finished. A broom finish gives the surface a light texture so tires and shoes grip when it's wet, we cut control joints, shallow grooves that tell the slab where to crack, before it can crack on its own, and we keep it damp while it cures, the slow hardening that sets its strength. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather you skip a fancier finish than skimp on the base, because nobody sees the base on pour day and it's the part that decides whether the driveway settles.
While the forms and the crew are already at your house, a lot of people add a concrete patio out back. If you want the driveway, or just a border along it, to look like brick or stone, that's stamped concrete, and it goes over the same packed base.
Broom-finished driveway
This suits most houses, because the light texture grips in the rain and it's the plainest finish to keep up. It also puts most of your money into the slab and the base instead of the surface.
Thicker slab for heavy loads
If a pickup, a work truck, a trailer or an RV parks on it, we talk about going thicker than a typical driveway. It costs more in concrete, and what you get for it is a slab that carries a lot more weight.
Get a free written estimate for your new driveway
We get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out, measure and look at the ground, then you get a free written estimate with no pressure and no obligation.
- Based in
- McAllen, TX 78501
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call about a driveway in McAllen?
Here's how a driveway job runs from your first call to the walk-through, and where the city's steps fit into it.
Call or send the form
You call or fill out the form, and we set a time for me to come see the driveway. If you can be there, I'll ask about your cars and where the water goes when it rains.
I measure and ask questions
I look at the ground and the slope, ask a lot of questions and take my own measurements. You get a written estimate that lays out the thickness, the base work and any tear-out, so you can see what drives the price before you decide.
We line up the permit
If the job needs city paperwork or inspections, we help you line them up. Once the city has the information it needs, the driveway permit should be issued within two business days.
Our crew pours, then we walk it
Our crew does the work with me on the job, from the dig-out through the pour and the cure. When we're done, I walk the driveway with you and go over when it's ready for cars.
Why McAllen homeowners call us for driveway work
The owner measures your driveway
I'm the one who comes out, takes my own measurements and asks what parks where, and I'm on site with our crew when we pour. If I don't know something yet, like what's under an old slab, I'll tell you that instead of guessing.
Learned concrete on a McAllen crew
I learned on a crew here pouring flatwork, the flat slabs like driveways, patios and sidewalks, along with foundations, before starting this business in 2017, nine years ago. That's why people call us for the awkward jobs, like an odd slope, a tight entrance or an old slab nobody can explain.
Licensed and insured on your property
We're licensed and insured. That matters when a crew, a concrete truck and a lot of heavy work are at your house.
On a driveway, the ground and the cure matter more than anything you'll see on day one. Send us your details on our contact page and I'll set a time to come look.
Concrete driveway permits and soil in McAllen
The City of McAllen requires a Right-of-Way permit to build or repair a driveway, and its Engineering Department has to approve the work before construction starts. The city also requires a pre-pour inspection and a final inspection, each requested 24 hours ahead, so the pour date waits until the pre-pour inspection is booked. Before site work, property lines have to be marked and existing utilities located and marked, and every driveway has to meet the Texas Accessibility Standards, so we sort out with you who arranges the marking and plan the slab to meet those standards. We're based in McAllen and work across the city and the cities around it, and we help you line up the permit and inspections and plan the pour around them.
Less of Hidalgo County sits on high shrink-swell clay, the kind that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, than Texas as a whole, about 12% of the county's soil area against a state average of 32%, by one soil data source. That's a county figure, not your lot, so I still dig down and look at the ground on each driveway we build, the same as we do on jobs in Pharr and Edinburg.
Questions about concrete driveways in McAllen
How thick should a concrete driveway be in McAllen?
One concrete guide puts the minimum at 4 inches, and thickness matters more than concrete strength in what a driveway can carry. I settle on the number after you tell me what parks on it, because a sedan and a loaded work truck ask very different things of the same slab.
Is a 5-inch concrete driveway worth the extra cost?
For heavier vehicles it usually is, because by one concrete industry estimate going from 4 to 5 inches adds about 20% to the concrete cost but nearly 50% to what the slab can carry. That's a cost on the concrete, not the whole job. If it's just a couple of cars, we'll talk through whether the extra inch earns its keep on your driveway.
How do I get a driveway permit in McAllen?
You need the city's Right-of-Way permit, and the Engineering Department approves the work before construction starts. We help you line it up along with the two inspections covered above, so the pour date fits around them.
How long does a new concrete driveway need to cure before I can drive on it?
Plan on at least a week before anyone drives on it, because the concrete is still curing and gaining strength. Line up street or neighbor parking for that week, and we'll set the pour date with it in mind.
Can concrete be poured in hot weather?
Yes, concrete poured in hot weather generally lasts about as well as concrete poured at normal temperatures, as long as it reaches the right strength and the surface is kept from drying out while it cures. So the curing plan is what protects the slab, and we keep the surface damp through the cure.
Will my new concrete driveway crack?
It may get some random cracks, and those are generally not a structural problem and won't shorten the driveway's service life, though they can be an eyesore. The joints and the packed base described above are there to keep cracking in the lines we chose and the slab from settling.
Related concrete work around a new driveway
Concrete patio construction
A patio off the back door gives you a solid spot for chairs and a grill, and it can match your new driveway's finish.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped concrete presses a brick, tile or stone pattern into the wet surface, which suits a front entry or border where a plain gray slab feels too bare.
Cities where we build concrete driveways
Craftsman McAllen Concrete Construction is based in McAllen, Texas, and builds driveways in the 12 cities listed below, from Mission to Weslaco. They're the cities with their own page on this site, and we work in others around McAllen too.
Book a look at your driveway site
Send your address, where the driveway will run and whether it replaces an old one, so I show up already knowing what to check.