Garage floor concrete in Auburn ME - a slab that stays flat under your car
Cracked, sunken or chipping garage floor? We break out the old slab, pack the ground underneath and pour a floor that holds your car.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What goes into replacing a garage floor in Auburn?
Garage floor concrete in Auburn means breaking out a cracked or sinking slab, rebuilding the ground under it and pouring a new floor that stays flat under your car for years. The pour itself goes quickly. Most of the time goes into the base before it and the wait before you park on it after.
You're probably looking at a floor that's cracked across the middle, dropped near the door or holds a puddle every time the car drips. The price comes down mostly to the size of the floor, how much old concrete has to come out and how much bad ground is hiding under it, which I can't fully know until the slab is up. The schedule turns on the weather and on the cure, because the floor needs time before the car goes back on it. We're based in Auburn and work in Lewiston, Portland and plenty of other cities around them, and the written estimate I give you after looking at your garage has your own number. If the apron outside the door is just as bad, I'll look at the driveway while I'm there.
How we pour garage floor concrete that holds up
We break out the old floor and haul it off, then dig down to firm ground, because most bad garage floors failed from the ground up, not from the top. Next we build back the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, with stone packed down in layers. We take our time there, since nobody sees it once the concrete's in and it decides how the floor holds up. We set the forms so the floor falls toward the door and not toward the house, put in rebar, the steel that ties the slab together, where the job calls for it, and pour early in the day so the top doesn't bake and turn dusty. After finishing, we cut control joints, shallow grooves that tell the slab where to crack so it cracks in a straight line instead of across the middle. Then it cures, the slow wait while it gains strength. If the budget gets tight, people want to trim the base and keep the nice finish, and I'll argue the other way, because a pretty floor on soft dirt is just a nicer-looking crack waiting to happen. We'll also tell you when it's ready for the car, because parking on it early undoes good work fast.
Some garage jobs run into other work. If you'd like the walk or patio next to the garage to be more than plain gray, that's our decorative concrete work, and if the garage is cut into a slope that keeps pushing dirt and water at it, concrete retaining walls hold the grade back so your new floor isn't fighting it.
Tear out and replace an old floor
This suits a garage whose floor has cracked, sunk or broken up at the door, because patching rarely holds when the ground under it is the problem. We take it down to firm dirt and start over, so the new slab isn't resting on the old mistake.
A new floor for a new garage
This suits a garage that's being built or added on, where the floor goes in after the footings and walls. We pack and grade the base before the pour, which is easier to get right while nothing's in the way.
What Auburn means for your garage floor concrete job
Auburn's permit list doesn't settle a garage floor either way. The city has Permitting and Code Enforcement handle building permits and Public Works handle fill and excavation permits, and garage floors aren't on that list. So before we book your job, we check with the city on what it needs, and if a permit is called for, we handle the application. The state also puts following the state building code on the building owner, whether or not it's enforced locally, which is one more reason to pour it right the first time.
A lot of the garage floors we tear out were poured straight on whatever dirt was there, and after enough Maine winters of meltwater and road salt dripping off the car, they've cracked, dropped or chipped at the door. We see the same tired floors on jobs in Lewiston and Portland, and we fix them the same way, digging out the soft stuff and building the base back up before the truck comes.
Why Auburn homeowners call Sterling Auburn Concrete for a garage floor
I give the estimate myself
I come out, look at the floor and write the estimate, and I lead the crew that does the work. The person who looked at your ground is the one standing on it when the base goes in.
Pouring slabs here since 2013
We've been in business since 2013, and the first slab I ever poured was a barn floor on our family farm. Thirteen years of floors teaches you which shortcuts show up a couple of winters later.
Licensed and fully insured, plainly
We're licensed and fully insured. With a crew, a breaker and a concrete truck in your driveway, you shouldn't have to wonder who's carrying the risk.
Your job in writing first
Maine law says a home construction contract over $3,000 in materials or labor has to be in writing, signed by you and us, with a copy for each of us before work begins. That way you know exactly what you're getting before we break up the old floor.
The ground under a garage floor is the one part you can't fix later, so have me look at it before you decide anything. Send us a message or call (207) 707-4423 and I'll come out.
Request a quoteGet a written estimate for your new garage floor
We reply within one business day. The estimate is free, done on site and comes with no obligation. Once you send the form, I'll set a time to come out, measure the garage and ask how you use it.
What happens after you call about a garage floor in Auburn?
Call or send the form
Call (207) 707-4423 or use the form, and we'll find a time for me to come by. It helps to know roughly how big the garage is and when you'd like the work done.
I measure and write it up
I look at the old floor, measure it and ask how you use the garage, whether that's two cars or a workbench and a snowblower. You get a written estimate, so the number is on paper and not just something I said in your driveway.
We check permits and book
Once you're ready, we check what the permit office needs and set a pour date that suits the job. The base goes in and gets packed before any concrete shows up.
We pour, cure and walk it
We finish the floor, cure it properly and walk it with you before we pack up. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a new concrete garage floor cost in Auburn?
Across the US, replacing a garage floor usually costs about $10 to $16 per square foot, including breaking out the old slab and hauling the debris away. That's the going rate nationally, not our price, and your floor's cost moves with its size, how much bad ground has to come out and whether it's a winter pour. The written estimate after I've seen it gives you your own number.
How long before I can park in my garage after a new concrete floor?
Plan on keeping cars off it for 7 days, even though you can usually walk on it after 24 to 48 hours. Those are national figures, and the active work usually runs 2 to 4 days, so line up somewhere else to park for the week.
Can you pour a concrete garage floor in an Auburn winter?
Yes, as long as the frost comes out of the ground first and the concrete is kept warm afterward with blankets or heaters. Concrete poured on frozen ground breaks from below once the soil thaws and settles, and most concrete should cure for at least 7 days above 40°F, which is why a winter pour takes more work than a summer one.
Where do I ask about a permit for a garage floor in Auburn?
Ask the city's departments, which answer questions about what permits a project needs, and completed applications go back to them at Auburn Hall, 60 Court Street. As I said above, we check this with the city before we book your job.
What causes a concrete garage floor to crack and sink?
Uneven ground underneath is the usual cause, because soil that isn't evenly compacted settles unevenly and cracks the slab no matter how thick or strong the concrete is. One guide to the national building code calls ground preparation the most important factor in how a slab performs. The same guide notes that wire mesh mainly holds crack edges together after a crack, so heavier loads call for a thicker slab rather than mesh alone.
How do I protect a new concrete garage floor from road salt?
Use clean sand for traction instead of deicers on new concrete where you can, and hose off the salt that drips from your car when the weather allows, since heavy deicer use raises the chance of scaling, the top flaking off. Industry guidance also says concrete facing hard freezing and thawing should be good quality air-entrained concrete, a mix with tiny air bubbles built in, so it's fair to ask for it by name.
Other concrete work that goes with a garage floor
Decorative concrete
If the garage is getting a fresh floor, the walk or patio beside it may deserve color or pattern worked right into the concrete instead of plain gray.
Concrete retaining walls
When the garage sits into a slope and dirt keeps pushing toward the driveway or the foundation, a concrete wall holds the grade back so water and soil stay where they belong.
Auburn, ME
Get your garage floor poured right
Have the garage's size in square feet and your preferred timing handy when you call or send the form, and we can get to your estimate faster.