Twenty years of driveways, patios, slabs and repairs priced from the ground up, with the mix, reinforcing and joint schedule named on every quote.
San Marcos Elite Concrete has placed, repaired and finished concrete in San Marcos, Texas for more than twenty years: driveways, slabs and pads, patios, pool decks, sidewalks, retaining walls, stamped and polished work, resurfacing, leveling and commercial flatwork. Every quote names the mix, the reinforcing, the joint schedule and the base underneath, because those four decisions are what a slab actually stands on.
That matters more here than in most markets. Clipped to the San Marcos city polygon, SSURGO puts Vertisols under 46.8 percent of the city and Mollisols under 45.0 percent: deep shrink-swell clay and shallow limestone-derived soil in roughly equal measure. Two lots a mile apart can need different thicknesses, different reinforcing and different excavation equipment, and the excavator is where a guess gets found.
We read the rules for the jurisdiction your lot sits in, not the one next door. Residential foundation work inside the San Marcos city limits is an engineered item by local amendment: IRC Section R106.1.1.1, added by Sec. 14.041, requires every foundation to be designed by a licensed and registered engineer and closed out with a sealed letter of conformance. You learn which rules apply before paying for anything.
What we do
Concrete contractors serving San Marcos and the I-35 corridor
Concrete repair in San Marcos, TX for settled slabs, cracks, spalling, trip hazards and commercial panel repair, diagnosed before it is quoted.
Slab jacking, stabilization and polyurethane foam injection to raise settled concrete in San Marcos, TX, quoted against the cost of replacement.
New and replacement concrete driveways in San Marcos, TX, with base, reinforcing, joint layout and the city-reviewed approach all handled.
Stamped concrete patios, entries, courtyards and pool decks in San Marcos, TX, with pattern, color and sealer planned before the pour.
Concrete slabs and pads in San Marcos, TX for shops, sheds, RV parking and equipment bases, sized to the load and documented before the pour.
Concrete patios in San Marcos, TX sized around your furniture, graded away from the house, in broom, stamped, exposed aggregate or colored finishes.
Polished concrete floors in San Marcos, TX for shops, garages, warehouses and interiors, with grit and exposure agreed from test patches.
Concrete resurfacing in San Marcos, TX with bonded overlays, microtoppings and stamped systems, quoted only after the slab beneath is tested.
Concrete pool decks in San Marcos, TX built and resurfaced to stay cool barefoot and grippy wet, with drainage and coping joints detailed properly.
Poured concrete retaining walls in San Marcos, TX designed for the retained soil, with drainage, backfill and footings detailed rather than assumed.
Concrete sidewalks and walkways in San Marcos, TX built to ordinance width and accessible route tolerances, with trip hazards measured first.
Commercial concrete in San Marcos, TX for parking lots, dumpster pads, aprons, curb ramps and accessible routes, phased so the doors stay open.
We have placed concrete along the Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio for more than twenty years, across two building markets and six counties with their own inspection cultures and published details. The value is not sentiment: we have already read the ordinance, already hit refusal on the rock, and already had a load rejected over an incomplete delivery ticket.
Every bid names the jurisdiction it was written for, because the rules here genuinely reverse: Cibolo’s Sec. 14-5(b)(16) requires a minimum six inch by six inch, number six gauge welded wire fabric in sidewalks and driveways, while Lockhart’s Sec. 12-27 prohibits welded wire fabric in slab foundations and driveways outright, so your flatwork passes inspection rather than getting cut out over a neighboring city’s detail.
No number leaves this office before somebody has looked at what the slab will sit on. Canyon Lake hits rock at roughly twelve to fourteen inches while Houston Black clay inside San Marcos carries a representative plasticity index of 44, so your excavation line is real rather than a placeholder revised the morning the machine arrives.
Joints are never spaced by eye. We cut to the published schedule, at twenty four to thirty six times the slab thickness, capped at fifteen feet, with panels held inside a one and a half to one aspect ratio, so the slab relieves along a sawcut you chose rather than diagonally across a panel left too long and narrow.
You get a copy of the ticket for every load. The specification requires machine stamped batch time and date, the weights of cement, fly ash, sand and aggregates, and the admixture names and quantities, so an incomplete ticket is grounds to reject the load at the curb rather than a question nobody can answer once the surface scales.
Where your lot sits over the Edwards Aquifer gets checked at the lot, not the city. On a lattice of 4,361 points inside the San Marcos city polygon, 15.0 percent fall in the Recharge Zone and 16.0 percent in the Transition Zone, so plan-approval paperwork is identified before earthwork rather than after a stop-work notice.
