Concrete Parking Lot Building in Quincy MA - a lot that drains and holds its shape

The owners who call us usually have an asphalt lot that's breaking up, a gravel lot that turns to mud, or a new building that needs parking, and they want to know if concrete is worth it. The price moves with the size of the lot, what has to come out first and what trucks will run on it, and the schedule mostly turns on whether the city's permit is needed and on the forecast for pour day. If an old slab has to come out in pieces, concrete cutting becomes part of the job, and your written estimate spells out everything that's included so you can see what you're paying for.

Before I measure anything, I ask what trucks use the lot, because garbage and delivery trucks can change how it's built, from how thick the slab is to where the rebar goes, the steel bars that hold a slab together if it cracks. We also talk through drainage and how you plan to handle salt, since those two decide how well the lot holds up over the years. On the job, our crew digs out to firm subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, packs a stone base in layers and sets the forms so water runs off the lot and away from the building. We pour early in the day so the heat doesn't leave a weak, dusty top, then give it a broom finish, a light texture dragged across the surface so tires and shoes grip. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the concrete a straight line to crack along instead of a random one, before it has a chance to crack on its own, and then it cures, which is the wait while it gains strength before anyone parks on it. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather spend on the base than on anything you can see, because a nice surface on a base that settles still breaks.

Parking lots often come with other concrete work around them. Light poles, a sign or a low wall along the edge each need concrete footings, solid bases poured down in the ground, and we set those before the lot goes in. If water has been running off the old lot toward a building and part of its foundation has sunk, we can look at foundation raising while we fix the drainage that caused it.

In Quincy, the city's Department of Public Works takes applications for its stormwater management and land disturbance permit, which covers digging and grading work like a new lot. The city counts a paved lot as impervious surface, ground that rain can't soak into, so the water off your lot has to go somewhere that's been planned for. Whether your lot needs the permit comes down to a size threshold, and the Department of Public Works can tell you the current figure, which we check with them before we set a date. The same rules aim to keep concrete truck washout under control on site because it can hurt water quality, so we keep the rinse-out contained and haul it away instead of letting it run into the street.

Many of the lots we're asked about here sit behind small apartment buildings, shops and offices, with tight turns and a dumpster tucked in a corner, so we plan the truck path and the drainage together. We see the same kinds of lots on jobs in Braintree and Weymouth, and we build them the same way.