Concrete Contractors in Bend, Oregon

Common concrete projects in Bend

A patio, a driveway that carries trucks and a structural foundation don’t need the same slab. Here’s what to focus on for each.

Driveways

Vehicle loads, snow and de-icer make this the toughest residential slab. Get thickness, base, reinforcement and the joint plan in writing, and tell bidders about RVs, trailers or delivery trucks. Where your street has a curb or sidewalk, the City of Bend requires a concrete apron in the right-of-way. Driveway checklist.

Photo: Superior Concrete Restorations

Patios

Slope it away from the house, plan where downspouts and sprinklers will drain, and decide now about a hot-tub pad, fire pit or a future covered patio whose posts need footings. Curves look great but add joints.

Photo: Endurance Concrete

Foundations, shop and garage slabs

Structural concrete follows engineered or builder plans and a building permit, so the questions shift to schedule, inspections and who coordinates with your builder. S&S Concrete, Kelly J. Witt and Mountain Peak all list foundations or shop slabs.

Photo: Fire & Ice Concrete

Sidewalks, steps and other flatwork

Walks, steps, landings, RV pads, hot-tub pads and shed slabs. If the sidewalk is the public one in front of your house, it sits in the city right-of-way: you’re responsible for keeping it in repair, and the fix needs a permit and a city-qualified contractor (see permits).

Photo: Oregon Department of Transportation, CC BY 2.0

Stamped and decorative concrete

Stamped, stained, colored and exposed-aggregate finishes give a patio or walk a more finished look, but every decorative step adds a variable. Ask to see recent work in the exact finish you want, ideally a job that has been through a winter, and talk through:

• Integral (mixed-in) color vs. surface-applied color
• Release agent and antiquing
• Sealer type, sheen and slip resistance when it’s icy
• How often it needs resealing
• Color variation between pours
• How a repair will match later

Decorative concrete is still concrete: the base, air content and joints underneath matter just as much. Fire & Ice (stamped, acid-stained, exposed aggregate), Endurance, Kelly J. Witt and Mountain Peak all show decorative work.

Repair, resurface or replace?

NRMCA’s guidance is blunt: a repaired surface “will only be as strong as the base surface to which it is bonded,” so every weak or loose layer has to come off first. Don’t pay for a cosmetic coating to hide a structural problem. For a sense of repair pricing, Superior Concrete Restorations publishes approximate rates of $5.50 a square foot for resurfacing, $1.75–$3.25 for sealing and $3–$15 a linear foot for crack repair.

Built for Bend: what decides whether concrete lasts

Water that soaks into concrete expands when it freezes. Repeat that a hundred-plus nights a year, add snowmelt and de-icer, and weak surfaces flake off. NRMCA calls this scaling and lists four main causes: too little entrained air, too much salt on weak or poorly cured concrete, finishing while bleed water is on the surface, and not enough curing. Each of the items below is something to ask about.

The best time to pour concrete in Bend

NOAA 1991–2020 normals for Bend. “Easy window” = fewer than four freezing nights in an average month.

Summer is the easy season. Late June through mid-September averages almost no freezing nights. A pour in late July or August also leaves time for the slab to cure and be sealed before winter; NRMCA calls late summer the ideal time for a sealer. The tradeoff is heat and wind: ask how the crew will keep the surface from drying too fast.

Spring and fall can work with a plan. May still averages nine freezing nights and October about 14. NRMCA defines cold weather as more than three days in a row averaging below 40°F, and says plastic concrete freezes at about 25°F, which can cut its potential strength by more than half. Concrete should stay protected from freezing until it reaches 500 psi, about two days at 50°F, and from repeated freeze-thaw until about 3,500 psi.

Winter pours are possible with heated mix water, accelerators and insulated blankets, but they cost more and leave little room for error. Before agreeing to a cold-weather pour, ask:

• Is the ground frozen, or is there snow or ice in the forms? (NRMCA: it must be removed and contact surfaces above freezing.)
• What are the forecast overnight lows for the next week?
• Will blankets or other protection go on, and for how long?
• Is the mix being adjusted (heated, accelerated)? Calcium chloride accelerator shouldn’t exceed 2% of cement weight, per NRMCA.
• What would make you postpone?

Don’t push a pour just to hit a date.

