Concrete Contractor in Eau Claire, WI

Concrete Driveway Installation and Replacement

A driveway carries every vehicle you own and has to move water away from the garage. We pour new concrete driveways, and we tear out and replace old ones that have broken up, settled or flaked at the surface. On a replacement the old slab comes out, the base is regraded and compacted, and we set forms, pour, finish and cut the joints.

The first question concrete contractors ask is what will drive on it, because thickness is sized to the load, and garbage trucks or other heavy vehicles may call for more than cars do.

The street end has its own rule. On Eau Claire streets with curb and gutter, the City’s posted code calls for a concrete apron between the street and the property line, even when the rest of the driveway is asphalt.

Width limits and the cure timeline are on the page for concrete driveway installation and replacement.

Concrete Patios

A patio carries no vehicles, so what decides how it ages is water and movement. We lay it out with you first: where the door opens, where the table and grill will sit, how big it needs to be. Then we grade the slab to fall away from the house, check where the downspouts empty, and keep the new concrete separate from the foundation so the two can move on their own.

Check the setback before you settle on a size. Inside Eau Claire city limits, zoning lets an uncovered patio come within five feet of the property line at the interior side and rear of the lot. Confirm that distance with the Planning Division, especially on a small lot like those on Eastside Hill.

Finishes, sizing and cost are covered under concrete patios.

Stamped Concrete

Stamped concrete is the same slab as a plain patio, and what changes is the surface. While the concrete is still soft we press textured mats into it, so one pour can take the look of stone, brick or wood plank.

Color goes in one of two ways. It is mixed through the whole load, which suits more muted colors, or worked into the surface as a color hardener before stamping, which gives more vibrant color and a harder surface. Pattern, main color and accent color are settled before pour day, because there is no time to choose once the concrete is down.

The upkeep is the sealer. It has to be renewed, typically every 2 to 5 years or as the sealer maker directs. A glossy sealer can be slippery when wet.

Patterns, coloring and upkeep have their own page on stamped concrete.

Concrete Walkways and Sidewalks

We pour front walks and side paths to a back door, gate or patio, and we replace walks that have tilted, sunk or broken apart. A walk on your own lot is yours to lay out: route, width, curves and finish. We grade it to shed water and set it flush with the steps and the driveway, with no lip to catch a toe.

The sidewalk along the street is public, but the City of Eau Claire says the property owner is responsible for it. When the City orders a repair, the cost falls to the owner, who can use the City’s contractor, hire their own concrete contractor, or do the work themselves.

The City’s repair program is explained under concrete walkways and sidewalk replacement.

Commercial Concrete

For businesses we pour parking lots, sidewalks and slabs, new or as full replacement. Lot thickness is an engineering decision that turns on truck traffic and the ground under it. On a site that has to stay open, the work can be done in sections.

On a commercial site in Eau Claire, much of the layout is fixed by ordinance before concrete contractors bid the job. The City requires parking lots to be hard surfaced with concrete or asphalt, sets minimum stall and drive aisle sizes, and requires accessible parking and on-site walkways to comply with the ADA.

Parking lots, sidewalks and slabs are covered under commercial concrete work.

Garage Slabs, Footings, Steps and Retaining Walls

Garage, shed and shop slabs and concrete steps are work we do. A building slab is matched to what will park or sit on it, so tell us that when you call. Foundations and retaining walls are listed on our Google profile. For those and for footings, call first, because scope depends on the job.

Inside Eau Claire, two City rules matter early. A retaining wall over 30 inches tall needs a Development Permit. At a one to four unit home, a shed or detached garage has to sit at least 2 feet off the interior side and rear lot lines.

The full list of concrete services covers each of these and what we do not take on.

How Much Does Concrete Cost in Eau Claire?

Every concrete job is priced on its own. We measure it, look at what is there now, and give you a written estimate.

What moves the price is the size of the job, its thickness and finish, and how much has to happen before the pour: tear-out, grading and base work. Slope, curves and drainage add to it, and small jobs usually cost more per square foot.

