Concrete Flatwork in Chicago Ridge, Grounded in Good Stone

Flatwork rarely gets admired, yet it frames so much of daily life around a home: the pad where the grill or the air conditioner sits, the apron that welcomes the car into the garage, the quiet rectangle of concrete beneath a garden shed. When these pieces are crisp and level they disappear into a tidy property, and when they tilt, crack or collect puddles they draw the eye for all the wrong reasons. Our approach begins well below the surface. We excavate past the topsoil and any loose fill until we reach soil that will not compress, because the clay common around Chicago Ridge holds water and shifts with each freeze and thaw. Into that excavation goes crushed stone, spread and tamped in thin lifts until the bed is uniformly firm. Forms are then staked with a measured fall so rain slips off one edge rather than pooling or seeping beneath. Slabs that will bear weight, an apron above all, receive reinforcement suspended within the concrete where it can do its job. After the pour, the surface is given a texture suited to its role, joints are cut along lines that look deliberate, and the slab is kept damp and sheltered while it cures. Then the forms are lifted, earth is feathered against the new edges and every scrap of demolished concrete departs on our truck.