Three contractors, three bids, three prices. One says "4-inch slab, mesh, broom finish." One runs two pages. One is a number on the back of a business card.
The cheapest bid is often cheapest because of what it leaves out. Hand every contractor the same spec sheet and ask them to price it, or to explain in writing where they'd do it differently.
Plain disclosure: Rise & Shine doesn't pour concrete. We lift, caulk, clean, and seal existing concrete, and we coat garage floors. We wrote this because many problems that send people looking for lifting or caulking trace back to items nobody wrote down.
Two-Minute Check: Do You Actually Need New Concrete?
| What you've got | A cheaper fix that may work | When it won't |
|---|---|---|
| Solid slab that sank or tips toward the house | Foam lifting: 5/8" holes, drive on it the same day | Broken into several pieces, heaved up, or crumbling |
| Open joints or a gap where the slab meets the house | Joint caulking with backer rod | One side of the joint is higher (lift first) |
| Dingy, stained, or just starting to flake | Cleaning plus a penetrating sealer | Deep scaling, D-cracking, crumbling edges |
| One or two bad slabs in a decent driveway | Replace the worst, keep or lift the rest | Most of the slabs are bad |
| Broken up, sloped wrong, or you want a new layout | None. Replace it. |
Bottom row or right-hand column? You need new concrete. Our guide to concrete that's too damaged to lift covers the gray areas, and questions to ask before you tear it out helps you find out why the old slab failed so the new one doesn't follow it.
Thickness by Use
| Slab | Ask for at least | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Walks, patios, landings | 4" | |
| Driveway for cars, pickups, and SUVs | 4" | Green Bay requires a surface that carries a 4,000-pound wheel load, which the city says is typically 4–6" |
| Where delivery trucks, dumpsters, RVs, or trailers will sit | 5" | Per a Midwest ready-mix association's homeowner guide |
| Apron, curb cut, or public sidewalk | Whatever your municipality specifies | Right-of-way: the city or village sets the rules |
Going from 4" to 5" means 25 percent more concrete, so decide where heavy loads will actually go.
The Spec Sheet
Print or screenshot this section and send it with your bid request. The middle column is a reasonable target for outdoor flatwork in northeast Wisconsin, drawn from concrete industry guidance. The right column is for the contractor's answer. If they'd do something differently for your site, ask why, in writing.
| # | Item | Target for an outdoor NE Wisconsin slab | Contractor's answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utility locate | Diggers Hotline (811) contacted at least 3 working days before digging | |
| 2 | Soil removal | Old concrete, topsoil, roots, and soft soil dug out (one Midwest guide says at least 6" deep) and replaced with base | |
| 3 | Base | At least 4" of crushed stone or gravel, compacted (one Midwest guide calls for 95 percent density) | |
| 4 | Soft spots | How soft soil found after tear-out gets handled and priced, in writing | |
| 5 | Base on pour day | Firm, dampened if dry, no standing water, not frozen | |
| 6 | Thickness | Per the table above | |
| 7 | Mix | Air-entrained exterior flatwork mix, about 6 percent air (4.5–7.5 percent as delivered) | |
| 8 | Strength | 4,000–4,500 psi at 28 days | |
| 9 | Water | 0.45 maximum water-to-cement ratio; slump about 4" (5" max); no water beyond the ticket's allowance, and any additions written down | |
| 10 | Delivery ticket | You get a copy | |
| 11 | Reinforcement | Type (mesh, rebar, or fibers), how it's held off the base, mesh stopped or cut at control joints | |
| 12 | Meeting old concrete | Doweled, or an isolation joint, where the new slab meets old slabs or the garage floor | |
| 13 | Slope | About 1/4" per foot, away from the house and garage | |
| 14 | Where the water goes | Downspouts and sump discharge routed away from the new slab | |
| 15 | Control joints | Sketched in advance: spacing in feet of 2–2.5 times the thickness in inches (8–10 ft on a 4" slab); near-square panels, no L-shapes | |
| 16 | Joint depth and timing | At least 1/4 of the slab depth; tooled during finishing or saw-cut within roughly 4–12 hours | |
| 17 | Isolation joints | Full depth where the slab meets the house, garage slab, steps, walks, and posts | |
| 18 | Finish | Broom finish across the direction of traffic; no steel trowel, no added surface water, no finishing over bleed water | |
| 19 | Curing | A named method (curing compound, wet curing, or plastic sheeting) for 7 days | |
| 20 | Cold weather | No pour on frozen ground; blankets on site; protected from freezing at least 2 days | |
| 21 | Edges | Forms pulled and soil backfilled against the slab edges | |
| 22 | Permits | Which ones, and who pulls them | |
| 23 | Contract | Everything above in the written contract, with changes in writing |
Notes on the rows that matter most:
- Row 9, water. The item most likely to slide on pour day. Each gallon per cubic yard loosens the mix about an inch and pushes the water-to-cement ratio up; we run the numbers in what's actually in concrete. A water-reducing admixture loosens a stiff load without weakening it.
- Row 10, the ticket. Every truck's delivery ticket names the mix, and industry practice is to write down any water added on site. A copy costs nothing and tells you what went into your driveway.