Every residential foundation inside the city limits arrives with an engineer’s design and leaves with a sealed letter of conformance, because Sec. 14.041 amends IRC R106.1.1.1 to require it, so your inspection is scheduled around a document we already hold rather than stalled while somebody hunts for an engineer.
A concrete job runs from a look at the ground through excavation, subgrade, base, reinforcing, forms, the pour, finishing, joint cutting and curing before anyone drives on it. We put that sequence in writing at bid time with dates attached, because the day you get your driveway back usually matters more than the price per square foot.
Our service area crosses Hays, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Travis and Bastrop counties, and the flatwork rules are not harmonized across them. We keep the current amendments per jurisdiction rather than working from one regional habit, which is why the same patio detail can be correct in one city and rejected six miles away.
Houston Black clay on 1 to 3 percent slopes covers 13.97 percent of San Marcos, and its dominant component carries a representative plasticity index of 44, a liquid limit of 70 and linear extensibility of 12.0 percent through the upper 60 inches. Ground that moves that much gets thickness, steel and joint spacing chosen for it rather than a default detail.
Some lots read as benign at the surface and are not. A sandy or loamy top horizon over a high plasticity subsoil is a claypan, and the movement lives in the layer you cannot see from the driveway. We test below the surface horizon, because the wrong read here produces a slab that cracks in its second summer.
Refusal is where the excavator stops, and depth and hardness both matter. Weakly coherent paralithic bedrock can be ripped with ordinary equipment; indurated lithic bedrock at 30 centimeters, as under Comfort soils, generally cannot. We price rock as rock and name which kind we expect, so a hammer day is a line you approved rather than a change order at lunchtime.
A driveway becomes public work the moment it crosses into the right of way, and the approach is reviewed against city geometry rather than your preference. San Marcos Code Table I in Sec. 74.193 sets single-family two-way approaches at 10 to 20 feet wide with a 5.0-foot radius. We build the approach to the table and the private drive to your use.
Shop floors, shed pads, RV parking, generator pads and equipment bases each carry a different load and a different tolerance for movement. A generator wants a level, isolated pad; RV parking wants thickness and edge support where the wheels sit. We size thickness, reinforcing and turndown edges to the actual load rather than pouring one four inch slab for everything.
Under the slab sits compacted subgrade, then flexible base course or sand bedding, then a vapor retarder where the space will be conditioned. Compaction is measured against proctor density rather than assessed by boot, and an ASTM E1745 ten mil vapor barrier is lapped and sealed. We photograph each layer before the pour.
Reinforcement does not stop concrete cracking; it holds the crack tight once it happens. Number four and number three rebar on chairs at mid-depth does that well, macro synthetic fiber controls plastic shrinkage cracking without being a structural substitute, and welded wire fabric works only if it stays chaired off the base. We name which your jurisdiction requires and which your slab needs.
San Marcos averages 104.6 days a year above 90 degrees against 18.5 below freezing, on the NOAA 1991-2020 normals at station USC00417983. Hot weather placement is planned around the temperature of the concrete rather than the calendar, because the discharge limit is keyed to the concrete itself: earlier starts, chilled water or retarder where warranted, and curing that begins immediately.
A sinking driveway is almost never the concrete failing. It is the material underneath consolidating, washing out through a downspout path or a leaking line, or shrinking in a dry summer and leaving a void the slab drops into. We find the mechanism before quoting a lift, because raising a slab over an unfixed water path buys the same settlement again.
The first three feet inside the garage door fails first because two slabs meet there with different supports: the garage slab sits on the house foundation and the driveway sits on fill. The joint opens, water gets in, and the driveway end drops. We treat that as an isolation joint problem plus a void problem rather than a crack to caulk.
A hairline map of crazing, a shrinkage crack that stays tight, and a crack with vertical displacement or a widening mouth are three different findings. We measure width, offset and whether the crack passes through full depth before recommending anything, and that appointment routinely saves people from paying for a replacement they did not need.
These are three operations, not three names for one. Slab jacking raises a settled slab back to grade, slab stabilization fills a void under a slab that has not moved yet, and mudjacking names the older cement-slurry method for doing either. We quote them separately, because a bid that bundles them hides which one you are buying.
Polyurethane foam injection uses small holes, cures in minutes and adds very little weight to ground already struggling. Cement slurry mudjacking is heavier, cheaper per cubic foot, and fills large voids economically. We match the method to the soil and the void rather than selling whichever is on the truck, and we say which we are proposing and why.
