Concrete contractor in Manhattan, KS - slabs set to drain off sloped lots
Junction City Concrete pours driveways, patios, sidewalks, steps and foundations for homes and properties in Manhattan, KS. We dig out and pack the base, set the slope so water runs away from your house, and cut joints to guide cracks.
Manhattan as we see it from the job site
Manhattan is a college town built around K-State, and the houses we work on here run from older homes near downtown and campus to newer subdivisions toward the edges of the city. A lot of the older places are rentals now, with walks, steps and driveways that have carried years of foot traffic and cars. The newer ones usually need a first patio or a wider driveway. The city also sits in the Flint Hills, the band of hills that runs through eastern Kansas, so plenty of yards here aren't flat.
Many of the families we work for here have ties to Fort Riley, and their houses often change hands or get rented out, so a slab has to hold up well past the current owner. On a sloped lot, that comes down to how the ground under the slab is cut, packed and pitched.
Working in Manhattan: permits, licenses and what sets the price
Permits here go through the City of Manhattan, which takes building permit applications and handles contractor licensing through its online permits and licenses portal. Whether your job needs a permit is the city's call, so I check with them on every job, and when one's needed we pull it before work starts and call in the inspections as the job reaches them. That means the city's review usually decides how soon we can start. The city licenses general and trade contractors, so it's fair to ask anyone you hire whether they hold one. We're licensed and fully insured.
We're based in Junction City and do the same work over in Abilene, so getting a crew to your place in Manhattan is the easy part. Access is sometimes the hard part, on tight lots and busy streets near campus where the concrete truck can't reach the forms and we have to bring the concrete in another way. That moves the price, along with the size and thickness of the slab, how much dirt we dig out and how much base we haul in, whether an old slab comes out first, and the finish you pick. Weather and the permit review move the schedule more than anything else, and the written estimate I send after walking your site gives you the figure for your job.
What Manhattan houses and yards ask of a new slab
On a sloped yard, water runs downhill whether the slab is ready for it or not, and the worst slabs we tear out are the ones that fall back toward the house and send water against the foundation. Before I price anything, I look at where the water goes now, and we set the forms so the finished surface sheds it away from your walls. A concrete patio off the back door often needs fill on the low side, and that fill has to be packed in layers, because loose dirt settles and the patio tips with it.
Older houses near campus usually come with sunken walks, cracked steps and driveways that have settled with the dirt under them. Patching rarely holds when the base has failed, so on those jobs we usually tear out, dig down to firm subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, and build back up from there.
Get a free on-site estimate for your Manhattan job
We reply within one business day, and the estimate is free with no obligation. I come out to your place in Manhattan myself, walk the site with you and then send you a written estimate.
(785) 530-0068How a concrete job goes when you call us in Manhattan
Call or send a message
Call (785) 530-0068 or use the form and tell us what you want built and where it goes. A couple of photos of the spot help me know what to look at when I come out.
Measure and check the drainage
I measure the job, then look at where the water runs now and how a truck gets in. It helps if you're home so we can talk through size and finish on the spot.
Settle the estimate and permit
Once you have the written estimate, I check with the city, or the county if your lot falls under its permits, about whether the job needs one. When it does, we pull it before any work starts, and the city's review sets how soon we can begin.
Build the base and forms
We dig out, pack the base and set the forms and rebar, the steel inside the slab that keeps any crack from spreading apart, and I work alongside the crew. I check it all over before the truck is called, and we call in any inspection the permit needs at this stage.
Pour, cure and walk through
We pour, give it a broom finish, a light texture that keeps it from getting slick, and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give cracks a place to go. Then it cures, the wait while it gains strength before you use it, and after we clean up I walk the finished job with you.
Driveways, patios and steps in concrete
Manhattan concrete questions we hear
How do I find out if my patio needs a permit in Manhattan, KS?
Ask the city before the pour, and I do that for you on every job we take. The city posts a list of work exempt from a building permit on its Residential Construction Details page, along with permit and enclosure requirements for pools if your patio wraps around one. When the job does need a permit, we pull it before we start.
What building codes apply to a concrete slab at a house in Manhattan, KS?
For houses, the city builds to the International Residential Code, and it posts every code it has adopted on its construction codes page. If the slab is a pool deck, the city's pool and spa code comes into it too. I check what applies to your job when I come out to look at it.
Who issues building permits if my property is in Pottawatomie County?
If your property falls under Pottawatomie County's permit jurisdiction instead of the city's, the county's Planning & Zoning Office handles building permits. I check which office covers your address before the estimate goes out, so nobody applies in the wrong place.
How do I get a curb cut permit for a new driveway in Manhattan, KS?
You apply through the city's online portal, which takes curb cut permits along with other work in the public right-of-way. I look at where your driveway meets the street when I walk the site, and if the plan needs a curb cut, we take care of it with the rest of the permits before work starts.
How much does a concrete driveway cost in Manhattan, KS?
It comes down to the size of the driveway, the ground under it and the finish you choose, so the real number comes from a site visit, not a phone call. On a sloped lot, digging out and building a packed base can take more of the budget than the surface, and that's the last place I'd cut, because a nice finish on a weak base settles and cracks with the dirt. If money's tight, a plain broom finish on a good base is a better buy than stamped concrete on a thin one.
What causes a concrete driveway to crack and sink?
Most of the time it's the base, dirt raked level instead of dug out and packed, so the slab settles as the ground under it moves. Water running under the edges, joints cut late or skipped, and pours in the midday heat that leave a weak, dusty top all add to it. No slab is crack-proof, but we pack the base, set the slope, cut joints on time and pour in the cooler part of the day so cracks stay small and land in the joints.
Where we work
Call about your Manhattan concrete job
We answer from 7 AM to 10 PM every day, so call (785) 530-0068 or use the form whenever the job is on your mind.