We're Heartland Boston Concrete Company, a concrete contractor based in Boston, and we pour driveways, patios, walks and steps for homeowners in Watertown. Our own crew does the work, and we start with what goes under the slab.
(857) 770-0722
Most of the Watertown houses we work on are older homes, many of them two-family, with a narrow driveway running along the side and a small yard out back. The calls are usually about a driveway that's sinking at one end, a patio that's pooling water by the back door, or front steps that are chipping at the edges.
Front steps often sit close to the sidewalk, and side drives are sometimes shared with the house next door, so we work out where the truck parks and how the crew wheels material in before the tear-out starts.
We reply within one business day, and then I set a time to come out to your Watertown property and look at the job myself. The estimate is free and done on site, with no obligation and no pressure to book.
(857) 770-0722On Watertown lots most of our work is flatwork, the driveways, patios, walks and garage floors that lie flat on the ground, and a lot of it is breaking out and replacing narrow side drives and short front walks. We rebuild front steps that have chipped or pulled away from the house, build short retaining walls where a backyard drops off, and pour new floors in older garages. When you're adding on or replacing what holds the house up, we handle foundation installation and footings too.
In Watertown, building permits go through the city's Inspectional Services office, which requires one for most work on or in a structure, and since its list of exceptions doesn't name driveways or patios, that's a question we put to the Inspector of Buildings before we set a date. Bigger jobs like new construction or an addition can need approval from Zoning or the Department of Public Works before the building permit, so foundation work usually has an extra step ahead of it. Before work starts, we check with the city about the permits your job may need and help you get the paperwork in order.
What moves the price on a Watertown job is mostly what you can't see once it's poured. That's how much old concrete we break out and haul away, how much soft ground we dig out and replace with packed base, and how far the crew carries material on a narrow lot. The finish matters too, from a broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives feet and tires some grip, up to stamped patterns, while the schedule turns on the permit answer and the curing wait, and you get your own figure and dates at the estimate. We're based in Boston, a short drive away, and we see the same older lots and tight side drives across the cities around it.
I come out to see your job and give the estimate myself, so the person who looked at your ground is the one on site when we pour. Our own crew does the work with me running it, and you have one person to ask about anything along the way.
If something has to give, I'd rather trim the finish than the base, because nobody sees the base on day one but it decides whether the slab settles. We dig out the soft dirt and pack the base properly, since a plain slab on good ground usually outlasts a fancy one on bad ground.
We're licensed and insured, and we've been in business since 2017, when I went full time after years of pouring walkways and steps for neighbors on weekends. I learned the trade beside older finishers who cared more about the prep than the finish, and that's still how we work.
I'd rather explain something twice than leave you wondering, so the estimate spells out what we're breaking out, what goes under the new slab and which finish you're paying for. Satisfaction guaranteed. When you're ready, call (857) 770-0722 or use the form on this page.
There's no fair number until I've seen the spot, because most of the cost on a Watertown driveway is in the tear-out and the base, not the concrete on top. Thickness and rebar, the steel set inside the slab to hold it together if it cracks, add to it, and so does a stamped or colored finish. The estimate breaks each of those out so you can see where the money goes.
Start with a walk-around before anyone picks a finish, because the base and the drainage decide how the slab holds up. On that visit we look at where the water runs now, check what's under the old concrete where we can, and make sure the new slab falls away from the house. Then we settle the permit question with the city and set the dates, and you can call (857) 770-0722 or use the form to get that first visit on the calendar.
You're without it from the day we break out the old slab until the new one has cured enough to take a car, and we give you those dates before we start. Curing is the wait while the concrete gains strength, and you'll be walking on it well before you're driving on it. If you share a side drive with a neighbor, we plan the pour so both houses know when the cars stay on the street.
Most cracking and sinking start under the slab, with a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so it settles with the dirt. Water running toward the house, a pour in midday heat that leaves a weak, dusty top, and control joints cut late or skipped add to it, control joints being the grooves we cut on purpose so the slab cracks along a line we chose. We pack the subgrade, which is the ground the slab sits on, check where the water goes, and time the pour and the joint cuts around the day.
The city lists a retaining wall less than 48 inches high among the exceptions to its building permit rule. A taller wall isn't on that list, so we ask the city about it before we build. We measure the height you need at the estimate so you know which side of that line your wall falls on.
The city lists installing or building a shed less than 200 square feet among the work that doesn't need a building permit. That exception names the shed, not the slab or footings under it, so we confirm the pad with the city before we pour. A bigger shed falls outside the exception, so plan on asking about a permit for the whole job.
The city's Conservation Commission takes wetland permits and conservation questions. If your yard sits near a wetland, that's something to settle with the commission before we plan the dig-out. We'll go over it with you when we look at the job.
