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Driveways, walkways and patios

Concrete Driveway and Patio Contractor in Shadow Mountain, Phoenix, AZ

Extra parking in Shadow Mountain, poured in a single day.

Phoenix · Caliche desert floor

Shadow Mountain is a mostly 1970s North Phoenix neighborhood around the small Shadow Mountain preserve, just a couple of miles from our office. Many homes here have a one-car-wide driveway that made sense back then and feels tight now. One of our posted jobs in the neighborhood is a 300-square-foot driveway extension for extra parking, finished in one day and matched to the existing grade.

(602) 773-1313
Broom finishControl jointsRebar on chairsAggregate base courseCaliche, broken outMix adjusted for heat
A driveway on caliche
Serving ZIP 85022, 85032 · Maricopa County, ArizonaPermits and right-of-way work: The City of Phoenix
About Shadow Mountain

Working in Shadow Mountain

Shadow Mountain is a mostly 1970s neighborhood in North Phoenix around the small Shadow Mountain preserve. One of our posted jobs here is a 300-square-foot driveway extension for extra parking, finished in one day and matched to the existing grade.

Matching grade is the part people notice. The new concrete has to meet the old slab cleanly, carry water toward the street and stay level where tires roll across the joint. We dig to firm ground, break out caliche that sits high and set rebar on chairs before the pour. Work in the right-of-way follows City of Phoenix rules. The estimate is free, and you get a printed quote first.

The ground under Shadow Mountain

Caliche desert floor

Gravelly desert soil on the fans and terraces of the Valley floor, often with a layer of caliche, soil cemented hard by calcium carbonate or silica, anywhere from a few inches to a few feet down.

Caliche does not dig like dirt, and it does not drain like it either. A tight layer will not let rain or sprinkler water soak through, so the water sits on top of it and softens the soil above. Where caliche is broken out and thrown back in loose, or a slab goes over a soft, wet pocket, the base settles unevenly and the slab cracks over it. Breaking it out takes a breaker or a jackhammer, which is why it often shows up as its own line on a Phoenix quote.

How we build in Shadow Mountain

Dig to firm ground, break out caliche that sits high in the base and haul it off the site, bring in aggregate base compacted in lifts, and slope the slab and the grade so roof and sprinkler water run away from it and off the hardpan.

What fails here first

  • Slabs sunk or cracked beside sprinkler beds and downspouts
  • Water standing along an edge for days after a storm
  • Corners and edges dropped below the next panel
  • Cracks that keep opening over the same low spot
Twelve things worth a look

Signs your Shadow Mountain concrete needs attention

One of these is worth an estimate. Several together usually mean the base underneath has given up, and patching on top won’t hold.

  1. 01Slabs sunk or cracked beside sprinkler beds and downspouts
  2. 02Water standing along an edge for days after a storm
  3. 03Corners and edges dropped below the next panel
  4. 04Cracks that keep opening over the same low spot
  5. 05Cracks wider than a pencil
  6. 06Panels that rock or sound hollow
  7. 07Sections that have sunk or lifted
  8. 08Water pooling on the surface
  9. 09Flaking, scaling or pitting
  10. 10Crumbling edges and corners
  11. 11Trip edges between panels
  12. 12Patch on top of patch
Our process

How a Shadow Mountain project runs

  1. 01

    Free Estimate

    Call, text or send the form. We come out to look at the space, measure it and talk through what you want, and we can do a drive-by estimate if your schedule is tight.

  2. 02

    Printed Quote

    You get a printed quote on the spot, free of charge, with the project details and a clear breakdown of the cost. You decide if and when to go ahead.

  3. 03

    Install

    Once you approve it, we schedule the work, prepare the site and pour, finish and cure your concrete with methods planned for the heat and the monsoon.

  4. 04

    Final Walkthrough

    We’ll review the completed work with you, answer your questions, and make sure you know how to care for your new concrete.

Shadow Mountain questions

Straight answers

Sam The Concrete Man North Phoenix fixes cracked driveways in Shadow Mountain, where most slabs were poured around the 1970s on caliche ground. After that long, cracks can come from settling, roots, or a base that was thin from the start. We seal stable cracks, level panels that sank in one piece, and replace broken panels to the joints on a fresh base, with the estimate naming the repair your slab needs.

Find us on Google Maps

Our crews drive out to Shadow Mountain from our North Phoenix base.

Concrete in Shadow Mountain? Let’s talk.

Tell us what you're planning. We'll look at your space, learn what you need, and talk through the best options for your project.

(602) 773-1313