Driveways: details to get in writing

For a new or replacement driveway, ask the proposal to spell out:

• Demolition and disposal
• Excavation
• Base depth and compaction
• Slab thickness
• Reinforcement
• Air content and strength of the mix
• Control joint layout
• Slope and drainage
• Isolation joints at the garage, walks and steps
• Sidewalk, curb or apron work and its permit
• Finish texture
• Curing method
• When you can walk and drive on it

If it will carry an RV, trailer or heavy deliveries, say so before the slab is designed.

Permits: City of Bend and Deschutes County

Not sure whether your project needs a permit? Ask the contractor who will pull it, and check with the City of Bend Planning Division (planning@bendoregon.gov, 541-388-5580 ext. 3) or Deschutes County Community Development before work starts. If you’re buying a house with an older slab or wall that was never permitted, see our guide to unpermitted work.

Verify Oregon licensing

1. Look it up. Search the company or CCB number on the Oregon CCB license search. Confirm it’s active and the name matches the company on your contract.
2. Check bond and insurance. The record shows the surety bond and liability insurance on file and when they expire.
3. Get a written contract. The CCB says residential jobs over $2,000 require one; if a smaller job grows past $2,000, the contractor has five days to provide it.
4. Get the notices. On those jobs the contractor must give you the Consumer Protection Notice, the Notice of Procedure and the Information Notice to Owner About Construction Liens.
5. Know your right to cancel. Oregon gives owners a one-day right to cancel an initial residential construction contract, and three days for a home solicitation sale.
6. Right-of-way work? Also check the City of Bend’s qualified contractor list.

What drives the cost of a concrete job

Bend contractors rarely post per-square-foot prices for new work, so get two or three written bids on the same scope. These are the items that move the number:

The one set of published local numbers we found is for repair work: Superior Concrete Restorations lists approximate rates of $5.50/sq ft for resurfacing, $3.25 for a color seal, $2.00 for a tint seal, $1.75 for a clear seal and $3–$15 per linear foot of crack repair, and says prices vary by job.

What a concrete estimate should include

• Demolition
• Excavation
• Base material and depth
• Compaction
• Concrete thickness
• Mix strength and air content
• Reinforcement
• Joint layout
• Forms
• Finish
• Color or stamping
• Sealer
• Drainage work
• Pumping or special access
• Disposal
• Who gets permits
• Cleanup
• Curing instructions
• Warranty
• CCB number

Questions to ask a Bend concrete contractor

1. What caused the damage on my existing slab, and will the new one fix that cause?
2. How much excavation and base prep is included, and how deep?
3. What thickness are you proposing, and why?
4. What air content and strength will the concrete have?
5. What reinforcement will you use?
6. Can you sketch where the control and isolation joints go?
7. How will the slab drain, and where does the water go?
8. What weather would make you postpone the pour?
9. How will you cure and protect it?
10. When can we walk on it, drive on it and use de-icer?
11. Who handles permits and the 811 locate?
12. What’s your CCB number, and can I see your insurance certificate?
13. What does your workmanship warranty cover, and for how long?
14. Can I see a job you did two or three winters ago?

Red flags

• No CCB number on the bid, or a number that doesn’t match the company name
• No written contract on a job over $2,000
• “We had leftover concrete from a job nearby” door-to-door offers
• A big cash deposit before any work is scheduled
• A promise that the slab will never crack
• No answer on base depth, joints or air content
• Pouring on frozen ground or with a hard freeze forecast and no protection plan
• Adding water at the site to make it easier to finish
• A cosmetic coating offered for a slab that has settled or broken
• Sidewalk or approach work in the street right-of-way without a permit

Caring for concrete through a Bend winter

• No de-icers the first year. NRMCA says don’t use deicing salts such as calcium or sodium chloride in the first year after placing concrete. Use clean sand for traction.
• Never use fertilizer as ice melt. Ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate are “chemically aggressive and destroy concrete surfaces,” per NRMCA.
• After that, go easy. Shovel early, use salt sparingly, and hose off the salty slush cars drag onto new driveways and garage slabs when temperatures allow.
• Seal before the freezes. NRMCA recommends a breathable silane or siloxane sealer and calls late summer the ideal time. Superior Concrete Restorations recommends resealing every 2–4 years; if water darkens the surface or soaks in, it’s time.
• Keep water moving. Point downspouts and sprinklers away from slabs and fix low spots where meltwater ponds and refreezes.
• Mind the plow. Ask your snow removal company to use a shoe or rubber edge on new or decorative concrete.
• Clear your sidewalk. The City of Bend enforces rules about clearing snow and ice from sidewalks.

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