Concrete Contractors in Louisville, KS

Louisville is a small Pottawatomie County town on K-99 between Wamego and Westmoreland, and concrete contractors working here mostly serve homes and rural properties that have been around a long time. Robert Wilson founded it in 1857 under the name Rock Post, and it was incorporated in 1870. The name honors Wilson's son Louis and Louis Vieux, a local businessman who operated the Vermillion Crossing of the Oregon Trail about three miles east of town.

A lot of history in a small place

Louisville tried twice to become the county seat, losing to St. George in 1861 and to Westmoreland in 1882. A cholera cemetery from 1849 is part of its history, and the town recorded an earthquake on November 8, 1875. The Louis Vieux Elm, estimated at more than 300 years old, stood here until fire destroyed its stump in August 2011.

Today Louisville is very small. The census counted 188 residents in 2010 and 131 in 2020, and housing units fell from 96 to 78. At about 1,011 feet, it sits lower than Manhattan or Westmoreland.

What that means for concrete here

In a town with few new homes, nearly every project involves older concrete. That brings some common problems:

No footing under steps. Older steps were often set on the ground with no footing. As soil settles, they pull away from the house. New steps get a footing below the frost-affected soil.

Thin slabs. Walks and driveways poured long ago may be thinner than today's practice. They crack under modern vehicles. Replacements are poured to the right thickness for the load.

Poor drainage. Lots near a river valley can stay wet. A slab without a good base and slope holds water underneath, which speeds freeze-thaw damage. We build a compacted rock base and slope the surface away from the house.

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Projects around Louisville

Rural properties near town often need:

• Shop and shed slabs with thickened edges and anchor bolts set to the building plan
• Driveway aprons where a gravel lane meets the garage, to stop mud and ruts
• Patios in broom, colored or stamped finishes
• Steps and stoops rebuilt on proper footings
• Sidewalk sections replaced where they have heaved or broken
• Repair of sunken or scaled concrete

Where gravel meets concrete

Many rural homes around Louisville are reached by a gravel lane. The trouble spot is where the lane meets the garage: tires drag gravel and mud onto the slab, and the slab edge chips as wheels drop off it. A concrete apron, thickened at the gravel end and pitched so water runs off to the side, fixes both without paving the whole lane. Like every outdoor slab we pour, it is air-entrained and cured properly.

Low, damp lots

On the lower lots around town, ground can stay damp long after rain. Wet subgrade is weak subgrade. On those lots we excavate a little deeper, lay a thicker bed of crushed rock and compact it well so it drains and stays firm. Downspouts get pointed away from new slabs, and if water tends to pool in one corner of the yard, we talk about where it should go before we set forms. Getting water out from under a slab is the cheapest insurance against settling and frost damage.

Small jobs welcome

In a small town, a lot of projects are modest: three steps, a short walk, a pad for a trash cart or a generator. We give those the same site visit and written estimate as a full driveway. Small jobs also tend to be the ones that fix real safety problems, like a step that rocks underfoot or a walk with a lip that catches a toe. Before we start, we check with the city or county about any permit needs. Call (785) 509-7585 to schedule a visit.