Concrete Contractor in Bernalillo, NM - Slabs Built on a Packed, Solid Base
Elite Rio Rancho Concrete Construction is a concrete contractor based in Rio Rancho, NM, pouring driveways, patios, walks, slabs and footings in Bernalillo. We're best known for flatwork that's prepped right underneath.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Bernalillo homes, lots and the ground under them
The Town of Bernalillo, in Sandoval County, is a short drive from our base in Rio Rancho, and most of our jobs here are for homeowners. We see everything from older stucco and adobe-style houses near the old center to newer subdivisions and bigger lots with long gravel drives, shops and casitas. Small businesses and builders call us too, much like the work we do close by in Corrales.
A lot of these properties sit on dirt that was never packed for a slab, so the older pads have sunk and cracked. On the lower lots near the river we often find soft ground that has to come out before anything goes on top of it.
Concrete work we do for Bernalillo homes and properties
Concrete driveway building
Many Bernalillo lots still have long gravel or dirt drives, and we turn them into concrete driveways on a dug-out, packed base that holds up under trucks.
Concrete patio construction
A patio off the back door gives you a flat place to sit, and we set it so rainwater runs off toward the yard instead of the house.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped concrete gives a patio or walk the look of stone or brick, which fits nicely beside the stucco and adobe-style homes we see around Bernalillo.
Concrete sidewalk building
We replace heaved, broken front walks and pour new paths from the drive to the door, so you aren't stepping over uneven slabs and pooling water.
Garage floor concrete
For detached garages and shops on bigger Bernalillo lots, we pour a floor thick enough for vehicles and tools, on a base packed to carry the weight.
Decorative concrete
Colored and textured finishes dress up an entry, patio or pool area when plain gray doesn't suit the house, and we'll tell you which ones wear best.
Concrete retaining walls
Where a lot slopes toward the drive or the house, a concrete retaining wall holds the dirt back, and we size the footing for what it's holding.
Concrete floor installation
We pour interior concrete floors for additions, workshops and outbuildings, set level and finished smooth enough to seal, polish or cover with flooring later.
Concrete pool decks
A pool deck needs a finish with grip for wet feet and a slope that carries splash water away, and we build both into the slab.
Concrete steps construction
Crumbling or uneven entry steps get torn out and replaced with formed concrete steps at even heights, so nobody catches a toe coming in the door.
Slab foundation building
For new homes, casitas and shops, we pour slab foundations on ground that's dug out and packed first, because a building is only as steady as its slab.
Foundation installation
Builders and property owners call us for foundations on new construction and additions, with the forms, steel and pour handled by our own crew.
Concrete parking lot building
Shops and offices in Bernalillo get parking lots and lanes poured thick enough for steady car and delivery traffic, with drainage planned before the forms go in.
Concrete footings
Footings carry the weight of walls, posts and additions, so we dig them down to firm ground and pour them for the load they'll hold.
Foundation raising
When a slab or foundation has dropped because the ground under it settled, we look at what caused it and tell you straight whether raising it makes sense.
Concrete cutting
We cut openings, trenches and clean lines in existing slabs for doorways, utility runs or removing a damaged section without breaking up the whole pad.
Get a free on-site concrete quote in Bernalillo
We reply within one business day. I come out myself to measure and walk the job with you, and the quote is free, with no pressure and no obligation.
(505) 271-3053- Based in
- Rio Rancho, NM 87124
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
Working in Bernalillo: permits, licenses and the price
Before a job in Bernalillo starts, we check with the permit office that covers your address. Under state rules, that office has to issue a permit before a structure is built, changed, repaired or torn down, and nothing gets poured until the permit is issued. Some projects also need zoning approval signed onto the state permit application before it goes in, which adds time at the front, so I find that out early. New Mexico's Construction Industries Division licenses contractors and requires a license from anyone who does construction contracting or offers to, so ask any contractor you're weighing for theirs. We're fully licensed and insured, and when a job needs a permit, we handle the application and the inspections.
On the long drives and dirt lanes we see here, getting the concrete truck close without rutting the yard is part of planning the pour. A long reach or a pump adds to the price, along with the dig-out, the base, the size and thickness of the slab and the finish you pick. The schedule mostly turns on the permit, any inspection and the curing, the wait while fresh concrete hardens before you use it, and I go over what your job needs when I walk it with you. Our crew does the same work down the valley in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque and North Valley.
Why Bernalillo driveways and patios sink and hold water
Most of the sunken, broken driveways and patios we're called out to see here were poured on dirt that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so the slab dropped as the ground settled. We dig down to firm subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, and pack a base over it before any forms go up.
Water is the other thing we see a lot. It pools against the house or runs off a patio toward the foundation because nobody checked where it would go before the pour, so we set the forms to tip the slab away from the house every time we lay one out.
How a concrete job in Bernalillo runs, start to finish
From the first call to the final walk-through, here's what happens and who you'll be dealing with along the way.
Call or send the form
Call (505) 271-3053 or send the form with your address and what you're thinking about. We get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I come out and measure
I come out myself to look at the ground, measure and talk through what you want, and it helps if you can be there to show me where water sits after a rain. Before you decide anything, I go over what the job needs and what's driving the price.
We handle permits and pour
Once you say go, we take care of any permit work first, then our own crew digs out, packs the base, sets the forms and pours. I run the job and I'm usually on site, so you've got one person to ask.
Walk the finished job together
Before we pack up, I walk the finished job with you to look at the joints, the finish and where the water runs. I'll also tell you how long to keep feet and cars off it while it cures.
Questions about concrete work in Bernalillo
(505) 271-3053If your job needs a permit, it has to be applied for by a contractor currently licensed by the state, or by you as the owner through a homeowner's permit for your own home. A homeowner's permit comes with limits set by the state. If you'd rather not deal with it, that paperwork is part of what we do.
A short wall can fall under the state's building permit exceptions, but only if it holds back less than 36 inches of unbalanced fill, measures six feet or less from the top of the wall to the bottom of the footing, and carries no extra weight on the ground behind it, like a driveway or a building. A wall that carries that kind of load still needs a permit. We sort out which side of that line yours falls on before we quote it.
On a permitted job, yes, because the state requires permitted work to be inspected and left visible until the inspector approves it. On a concrete job that usually means the dug-out base, the forms and any steel stay open until the inspection passes, so we set the pour date around it.
The cost of a driveway here comes down to its size and thickness and how much digging and base work the ground needs. Your choices move it too, since a broom finish, the light texture that gives tires and shoes grip, costs less than stamped or colored concrete, and rebar, steel laid inside the slab to hold it together, adds some cost. If the budget's tight, I'd keep the base and skip the fancy finish, because you can't fix a bad base later without tearing the whole thing out.
Most cracks in new concrete come from a base that settles, control joints cut late or skipped, or a top that dried too fast during the pour. Concrete shrinks a little as it cures, so we cut control joints, shallow grooves across the slab, to give it a straight place to crack instead of a random one. We also time the pour so the surface doesn't end up weak and dusty.
FEMA counts any spot with a 1% or higher chance of flooding in a given year as high risk, which works out to at least a one-in-four chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. If your lot sits in one of FEMA's mapped flood zones, the state says you need approval from the local floodplain administrator before construction starts. We plan around that approval before we set a pour date.
Other areas we serve
Rio Rancho, NM
Ask about your Bernalillo concrete project
Call (505) 271-3053 or send the form now, and I can sort out the permit side of your job before we put a pour date on the calendar.