Concrete Driveways, Patios & Slabs in Winston-Salem, NC

Driveways are priced by the square foot, so the size of the pour sets the base number. Four things move it from there: whether an old driveway has to be broken out and hauled off, how much grading and drainage work the site needs, whether you want wire or fiber reinforcement, and the finish. A plain broom finish is the baseline; exposed aggregate and stamped work cost more. We measure on site, walk the grade with you, and put a written price in your hand before any concrete is ordered.

Square footage sets the base, then the finish and the site decide the rest. Small patios price higher per square foot than big ones because getting a crew and a truck out costs the same either way, so if you are close to the line it is worth having us price a larger footprint at the same time. Stamped, colored and exposed aggregate finishes all add to a broom finish. You get one written price covering the whole job before anything is scheduled.

Yes. Call or send the form and we'll have a local contractor out to measure, check the grade and drainage, and put a written price in your hand. No cost, no obligation, no pressure.

Winston-Salem and out across the Triad. In Forsyth County that is Kernersville, Walkertown, Rural Hall, Union Cross and Pfafftown. On the Guilford side, Oak Ridge, Colfax and Summerfield. In Davidson County, Wallburg, Midway and Welcome. If you are near the edge of that, call and ask.

Yes. Unlike asphalt, we pour concrete year-round in the Piedmont using heated water, accelerating admixtures and insulating blankets. A hard freeze slows us down but the season never shuts down, so if you want work done in January we can usually get it done.

Thirty years or more when it is done properly, considerably longer than asphalt. That comes down almost entirely to compacting the base correctly and cutting control joints in the right places, which is where we spend the time you never see.

Concrete costs more up front but lasts substantially longer and needs no sealcoating cycle. Asphalt is cheaper initially and faster to install but wants resealing every three to five years and softens in Piedmont summer heat. For most Forsyth County homes staying put long term, concrete is the better value.

Often, yes, and we'll tell you which one you're looking at. Surface cracks, spalling and small sunken sections can usually be repaired or resurfaced. If the base has failed and slabs are moving independently, a repair won't hold, and we'd rather say so than take your money twice.

Most residential driveways are two to four days of work on site: tear-out and haul-off, then grading and base prep, then forming and pouring. A patio is usually one to three. Cure time runs separately from that. You can normally walk on new concrete the next day, and you want vehicles off a driveway for about a week. What moves the day count is how much old concrete has to come out, whether the site needs regrading or drainage work, the size of the pour, and the weather. Rain pushes a pour and there is no way around that. Your written estimate gives you the day count for your job before anything gets scheduled.

October and early November if you have the choice. Winston-Salem averages 125 days a year with measurable rain, and July is the worst of it: almost 13 rain days on top of an 88 degree average high. October runs about 9 rain days with nearly no freeze risk, which is the cleanest window we get. Spring works well too. Winter pours are routine here and get done with cold-weather practice, since Forsyth County averages zero days a year that drop below zero. The real constraint is not the season, it is that the fall calendar fills up. Call earlier than you think you need to.

Not much, and that is most of the point. Keep heavy vehicles off it the first week. Wait about 28 days before sealing, then reseal every two to three years to slow water, salt and oil damage. Sweep it and rinse it when it gets dirty. Skip de-icer entirely the first winter. Fine cracks that follow the control joints are the slab doing exactly what those joints were cut for, not a failure.

Not the first winter. New concrete is still gaining strength, and de-icer drives water in and out of the surface, which is what causes spalling and pitting. After that, use it sparingly. Never use anything containing ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, or magnesium, because those chemically attack the surface rather than just melting ice. Plain sand gives you traction with no chemistry at all. Worth knowing either way: NCDOT pre-treats Triad roads with a 23 percent salt brine up to 48 hours ahead of a storm, so your tires track it onto your driveway whether you put it there or not. Rinsing the slab off after a storm week is a good habit.