Repair and replacement get compared with published figures on the table rather than a rule of thumb about a third of the slab. Partial depth repair, crack chasing, epoxy injection and overlays each have a range where they are the better buy, and a point past which tear out is cheaper. We show where your slab sits on that line.
A notice about the walk in front of your property carries a compliance window, and the obligation usually sits with the adjoining owner rather than the city. We read the notice, measure what was cited, and quote the specific defect rather than the whole frontage, which is the difference between one panel and a hundred feet of new sidewalk.
Vertical displacement is measured, not eyeballed. Up to a quarter inch is permitted, a quarter to a half inch is acceptable where beveled at one to two, and anything over a half inch has to be ramped. We measure before quoting, so a grind is proposed where a grind clears it and replacement only where the number requires it.
A film forming acrylic sealer that turns white has usually trapped moisture beneath it, and adding more sealer makes it worse. We identify whether the product is film forming or penetrating, strip where stripping is the answer, and reset the reseal interval in writing, because treating sealer as a one-time purchase is what produces the blotching.
On newer construction the answer often sits in the Residential Construction Liability Act at Texas Property Code 27.004, which sets a notice and offer-to-repair sequence before anything else happens. We document the condition and tell you plainly when the right first call is your builder rather than us, because losing that route is an expensive way to save an appointment.
Stamped concrete presses a mat into fresh concrete to imitate stone, brick, slate or plank, so the pattern name describes the mat rather than a material you are buying. Color comes from integral color, a color hardener, or a release agent that also keeps the mat clean. We show samples poured in your light rather than a catalog photograph.
A broom finish gives traction outdoors and hides minor variation, a float finish is coarser and forgiving, a hard trowel finish is dense and smooth and belongs indoors because it is slick when wet, and a salt finish pits the surface deliberately for grip around water. We match finish to where the slab is and how wet it gets.
Exposed aggregate is produced by washing or retarding the surface paste to reveal the coarse aggregate underneath, so what you see is the gradation your ready mix supplier delivered. The stone has to be specified before the pour, not chosen after it, so we agree the aggregate and the exposure depth up front.
Integral color is mixed through the load and cannot wear off, acid stain reacts chemically with the concrete for variegated permanent tones, water based stain sits closer to the surface with a wider palette, and dye is the brightest and least UV stable. We steer dyes indoors and reserve integral color and acid stain for full sun.
You do not have to stamp a whole slab to get a decorative one. A sawcut pattern, a contrasting border or a band of stamped texture around a broom finished field costs a fraction of a full stamp and often reads better at scale. We lay these out to fall on the joints the slab needs anyway.
Polished concrete is ground with progressively finer diamond abrasives and hardened with a densifier, and the grit number names the last pass rather than the shine. A lower grit leaves a matte, low-maintenance floor while higher grits produce reflectivity that shows every scuff. We agree grit level and densifier before starting, because grinding back is not easy.
A concrete overlay or microtopping bonds a thin cementitious layer over sound existing concrete, and a self leveling underlayment corrects a floor gone out of plane. None of them fix a slab that is moving. We check the substrate for hollow areas, active cracks and moisture first, and say plainly when resurfacing would only postpone a replacement.
A pool deck has two jobs a patio does not: staying walkable barefoot in July and holding grip while wet. Lighter colors run cooler, and a salt finish, broom finish or textured overlay all buy traction. We keep hard trowel finishes and dark integral color away from pool surrounds, because both fail those two tests at once.
Penetrating siloxane sealers soak in and change appearance very little, while acrylic and polyurethane film forming sealers add gloss and can peel, blush or blotch if applied thick, over damp concrete or in direct sun. We name the product and the reseal interval on the quote, so maintenance is scheduled rather than a surprise in year three.
A recorded declaration and an architectural control committee can restrict color, finish, extent of paving and sometimes the contractor. We ask for the design guidelines before drawings rather than after, because an approval sought late is the most common reason a decorative job sits unpoured, and checking costs an email.
A failing concrete lot is rarely uniformly failing. Partial depth repair, full depth panel replacement and complete tear out carry different unit costs and very different closure windows, and mixing them intelligently is where the money is saved. We map the lot panel by panel and give you a phased scope rather than one number for the whole surface.
A curb ramp is where accessibility work most often gets rejected, because slope, landing, flare and the detectable warning surface all have to be right at once. Truncated domes have specified size, spacing and contrast, and a built-up ramp is a different detail from one at a curb line. We build to Texas Accessibility Standards.
