Concrete Contractor in Baton Rouge, LA

Older Baton Rouge homes and their driveways

By Census estimates, about 1 in 5 Baton Rouge homes was built before 1960. About half went up from 1960 to 1989, and about 1 in 10 in 2010 or later. The Southdowns plat on file with the City-Parish dates to 1927.

When a house still has its first driveway, that concrete is as old as the house. Walks and carport slabs from the same years can crack and settle too. Where only part has failed, we saw-cut and tear out that section. The new pour goes back on a compacted base.

New houses still go up on the south side, in newer plats such as Rouzan and University Grove. A new house may need a back patio or a slab for a shed. On an older lot, an old carport or shed may have to come down first. We take down small structures like that and haul the debris off.

What is under a slab in Baton Rouge?

Much of Baton Rouge sits on Oprairie silt, a soil first named in East Baton Rouge Parish in 1998. The NRCS, the federal soil survey agency, says it formed in windblown silt on an old terrace and drains slowly. NRCS data puts its water table as close as about 20 inches below the surface. It also shrinks and swells a moderate amount as it dries and wets.

Along the Mississippi River, from downtown to LSU, much of the ground is Sharkey clay. In most years, the NRCS says, it cracks up to about an inch wide and 20 inches deep or more. The NRCS rates this clay very limited as a site for houses.

On either soil, the work starts below the concrete. We pour on a compacted base, with the rebar or wire mesh set before the ready-mix truck arrives. Control joints go in so the shrinkage cracks land where they belong. Every slab is sloped so rain runs off it.

The 2016 flood and wet yards in Baton Rouge

The City-Parish's flood history lists more than 20 inches of rain in the August 2016 flood. It counts about 41,000 homes and 8,000 businesses damaged in East Baton Rouge Parish. Less than a year later, the City-Parish commissioned its first stormwater master plan. In May 2021, flash floods after 13 inches of rain damaged about 700 homes.

The City-Parish studies drainage one watershed at a time, including Ward Creek, Jones Creek, Clay Cut Bayou and Bayou Fountain. Much of the city is flat, slow-draining ground, and large parts of it lie in FEMA flood zones. In the Deerford soils here, the NRCS puts a seasonal water table 6 to 18 inches down, December to April.

A yard that holds water needs a path to the street or the ditch. Yard drainage builds that path with catch basins, channel drains, downspout lines and regrading. When water rises from below after long rains, a French drain along the low side can carry it off.

Do you need a permit for concrete work in Baton Rouge?

In Baton Rouge, permits come from the City-Parish Department of Development, through its Permits and Inspections Division. Its list of typical permit jobs includes any addition to or expansion of a driveway. It also lists any accessory structure over 200 square feet, such as a larger shed or shop. The fee table has separate permits for residential driveways and residential demolition.

A plain patio slab or a walk is not named on that list, so ask the division before the pour. On the southeast side, Shenandoah and the far south end of Highland Road now sit in the City of St. George. The City-Parish says permitting there moved to St. George on October 16, 2024. Either way, the permit is sorted out before work starts.