- Row 15, joints. Concrete shrinks as it dries and will crack somewhere. Joints decide where. See new concrete cracking for what's normal afterward.
- Row 18, finish. Hard troweling and extra surface water weaken the top layer, the part that takes plows and salt. More in types of concrete finishes.
- Row 19, curing. Industry guidance says concrete cured dry can lose as much as half its potential strength. If a curing compound is used, ask whether it has to come off before sealing; one Midwest guide says it should.
Worked Example: A Two-Car Driveway
Say you're replacing a 24' × 24' driveway.
- Concrete at 4": 576 sq ft × 1/3 ft = 192 cubic feet, about 7.1 cubic yards. With the 4–10 percent extra industry guidance suggests ordering, that's roughly 7.4–7.8 yards. A ready-mix truck carries 8–12.
- Concrete at 5": 240 cubic feet, about 8.9 yards before the extra. Same driveway, 25 percent more concrete.
- Weight: at roughly 145 pounds per cubic foot, the 4" slab weighs close to 28,000 pounds, all of it riding on your base. That's why rows 2–5 matter.
- Joints at 4": 8–10 ft spacing, so nine 8' × 8' panels.
- Joints at 5": 10–12.5 ft spacing, so four 12' × 12' panels.
- Slope: 1/4" per foot over 24 feet is 6" of fall from garage to street. If the street end has to meet a city-set apron grade, check that the numbers work before the forms go in.
Pour Day and the First 28 Days
| When | What should be happening | Your part |
|---|---|---|
| Before the truck | Forms checked for slope, base compacted and damp, no frost, blankets on site if nights are cold | Move cars, keep kids and pets clear |
| Truck arrives | Slump checked; any added water stays within the ticket limit and gets written down | Get your copy of the ticket |
| Placing and finishing | Struck off and bull floated, then a wait for bleed water to leave before edging, jointing, and brooming | Nobody hosing water onto the surface |
| About 4–12 hours after finishing | Saw-cutting, if joints are sawn. A 20°F drop in concrete temperature roughly doubles setting time, so cold days run later. | Expect the crew back that evening or next morning |
| Days 0–2 | Must not freeze until it reaches about 500 psi, roughly two days | If frost is forecast, blankets stay on |
| About a day | Foot traffic after about 24 hours, longer in cool weather (some guides say 48 hours) | Walk on it gently |
| Days 0–7 | Curing under compound, covers, or water | Leave covers alone. Wet curing means kept wet, not wet-then-dry. |
| Day 7 | Passenger vehicles | Park, but stay off the edges |
| Day 28 | Design strength | Moving trucks, dumpsters, RVs |
| About a month | Caulk the joint at the house; once the caulk cures, apply a penetrating sealer on dry concrete at 40°F or warmer | Book it or do it yourself |
| First winter | No deicers, sand for traction, and never ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate | Hose off tracked-in street salt on mild days. See winter concrete care. |
| First spring | Check joints and cracks; fill soil washouts at the edges | Take photos in case you need your installer's warranty |
Timing the Season in Northeast Wisconsin
Concrete cures best above about 50°F. Green Bay's normal overnight lows (1991–2020) show when that takes work.
| Pour month | Normal low | What to plan for | When to seal |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | ~35°F | Frost may still be in the ground or thawing out (spring road weight limits average into early May). No frozen or soupy base. | Late spring or early summer |
| May and June | 46–56°F | Good once the frost is out and the base drains | About a month later |
| July and August | Warmest of the year | Heat speeds setting: retarders, evaporation control, and prompt curing matter most | Late summer, the best sealing window |
| September | ~50°F | A great month | October if it's dry and above 40°F; otherwise next summer |
| October | ~40°F | Cold-weather plan: blankets, possibly an accelerator, no frozen base | Usually next summer |
| November on | ~29°F and below | Full cold-weather protection, or wait for spring | Next summer |
A late pour just means a first winter unsealed and unsalted, which is fine with sand. Pouring on a frozen base, or leaving a fresh slab uncovered with a hard frost coming, is not. If nobody can describe the protection plan, push the job to spring.
Permits and the Right-of-Way
Permit rules vary by municipality. Here's what the City of Green Bay lays out:
- Driveway permit. Green Bay's driveway permit application needs a site plan. The residential fee was $75 when we checked, review typically takes 3–5 business days, and work has to start within six months. Ask the city whether your job needs one.
- Hard-surface limits. Driveways count toward impervious surface, capped at 50 percent of the lot in R1 residential zoning. That matters if you're widening.
- Aprons, public sidewalks, and curbs. These are public right-of-way. Work there takes a city-licensed, bonded sidewalk builder and a Public Works permit, and the city sets the grade. Owners are responsible for the sidewalk in front of their property.
- Diggers Hotline. Wisconsin law (Statute 182.0175) requires at least three working days' notice before digging, homeowners included. Dial 811.
De Pere, Ashwaubenon, Howard, Suamico, and neighboring towns set their own rules, so call yours. Under Wisconsin's home improvement rule, the contractor must tell you which permits the job needs before you sign. More in how to choose a concrete contractor.