Two things are local, and concrete contractors quoting in Eau Claire have to account for both. On a curb and gutter street the apron is right-of-way work built to the City’s standard drawing, which shows it 6 inches thick. The ground varies too. There are steep slopes around Dells Pond and on isolated hills such as Mount Tom, and alleys in the Third Ward, Historic Randall Park and North River Fronts. Slope and access are part of any estimate.

Replace or Repair: Which Concrete Company to Call

Concrete companies in Eau Claire do not all do the same work. Ours is new concrete and full replacement. We do not repair, lift, level or mudjack concrete, which is the work of concrete lifting and repair companies.

Lifting raises a slab that has sunk but is otherwise sound. A slab that is heaving, badly cracked or breaking down from freezing and thawing is a different case. Resurfacing will not fix it and does nothing for the soil underneath, and replacing the whole area may be more cost effective and more uniform looking than patching part of it.

Call and describe the slab and we will tell you which one it needs, including when the right call is a lifting company. The contact page for Eau Claire Concrete lists what helps us size up a job.

What Eau Claire Soil and Winters Do to Concrete

Winter works on a slab from below, when wet ground freezes and lifts it, and from above, when water in the surface freezes and the finish flakes.

The lifting is frost heave, and it needs three things at once: frost-susceptible soil, available water and freezing temperatures. The cold is a given: about 163 days a year reach 32 F or colder at the Eau Claire airport, by NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals. Soil and water are the two we can do something about, through the base and the drainage.

On the river terraces in the older core of Eau Claire, federal soil maps show mostly deep sand that drains readily and is rated low for frost action. The maps describe natural ground, though, and say nothing about fill, leftover topsoil or trapped water, so Eau Claire’s sand is no reason for a concrete contractor to skip the base.

The flaking is called scaling, and deicers, too little entrained air, a weak surface and poor curing make it worse. As of 2026 the City of Eau Claire salts only its Ice Control Routes and sands other streets at hills, intersections and curves. Tires still carry salt and brine home, so a driveway on a sanded street is not spared.

How Concrete Contractors Run a Project, Start to Finish

Most of what decides how a slab turns out happens before the truck arrives and in the week after it leaves. How many days it takes depends on the size of the job and the weather.

1. Estimate and layout

   We look at what is there, what the slab has to carry and where water runs, then write up scope and price.

2. Permits

   Wisconsin's home improvement rule has the concrete contractor tell you about required permits before the contract. Work waits until they are issued.

3. Utility locate

   State law requires at least three working days' notice to Diggers Hotline before digging. Private lines such as sprinklers are not marked, so point out any you know of.

4. Tear-out, grade and base

   We break out the old concrete and haul it off, then shape the ground so the slab is supported evenly, since uneven support lets a slab bend, crack and settle. A compacted granular base goes over it, as the state ready mixed association calls for.

5. Placing and finishing

   We place the concrete, screed it and bull float it. Once the water sheen is gone we edge and joint it, and a plain exterior slab gets a broom texture.

6. Curing

   The state association calls for at least 7 days of curing and at least 30 days of air drying before a first sealer, unless the sealer maker's directions say otherwise. We tell you when it can take foot traffic and when it can take a car.

When to Pour Concrete in Eau Claire: Freeze Dates and Cold Weather

Fresh concrete needs mild weather while it gains strength, so the freeze dates at each end of the year matter.

Both dates are medians, and in about one year in ten the last spring freeze comes after May 21 or the first fall freeze comes by September 20.

There is no published safe pour season for Eau Claire concrete contractors to go by, so we schedule by the forecast. Concrete should never be placed on frozen or muddy ground. The American Concrete Institute counts a pour as cold weather work once the air temperature has fallen to 40 F, or is expected to fall below it while the concrete is young. From then on the slab has to be kept from freezing until it has gained its early strength.

A late pour also needs time to dry before winter. Cement industry guidance asks for at least one month of relatively dry weather after curing before a slab freezes and thaws, and preferably three months before deicing salt. It gives no calendar date, and neither do we. Whenever it is poured, keep deicers off new concrete its first winter and use sand for traction.

Eau Claire Concrete Reviews on Google

These reviews come from our Google profile, shown on the map below.