Concrete contractor in Jersey City, NJ - solid slabs for tight, older lots
Premium Hoboken Concrete pours and repairs driveways, patios, sidewalks, steps and slabs for Jersey City homeowners and small building owners, working out of Hoboken next door and taking on the tight, awkward jobs older city lots bring.
Older houses set close on narrow city lots
Most of our Jersey City jobs put us in front of or behind older one and two family houses, rowhouses and small apartment buildings set shoulder to shoulder, with corner storefronts mixed in and newer buildings going up between them. The concrete there is usually old: a stoop landing pulling away from the house, a front walk heaved up in pieces, a backyard slab poured long ago over whatever fill was around. It's close kin to what we see at home in Hoboken and down in Bayonne.
Those tight lots shape the work more than anything else. A backyard may only be reachable through a side passage or the house itself, there's rarely room to stage, and the neighbor's wall can sit a few feet from our forms, so we plan the access and the tear-out before we plan the pour.
Working in Jersey City, from permits to price
Permits, zoning and business licenses in Jersey City all run through the city's Housing, Economic Development & Commerce department, and on many yard jobs zoning has to sign off before anything else moves, so the city's approvals can set your start date more than the weather does. Ask any contractor you're considering whether they're registered with the state, because New Jersey requires every home improvement contractor to register each year, and the Division of Consumer Affairs spells out who that covers. The city also requires its own JC Contractor license from anyone without a state license and for any work on a commercial property. We're fully licensed and insured, and on your job we check with the city's office on what it calls for, pull the permits that fall to us and tell you early if plans or another approval have to come first.
Out on the street, a Jersey City job often turns on getting the mixer close. Parked cars, narrow blocks and busy avenues decide whether the truck can reach the forms or whether we pump or wheel the concrete back to the yard, and that access sits right beside size, thickness, tear-out and how much base needs work as what moves your price. The schedule turns on the city's approvals, the weather and the cure, and the estimate gives you the price for your own job. It's much the same drill when we head over to Newark.
Our Jersey City concrete services
- Concrete driveway building
- Concrete patio construction
- Stamped concrete services
- Concrete sidewalk building
- Garage floor concrete
- Decorative concrete
- Concrete retaining walls
- Concrete floor installation
- Concrete pool decks
- Concrete steps construction
- Slab foundation building
- Foundation installation
- Concrete parking lot building
- Concrete footings
- Foundation raising
- Concrete cutting
Old slabs here usually fail from underneath
Most calls we get from Jersey City are about old concrete misbehaving: a walk that sank, a stoop landing tipping away from the house, a patio cracked into pieces. When we break it out, the trouble is usually a base that was raked level over loose fill instead of dug out and packed, so the slab settled right along with the dirt. On a new concrete patio or walk, we dig to firm ground and pack the subgrade, the layer the slab sits on, before any concrete shows up. That's the part you never see once it's poured and the first thing people want to cut, and I'd rather trim the finish than the base, because the base decides how the slab holds up years from now.
Water is the other thing we watch here. The state's environmental agency says flooding can happen anywhere, even on a property with no signs of flood risk, and on packed city lots roof water and runoff from next door have few places to go. Before we set forms, we look at where your water runs and pitch the new slab away from the house.
Get a free on-site estimate for your Jersey City concrete
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time to come out to your Jersey City property. The estimate is free, done on site, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
How a concrete job runs when you call us in Jersey City
Call or send the form
Call (201) 502-5351 or use the form and tell us what your concrete is doing, whether it's sinking, cracking or just worn out. We'll set a time to come see it.
I come out and look
I come to the house myself, look at the old slab, where the water runs and how we'd get concrete to the spot, and ask a lot of questions. Then I walk you through the estimate before you decide anything.
We line up city approvals
Once you say go, we line up the city steps your job needs, and the start date waits on those approvals. It helps if you tell us about parking on your block and anything you share with a neighbor, like a fence line or a side passage.
Our crew tears out and pours
Our crew lead runs the job from tear-out through the forms and the pour, on a day planned around the weather. The surface usually gets a broom finish, a light dragged texture so it isn't slick when it's wet.
Let it cure, then clean up
Curing is the wait while the concrete gains strength, so we tell you when it's ready for feet and when it's ready for a car instead of leaving you to guess. Our crew lead cleans up the site before we hand it back.
Driveways, patios and steps in concrete
Jersey City concrete questions we get
Does a backyard concrete patio in Jersey City need city approval?
Yes, the city's permit FAQ lists backyard pavers and cement as needing zoning approval, the city's sign-off on how your lot is used. That approval can take time before any digging starts, so I bring it up at the estimate. We sort out what your patio calls for with the city before we set a pour date.
How do I get a permit to replace the sidewalk in front of my Jersey City house?
You apply to the city's Department of Infrastructure, which takes permit applications for sidewalk repair or replacement, and for closing a sidewalk or placing a dumpster. A job that pairs a new front walk on your lot with a new public sidewalk can involve more than one city office. We'll tell you at the estimate which applies to your job.
Do I need a permit for a shed on a new concrete pad in Jersey City?
Every shed in Jersey City needs zoning approval, according to the city. A garden shed of 200 square feet or less and 10 feet or less in height, serving a home and with no water, gas, oil or sewer connection, needs no building permit, though any electrical work still needs its own permit. We pour the pad once the shed's approval is in hand.
When does a Jersey City home need a new Certificate of Occupancy?
A one or two family home in Jersey City needs a new Certificate of Occupancy, the city's approval to live in it, after new construction or a major renovation. Zoning approves the application first, a lot over 5,000 square feet may need soil erosion steps, and some addresses may need an elevation certificate, a record of the building's height against flood levels. If your foundation or slab is part of a bigger project, we plan around those steps.
How much does a new concrete driveway cost in Jersey City?
You'll get your figure from the estimate, because the things that move a Jersey City driveway price are things I have to see in person. Thicker concrete and rebar, the steel bars that hold a cracked slab together, cost more where cars will sit, and stamped or colored concrete costs more than a plain broom finish. Tear-out and a hard-to-reach spot add labor, which is why two driveways the same size can price very differently.
What causes new concrete to crack in Jersey City yards?
Most cracks we see come from a soft base, a pour in midday heat, or joints cut late or skipped. Heat dries the top too fast and leaves it weak and dusty later, so we pour in the cooler part of the day. We also cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a planned line to crack along, so any crack usually follows the line we chose.
Plan your Jersey City concrete job with a call
Call (201) 502-5351 any day of the week, early morning to late evening, and tell us what your slab is doing.