We're Heartland Boston Concrete Company, a concrete contractor based in Boston, MA, building driveways, patios, steps, walkways and foundations for homeowners and small property owners across the city. We start with the ground under the slab, because that's what decides how long it holds up.
(857) 770-0722
Most of our Boston work is on older houses, three-deckers, row houses and single families set close together, where the driveway runs one car wide between two buildings and every foot of backyard counts. When we break out an old slab here, the trouble is usually the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on. It often turns out to be loose fill that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so the concrete settled and cracked along with it. Winter makes that worse, because water that sits in soft ground freezes, swells and lifts the slab, then lets it drop again in spring.
Access shapes the job here as much as the ground does. On a narrow street with tight parking, we plan where the truck stops and how the concrete gets from the curb to the back of the lot, by pump or by wheelbarrow, and we plan around neighbors who share the driveway. We do the same kind of work across the river in Cambridge, where the houses and lots are a lot like these.
We reply within one business day to every request from Boston. I come out myself to look at the slab, the ground and the access, then give you the estimate on site, free and with no obligation to book. If you go ahead, our own crew does the work with me running it.
(857) 770-0722Most Boston calls are for flatwork, the flat slabs like driveways, patios, walkways and garage floors, and they usually start with a driveway that's sunk toward the house, a patio that holds puddles or front steps that have cracked and pulled away from the stoop. On a narrow side driveway we break out the old slab, dig out the soft fill and rebuild the base before the pour, which is how we handle concrete driveway building here. We also build retaining walls for sloped backyards, slab foundations and footings for additions and garages, and we cut out old concrete cleanly when a job needs a straight edge.
Building permits in Boston come from the city's Inspectional Services Department, and whether your job needs one is the city's call. That matters for the schedule, because the city's guidance says work begins after the permit is issued, and starting early can mean paying double the permit cost or getting a building code violation. Some projects also need sign-off from the city's planning and zoning office, from Parks and Recreation when the work is within 100 feet of a park or parkway, or from the Landmarks Commission in a historic district, and each of those can add time. On the contractor side, the state requires Home Improvement Contractor registration for work on an existing, owner-occupied home with one to four units, so check that registration with the state before you sign. If a company works under a trade name, the city's Business Certificate is only a filing for that name, not a general business license.
Before work starts, we check with the city about the permits your job may need and help you get the paperwork in order, so the permit and the pour line up. After that, the price mostly comes down to the size of the slab, how much old concrete and soft fill has to come out, how deep we dig and pack the base, and whether it needs rebar, the steel inside that keeps cracks from spreading apart. Tight access adds hand work on a lot of Boston lots, and the schedule turns on the permit, the weather and the curing time before you can use it. I'll walk the job with you and give you the estimate for your own slab, the same way we do in Somerville and Brookline.
I come out to see your job and give the estimate myself, so the person looking at your sunken driveway is the one running the crew that rebuilds it. Our own crew does the work, and before we start I walk you through what you're paying for, twice if you want.
The base is buried by the end of the first day, which makes it the first thing people want to cut, and it's the one place I won't. I'd rather you pick a plainer finish than a skimpier base, because a nice top on soft ground cracks just the same.
We're licensed and insured, and we've been pouring driveways, patios, steps and foundations since 2017, after I learned the prep from older finishers. Satisfaction guaranteed. When you're ready to plan your job, call (857) 770-0722 or send the form and tell me what you're seeing.
Your price is set by the size of the driveway, how much has to be torn out and how much base work the ground under it needs, and I give you that figure at the estimate. The choices you control are mostly the finish and the shape, since a plain broom finish, the light texture that keeps it from getting slick, costs less than stamped or colored concrete, and straight edges go faster than curves. The base is the one line I won't trim, for the reason above.
Usually you're off the driveway longer than we're working on it, because the concrete has to cure, the slow hardening that gives it strength, before it can carry weight. You can walk on it after a few days, cars wait longer, and I'll give you the dates for your slab once I know its thickness and the weather. Plan on street parking for that stretch, and let us know about a shared driveway so your neighbors can plan too.
Most of the time it's the ground underneath, because a slab on soft, unpacked fill settles and breaks as it follows the dirt down. Water does the rest when the patio falls toward the house or holds puddles, and cracks land in random spots when control joints, the shallow cuts that give the slab a planned place to crack, are cut late or skipped. We check where the water runs, cut the joints on time and pour early in the day so the top doesn't dry out weak and dusty in the heat.
Your job may need one, depending on what the work changes, and we check before anything gets torn out. The city issues a Long-Form permit for work that changes a building's structure or use, and a Short-Form Permit may be needed for minor repairs or replacements that leave the structure and use of a home or lot the same.
Not if you own one unit in a three-decker or any building with three or more homes, because the city requires those owners to hire a licensed contractor. Homeowners can apply for their own permit when they do the work themselves in an owner-occupied one- or two-family home, as the city's Long-Form permit guidance explains.
For some projects, yes, because certain construction work in Massachusetts has to be overseen by someone holding a Construction Supervisor License. That license is separate from the Home Improvement Contractor registration mentioned above, and one doesn't stand in for the other. Ask which one your job calls for before you hire anyone.