Because most of the price is under the slab where you cannot see it. Two bids on the same square footage can differ by thousands depending on how deep the crew excavates, what base material goes down and how well it gets compacted, whether the slab is reinforced and with what, how thick the pour actually ends up, and whether drainage got designed or ignored. A low bid almost always means one of those got skipped. When you compare quotes, make every one of them answer the same six things in writing: excavation depth, base material, compaction method, slab thickness, reinforcement, and where the water goes. If a bid will not put those on paper, you are not comparing the same job.

You get the deposit amount and the payment schedule in writing with your estimate, so you know the number and the timing before you agree to anything instead of finding out on pour day. Worth knowing for anyone you talk to: a demand for half or more before a shovel hits the ground, cash only, or no written scope of work are the three things that show up over and over when a concrete job goes wrong. Ask for the schedule in writing. Anyone worth hiring hands it to you without being asked twice.

Get the warranty in writing before you sign, from anyone you hire. A real one names a term, says what it covers, and says plainly what it does not. Workmanship is the part that matters: base prep, joint placement, thickness, finishing. Hairline shrinkage cracking is normal in every slab poured anywhere and nobody warranties against it, so if someone promises you concrete that will never crack, that is the tell. Your written estimate spells out the warranty that applies to your job.

Some disturbance is unavoidable, because a loaded concrete truck is heavy and it has to get close enough to reach the pour. Before anything starts we walk the access route with you and mark what is in the way: sprinkler heads and lines, invisible fence wire, septic lids, downspout drains, tree roots, and anything buried that you know about and we would not. Sprinkler lines that have to be cut get capped, not left open and forgotten. North Carolina law requires 811 be called at least three full working days before digging, and that obligation sits with the contractor, never with you. Ruts in the grass happen sometimes, and putting them right is part of the job, not a change order.

We move you. Nobody pours into rain if they can avoid it, because water hitting the surface during finishing weakens it permanently and you live with that for thirty years. Winston-Salem averages 125 days a year with measurable rain, so this comes up regularly and it is not a sign anything went wrong. Rain after the pour is a different question: once the surface has set, usually a few hours in, light rain does no harm and can help it cure. If the forecast turns on the morning of, we would rather push you a few days than pour a slab we have to come back and fix.

Yes, if the work touches the public right-of-way, which is the strip between your property line and the street where the apron sits. The City's Infrastructure Development Standards require a right-of-way permit before construction starts, and building in the right-of-way without one is a misdemeanor, with the driveway subject to removal at the owner's expense. That permit can only be issued to someone licensed and bonded to work in the right-of-way, so it is not one a homeowner can pull themselves. The forms and stone base also have to be inspected before any concrete goes down, with at least two working days notice. Work entirely on your own property is a separate question and a driveway or patio under 40,000 dollars generally needs no building permit at all. If your street is a state highway, both the City and NCDOT have to sign off. We handle the permit and the inspection call as part of the job.

It can, and almost nobody mentions it before you sign. The city bills residential stormwater in four tiers based on how much hard surface sits on your lot, measured off aerial photography. As of January 2026 those tiers run 61.87 dollars a year up to 2,000 square feet, 65.51 from 2,001 to 4,000, 98.26 from 4,001 to 6,000, and 131.01 above that. Adding a 600 square foot patio can push you across a line and raise the bill for good, and Winston-Salem currently offers no credits to offset it. If you think your lot was measured wrong you can call Stormwater at 336-727-8000 and ask for a re-measurement. The thresholds that trigger actual stormwater engineering start at 5,000 square feet of new hard surface, which no residential driveway is going to reach.

Red clay, and the honest answer is that it is not the villain it gets made out to be. The dominant Forsyth County soils, Fairview and Clifford, are kaolinitic, a clay that does not swell much when it takes on water, and the USDA rates their shrink-swell potential as low. What the USDA does flag here is low bearing strength, slope, and frost action. That is a different problem with a different fix: dig deep enough, put down real base stone, and compact it properly. Only about four tenths of one percent of Forsyth County sits on genuinely expansive soil, the Enon and Iredell series over pockets of mafic rock, and if your lot is one of them it changes the prep. That is something worth checking before quoting rather than after. Slabs fail here from poor base prep and poor drainage far more often than from soil movement.