Concrete Contractors in Milford, KS

Milford is a small Geary County town next to Milford Lake, and concrete contractors here can expect requests that come with lake living: a pad for a boat trailer, a wider driveway for a truck and camper, a patio for summer evenings. The town was laid out in 1855 under the name Bachelder, and it is part of the Manhattan metropolitan area. Its 2020 population was 408 in 261 housing units.

A town shaped by a reservoir

Milford Lake is described on Wikipedia as the largest man-made lake in Kansas, with about 15,700 acres of surface water. Its dam sits on the Republican River. Construction began July 13, 1962, the lake started filling on January 16, 1967, and it was dedicated in May 1968. When the lake was built, the towns of Alida and Broughton ceased to exist, and parts of Milford and Wakefield were moved to higher ground.

That history means some lots in Milford may sit on ground that was reshaped in the 1960s. When we look at a site here, we pay attention to how the land was graded, whether there is fill under the yard and how surface water moves. Fill that was not compacted well can keep settling for years, which is bad news for a slab poured on top without proper preparation.

Pads for boats, campers and trucks

Lake towns have a lot of trailers. A boat on a trailer parked on grass leaves ruts. A camper on gravel sinks a little more each spring. A concrete pad fixes both, but it has to be built for the weight:

• Thickness goes up compared to a patio, since a loaded trailer puts heavy weight on small tire and jack contact points.
• Reinforcement with rebar on a grid helps hold the slab together if the ground under it moves.
• Base of compacted crushed rock spreads the load and drains water away.
• Approach from the street or drive should be gentle enough to back a trailer onto without scraping.

We size the pad to your trailer with room to walk around it and plan the joints so cracks stay controlled.

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Patios and walks that handle lake life

Wet feet, fishing gear and coolers are hard on outdoor surfaces. For patios and walks in Milford we usually recommend a broom finish or a lightly textured stamped pattern, both of which grip better when wet than a smooth trowel finish. If you choose stamped or colored concrete, a quality sealer helps it resist stains and freeze-thaw damage, and we can add grit to the sealer for traction. Every exterior slab we pour is air-entrained and sloped to drain.

Storage buildings for lake gear

Between the boat, life jackets, fishing tackle, mowers and a snowblower for winter, many Milford households run out of room. A pole barn, shed or detached garage gives that gear a home, and it all starts with the slab. We set anchor bolts for the framing, thicken the edges under the walls and pour the floor slightly above grade with a gentle slope toward the door so water from a wet boat or melting snow drains out instead of pooling. For a building wide enough to park a boat inside, we add rebar through the slab and size the apron so you can back in without dropping a trailer wheel off the edge.

When the lake came up

After impoundment began in January 1967, Milford Lake reached its planned pool elevation of 1,144.4 feet on July 13 of that year. Lots close to the shoreline can stay damp after a wet spring, which is one more reason we study drainage before setting forms for a pad or patio near the water. Higher lots in town drain more easily but may sit on regraded fill. Either way, the base, not the concrete, decides how long a slab stays flat. We pour driveways, patios, stamped work, walks and steps, garage and shed slabs, and repairs here.

We check what the city or county requires before work begins. Call (785) 509-7585 to talk through your project.