Concrete Contractors in Lakeville, IN

Lakeville is a small town in Union Township, St. Joseph County, about 11 miles south of South Bend, and homeowners here look for concrete contractors for the usual reasons: a broken driveway, a shed that needs a floor, a patio for the back yard. The area was first settled in 1836, the railroad arrived in 1845 and the town was incorporated in 1902. It covers about 0.63 square miles and had 879 residents at the 2020 census.

Higher ground

Lakeville sits at about 853 feet, more than 130 feet above downtown South Bend at 719. That puts it on higher, generally better-drained ground than the river towns. It does not mean water is never a problem. Clay pockets, low corners of a lot and roof runoff all cause settling and heaving. We look at each yard and set the slope to match.

Common Lakeville projects

Garage and shed slabs. Many lots around Lakeville have room for a detached garage or a storage building. We pour slabs with a thickened edge, set anchor bolts and pitch the floor slightly toward the door.

Driveways. A lot of rural and small-town driveways start as gravel. Converting gravel to concrete means grading, compacting and adding to the stone base, then pouring a slab thick enough for the vehicles you own. If the drive is long, the section closest to the house can go in first and the rest later. Where a gravel drive meets the new concrete, we set the slab edge a little below the stone and thicken it, so loose gravel does not catch the edge and break it.

Walks and steps. A walk from the driveway to the front door, and steps that are even and solid, make winter much safer.

Patios. Plain or stamped, with a slope away from the house.

Repairs. Replacing broken sections without tearing out a whole slab that is still sound.

Get a Free Estimate

Why the town's history matters for your slab

By the 1890s, Wikipedia notes, 13 one-room schoolhouses served the area, and in 1898 they were consolidated into a single two-story elementary school in town. Lakeville High School went on the National Register in 1991. A town with that much history has homes from many eras. The older ones often have walks and steps laid with little or no base. The newer ones on the edges of town have builder slabs that may already show shrinkage cracks. Each one gets judged on its own terms: what is under it, how water reaches it and what will sit on it.

A small town with a long record

The Lakeville post office has been open since 1850, the town has a branch of the St. Joseph County Public Library, and its public schools are run by Union-North United Schools. Hoosier Racing Tire keeps its headquarters in Lakeville, though its manufacturing is in Plymouth. The 2010 census counted 438 housing units and 367 households, with an average household size of 2.14. In a town that size, the walk from the street to the door, the driveway apron and the front steps make up much of what passersby see.

Built for freeze-thaw

Every outdoor slab we pour in Lakeville uses air-entrained concrete, with control joints spaced to suit the thickness and a proper cure. Most flatwork here happens between spring and fall; a cold-weather pour needs blankets and a suitable mix. In its first winter, new concrete should get sand rather than salt.

We check whether the Town of Lakeville or St. Joseph County needs a permit for your work. Call (574) 475-3419 for a free estimate on driveways, patios, stamped concrete, sidewalks and steps, garage and shed slabs, or concrete repair.