Concrete driveways, patios and repair in Gardnerville
The Ranchos alone have thousands of driveways from the '70s, and a lot of them are done. We replace them, and we find your septic system before we bring in a truck.
Main Street and the Ranchos
Gardnerville comes in two halves. Old town along Main Street goes back to the 1880s, with tight lots, old trees and original concrete. The Gardnerville Ranchos were laid out in the '60s and built through the '70s and '80s on big lots, each with its own septic system.
In the Ranchos the biggest share of our work is driveway replacement. A 1975 driveway has had 50 Carson Valley winters on it, and the ones poured thin without steel are finished. We also pour plenty of RV pads, shop slabs and patios, since the lots are big enough that people keep adding on. In old town it's repair and replacement with tight access, plus sidewalk and approach work at the street.
Septic, cobble and 50-year-old driveways
In the Ranchos, the first thing we figure out is where your tank and leach field are. You can't pour a slab over a leach field, and you shouldn't drive a loaded concrete truck or an excavator across one either. Packing the ground down over a drainfield ruins it, and that's an expensive fix. Once we know where it is, we plan the truck route and the layout around it.
The ground is valley gravel with cobble washed off the Pine Nut Mountains, which is generally good to build on. Toward the river it gets finer and wetter, and the East Fork has flooded in big years. If your lot has a history of standing water, we deal with drainage first.
Most original Ranchos driveways went in around three and a half to four inches, no rebar, joints too far apart and no air entrainment. Add 50 years of freeze-thaw, ice melt and much heavier trucks, and you get slabs cracked into pieces and flaking on top. Those are replacements. A patch on that won't last.
What we pour in Gardnerville
- Replacing original Ranchos driveways
- RV and boat pads on big lots
- Shop slabs and patios
- Sidewalks and approaches along Main Street
- Truck access planned around septic systems
Neighborhoods we work in
Downtown Gardnerville, the Gardnerville Ranchos, Chichester Estates, Ruhenstroth, Pinenut Road, Toler Lane, Riverview, Topaz Ranch Estates, Holbrook Junction and along Foothill Road.
Not on the list? If you're in or near Gardnerville, we almost certainly cover you. Call (775) 264-5350 and ask.
Gardnerville questions
I'm on septic in the Ranchos. Does that change anything?
Yes, and it's the first thing we sort out. No pouring over the leach field and no heavy equipment driving across it. We find the tank, lines and field from county records or on site, then plan around them. When people skip that step it gets expensive fast.
My 1970s driveway is cracked everywhere. Repair or replace?
If it's original and cracked in several directions with a flaking surface, replace it. That generation was thin, unreinforced and not air-entrained, and patching a failing slab buys you a season or two. If only one section has failed and the rest is solid, a partial replacement is fair game and we'll price it that way.
How long will a Ranchos driveway take?
Usually two to four days of work over about a week, with demo and prep before the pour. Ranchos driveways run long, so we sometimes pour in sections and will show you where the joints land. Walk on it in a day or two, drive on it after about a week, and keep the RV off for a month.