Garage floor concrete in South Burlington VT - a slab built for winter salt and frost

A plain concrete slab with no staining or stamping usually runs about $6 to $12 per square foot in the Burlington area. If an old floor has to come out first, the tear-out is added on top of that. I take measurements when I come out, so your estimate is built on your own garage.

You can usually walk on a new garage slab within 48 hours, though it's safer to wait about a week before you park on it or set anything heavy down. The concrete keeps curing, slowly hardening and gaining strength, for about a month, so it's still getting stronger after you're using it again.

Some cracking can't be prevented in any concrete slab, but well-planned joints control it and keep the cracks small. Control joints are lines cut or formed into the slab so it cracks along them instead of wandering across the floor. We cut them on time, and a well-packed base keeps the slab from settling.

Air-entrained concrete is the mix to ask for by name, since the tiny air pockets built into it help it resist freezing and thawing and limit scaling, the flaking of the top surface, from ice melt. That matters on a new floor, because a Canadian concrete industry group warns that salt dripping off cars may scale a fresh garage slab badly.

Yes, with a plan to protect the slab while it's young. National concrete guidance counts a pour as cold-weather work when the air has fallen to 40°F, or is expected to fall below it, while the new concrete still needs protection. I'd rather move a pour date than place concrete in poor conditions.

Construction work in South Burlington goes to the Development Review Board, though some work needs only an administrative permit from the Zoning Administrator. To learn which path your floor takes, call Planning & Zoning at 802-846-4106, and the city's permit applications are all online. We check with the city before setting a date and help you prepare and file what's required.