Concrete contractor in Bonaire, GA

Builder-grade concrete and what Bonaire owners add to it

Bonaire is growing fast and nearly every new house arrives with the same concrete: a two-car driveway with no room to open a door, a front walk, and a 10 by 10 back pad. Within a year or two of closing, owners in The Cottages at Blue Ridge and Harley Farms South call about three jobs.

• Patio extensions. Taking the builder's pad out to 12 by 16 or 16 by 20 so a table and a grill both fit. We drill and epoxy dowels into the existing slab, match the broom texture, and put a control joint along the seam so the two pours can move without tearing each other. Finishes are on the patios and pool decks page, and stamped or colored work is priced separately.
• Driveway widening and parking pads. An extra 3 or 4 feet down one side, or a pad beside the garage, so the second truck is off the lawn. See extensions and parking pads.
• Shed and generator slabs. A 10 by 12 pad runs $900 to $1,400. Details on the slabs page.

Full replacements of a builder driveway that has dropped or cracked through are priced in the driveway cost guide.

Prices for the jobs Bonaire asks for

Bonaire is billed at exactly the Warner Robins rate. The job minimum is $1,200; if a small pad falls under it, we will say so on the phone and suggest pairing it with a walk.

Bonaire clay and freshly graded lots

Bonaire sits on heavy red clay with almost none of the sand you find north toward Byron. In a new subdivision the lot was cut and filled to make a flat building pad, and the driveway and patio often sit on fill that was never compacted the way the house slab was, which is why a three-year-old driveway here can already show a step at the garage.

When we pour in Bonaire we dig out anything soft, bring in crusher run, compact it in two lifts, and proofroll the subgrade with a loaded truck. Builders also leave yards nearly flat, so a patio has to be set with a quarter inch per foot of fall away from the house, and downspouts that discharge onto the slab get piped past it.

Permits for an unincorporated address

Bonaire is unincorporated, so every permit goes through Houston County Building Inspection on Carl Vinson Parkway in Warner Robins, (478) 542-2018. A back-yard patio and a same-footprint driveway replacement do not usually need one. Widening the driveway where it meets the road, or adding a second entrance, needs a county encroachment permit, and we file it as part of the job.

HOA architectural review is common in The Cottages at Blue Ridge and Harley Farms South. We supply the dimensioned drawing, finish description and color sample for your application. Allow two to four weeks for the committee before you pick a pour date.

Pouring with a PCS date in mind

Robins Air Force Base is the county's largest employer. Many homeowners are on a three-year assignment, so we quote with resale in mind and write warranties that transfer to the next owner. A neutral broom-finish patio and a widened driveway show up in listing photos and appraisals; a heavily patterned stamped patio in a bold color may not return what it cost, and if you are leaving in 18 months we will say so when you ask which finish to pick.

A patio extension pours in one day and a driveway replacement takes three including tear-out. The warranty paperwork names the property rather than you, so it goes to the next owner with the house.