Valparaiso Indiana Concrete Curbs – Winter Wear

Valparaiso is the seat of Porter County. The older blocks around the courthouse square still meet the street with poured curb and gutter. Those edges take plow traffic all winter. Plows run Lincolnway, and they run the side streets as well. So Concrete Curbs in Valparaiso are the first concrete a blade and a season of salt hit.

After a hard winter we see the same wear on job after job. The blade chips the top edge where it rides up. The gutter pan scales, and water sits in a low spot instead of running to the inlet. When a driveway cut already has a crack, the plow often breaks a chunk out of the return.

Indiana winters in this part of the state run cold enough for repeated freeze and thaw. Plows clear the streets after a snow. The blade has to track the curb to clean the lane. But a blade that rides high will nick the face on the high spots.

Concrete Curbs in Valparaiso before the next plow season

A sound curb has a straight face and a pan that slopes to the inlet. We have formed that line on older streets near downtown and on newer lots farther out. Because the plow rides that face all winter, the top edge has to stay full. The return at each driveway has to stay solid too.

The inlet only works if the pan still slopes to it. Leaves and grit collect in a low spot, and then the water sheets into the lane. When we set a new curb, we shoot that slope before the concrete shows up.

Salt keeps the surface wet while nights drop below freezing. Water gets into a small crack. Then it freezes, and the crack grows. So a gutter can pond after the thaw if the pan has scaled. We have pulled Concrete Curbs in Valparaiso with the stone already showing.

That ponding starts the street problem. Water that leaves the pan runs under the asphalt edge. After that, the pavement breaks up in a strip along the curb. So broken curb and gutter keeps coming back as street flatwork. But people notice the chips on the face from the sidewalk.

Replacing Concrete Curbs in Valparaiso after the thaw

When the job starts, we cut a line so the new curb ties into sound concrete. We pull the bad section and check the base. Then we set forms to the old flow line. We pour and finish the face while the mud is still workable. After that, we tool the joints so the curb can move a little in the next freeze.

We pour Concrete Curbs in Valparaiso along house frontages. On a house we often replace the curb return with the gutter pan beside it. When the sidewalk has a break at that same joint, we tear that piece out on the same visit. On a store lot the same crew can pour a longer commercial curb. For example, a service walk can go on that ticket if the walk is broken at the curb.

We write the material and the hours out line by line. We do not inflate the price of material to make a few extra dollars. Matching the old pan height matters on Concrete Curbs in Valparaiso so the inlet still catches the water. But the face also has to meet the sidewalk and the driveway.

After the forms come off, you can see that gutter face in photos of our finished flatwork. The page for our concrete curb work sits with the other flatwork we pour. That includes patch work and concrete removal when a curb is too far gone for a patch. We also handle concrete replacement and a tear out and replace on a failed pan. Cabe’s Concrete is family owned and operated, and the about us page covers the crew. We match the old joint spacing when we leave the adjacent curb in place.