An accessible route is a continuous path, and it fails at its worst point rather than on average. Running slope and cross slope both carry tolerances, and cross slope on a walk beside a drive is where inspections catch contractors out. We shoot grades before forming and check again before the pour, because concrete out of tolerance is removed rather than adjusted.
Residential communities carry counts for resident spaces and separate counts for visitor and common-area parking, and the access aisle geometry has to work with the accessible route from the space to the entrance. We count and lay out both categories rather than treating the lot as one calculation, because a compliant total with the spaces in the wrong place still fails.
Some projects have to be submitted and registered before construction, and the threshold turns on project value and occupancy rather than square footage alone. We identify whether yours crosses that line at bid time and say who is responsible for filing, because finding out afterward means an inspection nobody budgeted and a schedule that no longer works.
A dumpster pad takes point loads from steel wheels and repeated impact from a front-load truck, so a lot-standard four inch slab does not survive it. Thickness, reinforcing and an approach apron sized for the truck’s turning radius are the whole job. Where a city publishes the specification we build to it exactly.
A commercial approach is reviewed by the city rather than approved on site. San Marcos requires approaches no closer than 100 feet to the corner of an intersecting right-of-way, limits them to no more than 70 percent of a tract’s roadway frontage under one use, and permits no more than two on a parcel of 150 feet of frontage or less.
How your project is taxed depends on whether the work is new construction or repair and remodeling, and on whether the property counts as residential. An apartment complex is treated as residential here, which surprises owners who assume a commercial address means commercial treatment. We follow the Comptroller’s published guidance and set the contract up correctly the first time.
Impervious cover is the share of your lot that sheds water instead of absorbing it, and over the Edwards Aquifer the exemptions in 30 TAC 213 turn on staying under twenty percent. Crossing that line with a new patio or an extended drive can pull a lot into permanent controls, so we calculate the added area and tell you before the pour.
A business that stays open needs its entrance, its accessible route and its delivery access working every day of the job. We phase pours in sections, keep a compliant temporary route in place, and program cure times against your trading hours.
San Marcos Elite Concrete provides concrete-contractor throughout the greater San Marcos area, with the same crews and the same standards on every job.
Good to know
Price is driven by the ground under the slab, the thickness and reinforcing the use requires, the finish, and access for trucks and equipment. Excavation is the line that moves most here, because rock and high plasticity clay sit within a few miles of each other. We quote in writing after looking at the lot, with the mix, reinforcing, joint schedule and base itemized.
Most residential flatwork is a two to four day sequence on site: excavation and base, then forms and reinforcing, then the pour and finish, then joint cutting. The waiting afterward is the longer part. Foot traffic is usually fine after a day and vehicles after seven, though we set exact dates against the mix and the weather before we start.
Texas does not license concrete contractors at the state level, so the meaningful questions are insurance and the permits your job needs. We carry insurance and pull the permits the jurisdiction requires rather than leaving them with the homeowner. Inside the San Marcos city limits, residential foundation work also needs an engineer's design and a sealed letter of conformance, which we coordinate.
The mix is specified to the job rather than ordered by habit. Residential flatwork commonly runs at 3000 to 4000 PSI compressive strength, with water cement ratio, air entrainment, slump and aggregate gradation set by what the slab has to do. We name the mix on the quote and hand you the delivery ticket for every load.
Every concrete slab moves, and the honest answer is that we control where it cracks rather than promising it will not. Control joints cut to the published schedule give the slab a planned line to relieve on, and reinforcing keeps the crack tight once it forms. What you should not accept is random cracking across a panel, which traces back to joints cut late, shallow or by eye.
It depends on the jurisdiction and on whether the work touches the right of way. A driveway approach is reviewed against city geometry almost everywhere in this service area, while a patio behind the house often needs nothing. Work over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone can trigger plan approval independently of the city. We identify what applies to your address at bid time.
Often, and we would rather tell you that than sell a replacement. Partial depth repair, crack chasing, epoxy injection, grinding a trip hazard, slab jacking a settled section and resurfacing are all cheaper than tear out where the slab is fundamentally sound. Where it is not, we say so. The test is whether the concrete is still supported and structurally intact.
Scheduling depends on the season and on whether your job needs an engineer's design, a permit or a plan approval ahead of it. Those approvals, not our crew, usually set the start date. We give a realistic date at quote time and name which approval is the long pole.
Yes, including parking lots, dumpster and container pads, approach aprons, sidewalks, curb ramps and accessible routes. Commercial work carries requirements residential does not, particularly Texas Accessibility Standards on any pedestrian route and city review on any approach.
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